Child Development Essay Example for Free

Child maturement EssayThe going off Between the Sequence and Rate of education Childrens acquireing loosely follows a predict open episode of stages known as milestones. However, occasion tot all in allyy a squirt whitethorn skip a stage or go with a stage very quickly e. g. a nestling whitethorn except out crawling and move straight from sitting to walking. An example of a sequence is the bodily maturement of a baby where movement begins with their head and then downwards and from the centre of their body outwards. The time of a minors tuition milestone isnt as consistent as the sequence beca map tikerens stages of teaching happen over different rates rather than feature ages. An example of this is that kidren dont begin walking all at the same time. Some kidskinren be erudition to walk in front their first birthdays whereas another(prenominal)wises whitethorn learn to walk m each months later. However, it is burning(prenominal) to image that alth ough a squirt may be take aiming slower in certain aspects of development, they maybe excelling in others and that all pip-squeakren be generally undermentioned the same sequence. 2. 1 own(prenominal) Factors poignant Childrens Development primal churlhood development push aside be affected by a result of factors. A churls wellness plays a crucial role in their development and backside be tickd by factors including the genetics they inherit from their families, malnutrition from a poor diet and poor conditions in their purlieu. Unhealthy children may find they argon less equipped to harness problems in comparison to healthy children. They may also be curtail in participating in activities which toilette affirm a detrimental effect on build relationships with others, access to creating an arrest of their milieu and their improvemention in motor development. baulk rump catch a impenetrable effect on a childs development. The three core field of oper ations of disability be physical disability, in signifieration disability and sensory impairment. Normal development adopts children to be able to interact with their surround, and to understand their findings. Children with physical disabilities volition often be restricted in their ability to effectually interact with their environment which tail end then have a detrimental effect on their ability to develop cognitively and activatedly. The limitation of exploring their environment seat also impact on their motor skills due to lack of mobility.Furtherto a greater extent, children who cast time away in hospital may have limited opportunities to develop age becharm kindly skills, verbiage skills and lecturing. Learning disabilities can affect childrens ability to grasp, process and analyse in fermentation. incapacitate children often show an uneven pattern of development e. g. language development and physical development which can have some effect on their ability to interact with others. Inadequate interaction with others may have a negative puzzle out on a childs personalised skills, their self esteem and often causes a reluctance to face problems.Children with sensory problems such as visual or get wording impairments may experience difficulties including mobility, language development and communication skills. Visually impaired children often suffer with mobility issues celebrate their physical development which reduces their ability to explore their surroundings. It also interferes with engaging in imaginative play passing the childs ability to develop imitative skills. Hearing impaired children commonly lack language and communication skills as they have a reduced chance to take advantage of the critical azoic period of language development by hearing peoples voices.The lack of communication skills can impact on the childs ability to engage with other children. 2. 2 External Factors equaling Childrens Development Poverty can cr eate a lasting disadvantage in childrens development. The areas of poverty to take into account are hovictimization, diet, education and leisure activities. Children who are underprivileged in these areas are more promising to face challenges with their amicable and emotional development bearing to behavioural problems. This can come out them at risk of developing negative relationships affecting brotherly skills, academic skills and self esteem.Poverty can also influence a childs health where poor housing and diet and a lack of leisure opportunities often lead to obesity, malnutrition and a likelihood of get ill. This can affect a childs ability to join in activities with other children hindering many another(prenominal) areas of development. The family environment can have a profound effect on a childs development in twain a autocratic or negative nature. Children living in a positive family environment often develop good companionable interaction with others as a resul t of positive relations with family members. therefore this may impact on a childs development in learning areas such as personal, accessible and emotional skills and communication, language and literacy skills. Similarly to poverty factors, family factors can also influence a childs academic pathway. A child with under substantial social skills may record themselves with inappropriate behaviour, a lack of interest to learn and an unfitness to create positive relationships frankincense cut back the chance to progress and succeed in a predominantly social environment as is education.Personal choices are another major influence regarding normal development. As children grow, they develop a greater emancipation and are presented with more choices to which can impact on many areas of development. A prominent area of development in which a childs personal choices impacts on is their relationship with food and physical activity. In recent times and partly influenced by the media, chil drens eating habits have release increasingly arthritic and in appurtenance, childrens physical activity has declined. This has resulted in many children becoming overweight or obese and even diabetes.The events of this is likely to impact on physical development as children who are suffering from the in a higher place are more likely to be restricted in participating in all areas of physical activity in contrast to their peers who have a healthy animatenessstyle. The development of a child may also be impacted upon if they are in care of the local authority. An unstable living environment may affect children in many negative ways as often the child may move to various care aspects on a regular basis. With this in mind, a child may develop issues with regards to their emotions.A lack of confidence and self-esteem may arise resulting in anti-social behaviour and so impacting on social skills. Academic ability may also be diminished through the inability to socialize effecti vely as well as many other areas of development in which social skills are essential. procreation is an main(prenominal) area of a childs development as it determines childrens academic ability through their education pathway. In particular, this influential area impacts on a childs cognitive development in which they gain skills in reasoning, understanding and the ability to solve problems.Education is not only acquired through schooling, it is also gained in the family environment via social activity and family life in general. Educating through schooling can develop a childs confidence in their ability, encourages positive social behaviour and helps children to understand the norms and values which are appropriate in society. 2. 3 How Theories of Development and Frameworks to assert Development Influence Current Practice. There are many theories which were created in pitch to understand childrens development. These theories are very important as they often have and influence on current employ.Piagets psychological theory of development was of the role of maturation, that by growing older a child would have increased capacity to understand crude and differing concepts. This though was not a smooth learning contract but one which was mutational. These stages occurred at particularised age ranges 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This appears to have impacted the school curriculum as a basis of when children are fitted of understanding new concepts and ideas. The way in which a child adapts to these new changes or differences to their perceptions of the valet is through assimilation and accommodation which work in unison.Assimilation refers to the inclusion of new concepts into active schemas whilst accommodation refers to the challenges to the existing schema and accommodating ones thought processes around the differences. Only at the specific stages of maturation will a child be able to assimilate and accommodate for these new concepts. This approach can be perceive as rigid as although a child may not learn in a smooth learning curve, they may progress at different rates at a lesser staggered approach. Vygotskys theory of development differs to that of Piaget in that development was proximal.The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) promotes the mental picture that children develop through their engagement with adults and activities alongside their peers rather than through teaching or by functional through concepts and challenges alone. It was the development of language and articulation of ideas that would govern a childs development and may be seen as an enabling approach that will allow a child to solve challenges and develop in a way that they will as a final result be able to perform the task alone.This approach has proved to be influential with regards to early years education oddly in the frameworks of England and Scotland in that there is an emphasis placed on building positive relationships with adults and other children in the setting. Furthermore, children are encouraged to work together during activities olibanum promoting teamwork in order to conquer challenges and in addition play an active role in their learning. Skinner, who adopted a behaviourist approach to learning developed the theory of operant conditioning.This theory suggests that a childs behaves and learns via creating an understanding based on consequences and reinforcements. These reinforcements are divided into three sub-groups described as positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers and punishers. Positive reinforcers are a form of reward in response to being presented with a desired outcome for example, if a child has created a nice piece of work they may be given praise or a gummed label as a reward. This then reinforces an understanding that they have done something good to which they will aim to continually reproduce.Negative reinforcers also produce repetition in behaviour in that they are used to hang in so mething from happening for example, a child may try to avoid one of their peers due to the fear of having their best-loved toy being taken away from the understanding of previous experiences. In contrast to the above, punishers are believed to counterbalance the repetition of behaviour such as if a child hurts a member of their peers they may be put in a reflective corner to recognise their inappropriate behaviour and if this process is repeated, the child will understand and aim to avoid this consequence.This theory links in with practice today in that children are often rewarded with positive reinforcements when behaving appropriately for example sharing during activities, comforting a peer who is disquieted or following a task with good results. Furthermore, punishers are also used in todays practice when a child is behaving inappropriately in which tactics such as the reflective corner as well as a telling off are effective in breaking the repetition. 3. 1 How to Monitor Chil drens Development using Different Methods.A childs development is monitored in a number of ways which includes observations, parent practitioner meetings and standard measurements. Observations can be carried out in a variety ways and provide valuable information in terms of a childs development. Narrative observations involve watching a child or children during an activity and making notes to what has been seen including all areas of behaviour. In this form of observation it is important that the practitioner who is observing remains unnoticed in order to avoid a change in behaviour of the child or children.Time sampling observations involve making a record at regular intervals of what a child is doing which focuses on a specific behaviour for that particular time. An example of this maybe during outdoor play time in which a childs social interaction could be observed. Event sampling observations involve focusing on particular events in order to build up a pattern of childrens be haviour over a period of days or weeks. In this form of observation, the events leading to behaviour, during behaviour and after behaviour are recorded in detail.Standard measurements may also be used to monitor a childs development. This method of assessment is employed by various professionals in order to assess development in areas such auditory, health and education. Standard measurements in contrast to having an overall objective, focus on a childs development in relation to the overall population and pass onmore, is used to determine whether a child has a particular deficiency in an area of development.This form of monitoring children is of particular use when monitoring disability or suspected disability in a child as it places all emphasis on one child whilst using a range of assessment methods to determine any apparent problems. 3. 2 Reasons Why Childrens Development May Not Follow the Expected Pattern. There are a number of reasons in which a childs development is not fol lowing the evaluate pattern. check may affect a childs development in a range of areas which include physical development, personal development and social development.In some cases disability can restrict a child from participating in normal physical activity, for example some settings may not be wheel chair friend in areas such as outdoors. This in beat may prevent a child from being involved in the same activities as other children thus impacting on their physical development. With this in mind, outdoor play is important whilst developing effective social skills. Children often use a range of communication skills whilst exploring and discovering therefore deprivation of social interaction may have a harmful impact on a childs personal and social development.Children with emotional problems are also at risk of not developing along the expected pattern. A child lacking in confidence and self-esteem can often become reclusive and cope with communication in particular during loca tings where it is loud and fast paced such as in a glass star sign environment. Children who tend to hide away from the action are inevitably missing out in areas of learning and development and is unfortunately often carried through to later life. Environmental factors are another area to contemplate in relation to an expected pattern of development.The home environment can have a profound affect in many areas. A negative home life may often determine a childs ability to socialise effectively thus affecting numerous other areas. collectable to a lack of social skills, a negative impact may be make on a child in education and as a consequence their academic acquirement may be at risk. In addition, cultural difference may also play a part as there are a variety of ways in which different cultures life their children. Some cultures, for example in western society encourage freedom and independence.This in turn gives children the opportunity to discover new things and develop and understanding of the world. Children with learning difficulties often follow an uneven pattern of development. Tasks and activities are often more of a challenge for children with learning difficulties in which failure is not uncommon in academic situations and as a result can lead to frustration and issues regarding self-esteem. In some cases with these personal issues, a breakdown of communication can emerge resulting in a negative impact on areas of learning and development which rely on effective communication skills.How Disability may Affect Development. Disability can have a substantial influence on a childs development. Disability covers three areas in which normal development is more of a challenge in contrast to children who are not disabled. These areas include physical disability, learning disability and sensory impairment, all of which may hinder development. Due to the interdependence of learning areas in order to maintain normal development, disabled children as a con sequence are more unlikely to develop at the same rate as other children.For example, a child with a physical disability such as being wheel chair rebound may find it a challenge whilst exploring the environment. This could have a knock on effect in learning areas such as social interaction, communication and familiarity and understanding. This then in turn may be detrimental in terms of developing positive relationships with their peers which can often lead to social rejection or bullying. As a consequence of this, a child may develop personal and emotional issues unmingleding itself in reduced self-esteem and confidence resulting in reclusion.How Different Interventions can Promote Positive Outcomes for Children where Development is not Following the Expected Pattern. If a child has been recognised as not following the expected pattern of development, interventions are made in order to establish where the problem lies and the best way to tackle it. External practitioners known as agencies may then become involved and assess the child whilst providing support and expert advice to the family and the nursery or educational setting.These agencies may include paediatricians who are responsible for monitoring progress and make referrals to additional healthcare, health visitors who offer advice and support to families and physiotherapists who are responsible for working with the physical problems of disabled children and young people and suggest exercises. Speech and language therapists provide support to disabled children who have problems with their speech and language. They also offer advice on communication to the parents whether it is verbal or non-verbal for example using sign language.former(a) areas of intervention include the role of the Educational Psychologist who assesses the way in which a child learns and identifies issues with a childs learning. They can then identify how to benefit a childs learning by creating Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and are responsible for managing the childs statutory assessment and the issue of a statement of affects if required. In nursery and school settings special educational needs coordinators (SENCO) can become involved in the coordination of activities and the provision of support to meet the specialised needs of disabled children.In many cases multi agency and partnership working is adopted as it provides integrated support for children who are not following the expected pattern and their families. Supporting children with additional needs and their families with a range of agencies working collectively provides more effective care for the child due to the sharing of information and agreement as to how to implement plans. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) supports this practice as a way of contributing to a childs development as this information shared may aid any further assessments.The brilliance of Early Identification of Speech, Language and Communication Delays and Disord ers and the Potential Risks of Late Recognition. It is extremely important to identify lives in speech, language and communication as soon as possible. Early identification of speech and language delay is critical to a childs development as it is interconnected and is a key area with regards to many other areas of learning and development and furthermore, it is essential whilst developing the ability to spend.With the inability to use effective language, a childs cognitive ability may become weakened as both these areas are unanimously linked to each other. Language delay can influence a childs ability to understand concepts and develop intelligence amongst other areas of cognitive development. Communication and speech delays are also important to identify as they determine a childs ability whilst interacting with others. In addition they can affect a childs emotions, in some cases resulting in anti-social behaviour, thus impacting on areas such as education.However, through earl y identification and intervention, the impact of speech, language and communication delays may be significantly reduced thus creating a more positive future for children. 4. 2 How Multi-Agency Teams prune Together to Support Speech, Language and Communication. Multi-agency and partnership working plays a key role with regards to a childs speech, language and communication development. When it has been recognised either by a parent/carer or whilst in the nursery setting that a child is showing signs of difficulty in these areas, the child would then need to be assessed by either a health visitor or general practitioner.This would then alter a greater understanding of where the problem may lie and furthermore exclude a number of other possibilities. Once a diagnosis has been found, the child may then been referred to a variety of agencies in order for further assessment and to create a plan to tackle the problem areas. These agencies may include speech and language therapists, educa tional psychologists and specialist teachers who provide support for children who have sensory impairments, learning difficulties or communication difficulties.These agencies will often work together in collaboration discussing and sharing information which in turn enables the child to make maximum progress. Furthermore, the agencies will work together to develop strategies, provide knowledge and in some cases provide resources to parents/carers and the nursery setting. 4. 3 How Play and Activities are Used to Support the Development of Speech, Language and Communication. Effective play and activities are beneficial in order to support a childs speech, language and communication development.The nature of play and participating in activities generally involve a great deal of social interaction with others. Therefore by providing play situations and activities that support these learning areas, childrens development will be enhanced. Toy animals are an effective play resource. They en gage children into the natural world and encourage them to imitate movements and sounds which in turn enhance a childs speech development. greenhouse rhymes and singing encourage the development of language. Children who are exposed to these activities have a greater ability to listen and understand run-in and actions.Nursery rhymes also enhance a childs ability in reading as a result of the development of language. Reading books with children can enhance their communication skills. Stories can generate interest where children become inquisitive. Children often ask questions and discuss ideas which can enhance their ability to communicate with each other. In addition to the above, a childs speech and language may be developed by role modelling in which they will learn to use new sounds and words by listening and engaging in general conversation.With this in mind and from own practice I feel it is important to provide appropriate speech for a child to be exposed to, using clear and slow language whilst altering vocal pitch in order to convey grammatic information. Furthermore, I feel if a child has attempted to say a word with ineffective results, it is important to praise the child for their effort in order for them to continue trying. 5. 1 How Different Types of Transitions can Affect Childrens Development. Transitions are a significant stage in a childs life and can affect them in a range of ways and in a number of areas of development.They are an nevitable part of growing up, however it is important to recognise and understand the signs and the impact of inflections on childrens development. A change in the family structure of a child in terms of an additional sibling may have an impact. The child may feel their relationship with their parents is threatened by the arrival of a new baby and they may feel they are getting unequal amounts of attention. The childs personal and social development may be harmed during this transition. With this in mind the chi ld may develop issues with self-esteem as a result of receiving less attention than previously.The child may also develop anger issues from beholding the frequent attention and care being provided to the new baby which could then in turn manifest itself in sibling rivalry. The position of beginning nursery or school is another major transition for a child which may impact on their development. A new and unfamiliar environment may be a daunting experience for many children. Children who are less outgoing in comparison to their peers may try to avoid interacting with others and avoid social activities.This could then result in the child becoming a recluse resulting in missed opportunities to play, learn and develop. A childs admission into an knowledgeability such as hospital due to ill health is also a significant transition which could impact on their development. Social interaction may be diminished in particular of children who roost for long periods in hospital. Through this l ack of socialising, children may become underdeveloped in others areas including their knowledge and understanding through missed opportunities to explore the environment with their peers developing new ideas and perspectives.Moving to a new house or location is another transition which can impact on childrens development. This can be a traumatic time and in particular of a child entering the care of the local authority. Often in this situation a child has moved around a number of locations thus creating a sense of instability resulting in personal issues. These issues are often expressed in the form of anger, isolation and anxiety which in turn can hinder normal development. Furthermore, many children in this situation come from broken families which in some cases involved abuse and neglect.With this in mind when involved in a situation of this type, it is important to build trust whilst working with the child in order to prevent a further negative impact on their development. 5. 2 The Effect on Children of Having Positive Relationships During Periods of Transition. Transitions are a significant and potentially harmful experience in childrens lives, therefore it is important to provide a positive and supportive network around children in order to make transitions an easier and more well-heeled process.A child who is undergoing a process of transition whilst receiving positive support and encouragement is more likely to accept changes in their lives and develop a greater confidence in the transition process. A strong relationship with someone such as a key person in an educational setting can benefit a childs transition. A child beginning nursery will be presented with an unfamiliar environment in which a key workers job is to develop a close relationship with the child and provide support allowing the transition to run more smoothly.In some cases a key worker may change settings or may be away for a long period of time such as maternity leave. In these situa tions a child may react negatively to the loss of familiarity which subsequently may impact on their development. Therefore it is important to provide additional support to the child via attention reassurance and encouragement in order to alleviate further negative affects whilst a close relationship with a new key worker is being formed. Children toy transitions with an array of experiences in which some may be positive and some negative. Children generally will constantly be worried.Confronted with unexpected transitions, like divorce or death, a child may feel excluded or to blame or angry. An understanding of their experience and the possibilities of what is going through their heads and giving a thoughtful and gentle response will often help bring them through the transition and in turn lead to a more confident and rounded child.