Understanding Development And Supporting Equality Children And Young People Essay

Understanding Development And Supporting Equality Children And Young People Essay Every child has different rate and aspect of development. Hence, it is of utmost importance to understand a childs development. It helps us to understand the social, physical, intellectual, communication and language and emotional development that an individual grows through from birth to 19years. We can divide the sequence of childs development for each age range into 5 different aspects. They are social, physical, intellectual, communication and language and emotional. AGE 0 6 MONTHS: Social Development: An infant from birth cries when hungry. Gradually, he/she can recognise adults especially a mothers face and voice. He/she likes to watch their mums face or an adults face during feeding time. He/she smiles at familiar faces and voices. Physical Development: A baby just after birth sleeps most of the time and grows fast. A child by 6 months turns its head towards sound and movements. A child by this age starts to kick legs with movements gradually becoming smoother. Also, a baby starts to develop their hand eye co-ordination. He/she learns to roll from side on to back. A child enjoys finger play. Intellectual Development: A baby starts to recognise its parents by the age of 2 months. An infant reacts to familiar voice rather than unfamiliar voices. A baby observes the moving objects and stares at bright colours. Baby tries to explore by putting things into mouth. Communication and language development: By 3 months an infant makes a variety of happy sounds. A baby starts to respond to variety of music and other sounds. A baby tries to imitate the movement of the lips of an adult. Emotional Development: A baby at this age, usually very attached to its mother. If handled by unfamiliar methods and care, a baby may get upset. In this age, a child requires a familiar routine and also requires the security and the reassurance. AGE 6 12 MONTHS: Social Development: Baby of this age tries to communicate and respond to familiar people. By 9 months, a child is very wary of strangers. Child at this age starts to see self as separate from others. Physical Development: A baby starts to sit without support. By this age a baby may begin to crawl, stand and cruise while holding on to furniture. Baby learns o hold objects and transfer objects from one hand to other. It develops pincer grasps using thumb and index finger from about 6 months. At this age a baby drops things deliberately and looks for it. A baby enjoys water play. Intellectual Development: A baby recognises certain sound and objects. At this age, a baby shows interest to toys and picture books. He/she can enjoy various games especially water play. He/she observes people closely and tries to imitate their actions. He/she processes information through images. Communication and language development: A baby enjoys looking at picture. He/she also enjoys music. A baby responds with a smile and starts babbling and sometimes speaks to their mums. Emotional Development: By this age, a baby can differentiate between individuals and shows clear preferences and familiar adults. He/she can show clear likes and dislikes. AGE 1 2 YEARS: Social Development: A baby can respond to simple instructions. He/she wants to help adults and enjoy imitating their activities. It helps develop a sense of own identity. He/she plays alongside other children of own age for some time. He/she shows egocentric behaviour. Physical Development: A child becomes very mobile at this age. Between 12 to 15 months most children will start to walk and some can even go upstairs (with supervision). He/she can feed themselves. He/she has matured pincer grasps and can scribble with crayons. He/she can make a small tower by putting bricks/ blocks. He/she can wave good-bye, point or make noises to indicate their wants. Intellectual Development: A baby can recognise objects from pictures and books. He/she matches basic colours and start to match shapes. He/she can follow one step instructions. He/she show their preferences and start to make choices. He/she shows lots of curiosity and can concentrate for longer. He/she can do very simple puzzles. Communication and language development: By the age of 2, a child could be using 150-200 words. He/she can participate in songs and rhymes; enjoy listening to stories. He/she repeats words said by adults. He/she begins to ask questions like what and why. Emotional Development: A child is emotionally dependent on familiar adults. He/she likes to explore environment and is less frightened now when placed in new situations. The child reacts very strongly when he/she is not allowed to do a particular activity. Sometimes, He/she has mood swings and can be very clinging while some other time could be very independent. AGE 2 3 YEARS: Social Development: Childrens first friends are their parents and carer. He/she learns from them how to play and communicate with others. Babies and toddlers notice others and become fascinated by them. At around 2 years he/she is likely to play alongside with each other. By the age of 2years, most children have a feeling of identity and interestingly this coincides with their becoming more assertive. By the age of 3years, a child learns to play more of co-operative play. Physical Development: A child uses a potty and stays dry more reliably. He/she can come down stairs in upright position one stair at a time. He/she can climb well on play apparatus. He/she learns to paddle a tricycle. He/she can undress self but need some help to dress self. He/she has more control on holding crayons and paint brush. He/she can kick a ball and learns to jump. A child of this age can travel around, under, over, and through balancing and climbing equipment. Intellectual Development: A child can identify facial features and main body parts. He/she can follow two step instructions and can understand what is big and small. He/she starts to understand basic concepts of time and can match the colours and shapes. He/she becomes aware of what is right and wrong. He/she gathers information through language rather than image. He/she enjoys imaginative play and can concentrate long on creative activities. Communication and language development: He/she tries to communicate more with adult form of speech. A childs vocabulary increases to about 300 words and can deliver simple messages. Emotional Development: A child begins to understand the feelings of others. He/she is very curious about their environment but have no sense of danger. He/she could not understand about peoples pain at this age. AGE 3 5 YEARS: Social Development: A child starts socialising with people, learns to play with other children. He/she can show some friendship preferences but these are mainly based on play interests. He/she can use language more and more effectively with others. He/she can be confident in doing their own things as they develop their self help skills. He/she observes closely adults and tries to imitate them. He/she learns to share group possessions at play group or nursery but basically he/she is still egocentric. Physical Development: In this period a childs movements become more co-ordinated and smoother. A child by now starts to make various complex movements as the bones in the body starts to harden or have now formed. A child at this age remains clean and dry most of the time but could have some accidents. Child improves gross motor skills. He/she is more confident while jumping, riding a tricycle. Child at this age can throw a bowl but still unsure and inaccurate while catching the ball. By the age of 5years, a child is able to use variety of large equipments. A child improves his/her fine motor skills. A childs drawings are more detailed and representative. Intellectual Development: By the age of 3 years, a child imitates adults speech which can be understood by the strangers. A child becomes very inquisitive and asks lots of question. He/she knows parts of body. A child learns many things through play, tries to experiment with colours, shapes and texture. He/she can follow two or three step instructions. He/she has a better attention span at this age and hence, enjoys more complex activities. He/she learns to share and accepts ideas in group activities. He/she expresses strong opinions of likes and dislikes. Communication and language development: A childs vocabulary improves a lot. By this age, speech is fluent and the child is grammatically correct in using descriptive language. He/she can confidently form short sentences and uses language to communicate his/her own ideas. He/she enjoys constantly with people whom they know well. Emotional Development: A child is aware of the feelings and needs of others. He/she learns to comfort others who are upset, hurt or unwell. He/she can show occasional outburst when tired, stressed or frustrated. He/she can use language to express feelings and wishes and sometimes argues with other children. AGE 5 7 YEARS: Social Development: A child of this age likes to play mainly with child of same sex. A child is now aware of his/her own qualities. He/she tends to be fairly positive about him/her own skills. Physical Development: By this age, brain has developed further and is able to process information quickly. A child of this age is faster at dressing. As a result of improved co-ordination a child is more confident. By the age of 6 7 years, a child is able to sew simple stitches and ties or unties laces. All these prove that he/she has improved pincer grasp. Intellectual Development: A child of this age can differentiate between various shapes and sizes. He/she can match symbols, letters and numbers. By the age of 6 years, ability to write develops. He/she can read simple books, able to count up to 100. By this age, he/she understands the concept of conversation. Communication and language development: By this age, a child can communicate well with strangers. He/she is very fluent by now and can use correct and descriptive language. He/she has a wide range of vocabulary and can make up his/her own story. Emotional Development: A child becomes more independent and self-motivated. By this age, he/she is more sociable and friendly with others. He/she likes to play with same sex children and able to share. But, he /she need help in resolving issues. A child enjoys taking responsibility and helping others. AGE 7 12 YEARS: Social Development: At this age, a child starts enjoying company of other children and loves to be in a group. They are often same sex although some play activities will encourage boys and girls to play together. Now he/she is less dependent on close adults for support. Physical Development: A childs physical skill develops a lot and sometimes depends on his/her interests. He/she has more fine motor skills. Puberty starts for many girls from the age of 10 years and finishes by the age of 15 years and during this period their body undergoes various physical changes. For boys, this usually starts at around 13/14 years and finishes at around 16 years. A child develops hand eye co-ordination which leads to proficiency in climbing, running, balancing and skipping. Intellectual Development: 7 years onwards, most children are fluent speakers, readers and writers of their language. At this age, a child can read more complex texts and develops writing skills. At the age of 7 12 years, a child has great reasoning ability and can apply logic to solve problems. He/she has longer attention span so he/she enjoys various board games and computer games. His/her preferences for subject increase. He/she starts dealing with abstract ideas. Communication and language development: A child becomes highly verbal and enjoys making up and telling jokes. He/she has a wide range of vocabulary and can use more complex sentence structures. He/she can share ideas and feelings in more depth. He/she can share a very detailed account of past events and anticipate the future. He/she can listen to follow and execute more complex instructions. Emotional Development: A child is now aware of wider environment. He/she becomes very proud of his/her won achievements and sometimes can be very competitive. Usually, boys friendships are likely to be of group based while girls prefer closer but fewer friends. AGE 12 19 YEARS: Social Development: Young people want to spend more time with each other than with their family. Individual friendship is important for them and along with they enjoy being into a group. Sometimes, it can be seen young people can be strongly motivated by role models in media. They participate in teen games and enjoy group activities including clubs. Physical Development: By the age of 14/15 years, most girls have completed the process of puberty. Most girls have already started their menstrual cycle and become regular by the age of 16 years. For boys, the process of puberty has already started and for most finishes at around the age of 16 years. The body of a young people undergoes change in appearance because of many physical developments during this period. Intellectual Development: Young people are able to understand more complicated things in mathematical and scientific process. They extend their writing skills and can develop more creative skills and can understand other peoples point of view. They have a very high level of concentration. They develop logical thinking ability and may enjoy practising their new intellectual and verbal skills through debating either formally of informally. Communication and language development: Young people have extensive and varied vocabulary. They can use appropriate language styles, vocalises their ideas and feelings in greater depth. They can justify their own views and ideas. They enjoy more complex texts including fiction, poetry and factual books. Emotional Development: At this age, young people are very sensitive to their own feelings. Emotional maturity is constantly switching on between childish needs and adult desires. They are confident in their own skills and ideas. They have a good understanding of complex issues. Young people can find themselves caught between their desire to remain in a group but reluctant to adopt groups values and behaviour. 1.b Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and why the difference is important Difference between sequence of development and rate of development To find the difference between sequence of development and rate of development we need to understand the basic meaning of sequence and rate. The sequence of development is a process where an event is followed one after another and achieves a level of succession with a series of changes or growth that a process undertakes normally to improve on that process leading to a matured state. It is related to the previous events and normally improves on the process. For example: A baby goes through different phases before he starts walking. First he just kick legs with movements, learns to roll on and then he tries to sit that may take 6-7 months. After that he learns to crawl and stand and gradually learns walking holding parents hands and finally they reach the ultimate goal i.e, they can walk independently. Rate of Development is a quantity of something in  comparison  with a unit of another thing. It is related to the development that occurs at a definite age and at a definite time. Each and every child has a different rate of development although they ultimately follow more or less the same pattern of rate of development.  For example: Some babies start walking at the age of 9 months while others may start a little late. Some babies can start making sentences at the age of 1.5 years while others can speak only a few words. But by the age of 3years, most of the children can walk independently and can speak using small simple sentences. Importance of Differences Children develop at different rates. This helps to monitor and expect what children can and cant do at a particular phase in their lives. In the sequence of development one must finish with one of area of development before a move on to the next one. The rate of development is the rapidity with which a child develops. These can be the speed within each phase of development or cover all the set areas in the phase. These principles run through all the areas of development from physical, social, intellectual and language no matter what the age of the child. If at all one is skipped or slow it can be a cause for concern. It will also help to plan effectively to ensure they get the attention they need, in the areas in which they find challenging.   Physical  development  follows a definite sequence an example of this would be that a baby would have to first learn how to hold his/her own head up before they would be able to sit with just its lower back supported.   While the sequences are common amongst most children what often changes is the  rate  in which they develop the skills.  It is important to recognise the difference so you can identify where  children  need help or may be at risk of having a special recommendation or having a special need in or outside school. 1.c Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice. Child development means the biological and psychological and emotional changes that take place within an individual since birth to the end of adolescence. It would be clear to us if we discuss the theories of development presented by Montessori, Piaget and Vyogotsky. Montessori: Montessori Method of education was developed in Italy in the early 1900 by Dr Maria Montessori. The core philosophy behind the method is that every child is unique in comparison to adults and also to other children and that their individuality must be respected throughout the educational process. Montessori was of the opinion that a childs mind is always eager to learn, explore and wants to try new things. Keeping these in mind the activities for Montessori education was designed. It involves the education of individual senses and individual muscle movements. Piaget: Jean Piagets view of how childrens minds work and develop has been enormously influential, particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation in childrens increasing capacity to understand their world. His theory is that a child cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. He proposed that childrens thinking does not develop entirely smoothly. Instead, there are certain points at which it takes off and moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He proposed that childrens thinking doesnt develop entirely smoothly; instead He saw these transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways, and has been used as the basis for scheduling the school curriculum. Vygotsky: Lev Vygotskys theory is intellectual development. His theory is that children learn new skills by being guided by cares and parents. An example of this is when a parent sings to their child and helps them clap their hands until the child can clap their hands themselves. He believes that every new scene or interaction is a learning experience to a child that he/she must be guided through until they know how to react correctly. We also give praise when children handle social interactions with good behaviour to prove that we are pleased and they have behaved appropriately. He expressed that Every function in the childs cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. Cole Michael; Vygotsky, Mind in Society : the development of higher psychological processes. Vygotsky felt that development was a process and saw periods of crisis in child development during which there was a qualitative transformation in the childs mental functioning. Carton, Aarons; Vygotsky, Collected works of L S Vygotsky 5, Child Psycholgy. The EYFS (Early Year Foundation Stage) is a framework for all registered providers of services for children under 5, which became statutory in September 2008. It marks the first time that practitioners from all sectors of the early childhood workforce, from the head teachers of primary schools to registered childminders and after-school play-workers, have been required to observe the same guidelines relating to the education and care of young children. The framework provides statutory guidance, not only on the ways in which development and learning are to be supported within schools and settings, but on the ways in which relationships with families are to be established in support of these goals. EYFS ensures: Children learn through play Providers work closely through parents Parents are kept up to date on their childs progress The welfare learning and all round development of children with different backgrounds and levels of ability, including those with special educational needs and disabilities The National Curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by  primary and secondary schools  to ensure that every child receives a broad and balanced education. It covers type of subjects that are taught and the standards each child should achieve in each subject. The National Curriculum had a positive impact in improving practices to teach reading, writing and maths. It also ensures lifting of the level of average achievement and updating practices to improve the efficacy. The use of the curriculum also enables schools to prevent racism, reduce discrimination and promote cultural diversity. 1.d Explain how different types of intervention can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern. Every child is unique and individual in nature. However, the growth and development of a child depends on a step by step progress that a child makes during a definite period. A developmental delay is defined when a child doesnt reach an expected developmental milestone. When a child has been detected by any kind of developmental delays, he or she can be promoted by different sorts of intervention to achieve the developmental goal. A child can be given support to develop his social, physical, intellectual, language and emotional development. Social development: We can always encourage a child with socially acceptable behaviour. We could appreciate a child when he is taking turns while playing with others. Children should be encouraged to join in a team game/sports. Sometimes a child takes time to do things independently. Being an adult, we must be patient with them. Sharing books, stories, puppets with children helps them to understand ideas of different situations and also how to deal with them. Physical development: Children need opportunities for both indoor and outdoor activities to develop their physical skills. A child enjoys exploring and experiment, so that they should be encouraged to be explored and helping them to play with or without their play apparatus. We can help a child to become independent. A child can be encouraged for doing his/her everyday routines like using a spoon, getting dressed, dealing with fastening the shoe laces. While dealing with a child in indoors or outdoors we keep in our mind about a childs safety by checking the equipment the child is playing with and supervising the child whether he is using the equipment in a proper way. Intellectual development: Cognitive and intellectual development plays important roles in a childs development. It is an adults responsibility to increase the childs curiosity by promoting the different sorts of books, games, posters, play equipments and toys. Children enjoy going for an outing. They learn a lot from the environment. We can encourage them by answering the questions. A little unsure or unconfident child can gain confidence from verbal prompts or encouragement. Too much complex activities sometimes put a child off due to the frustration of not being able to do the activities. So it is always helpful for the children to do with the activities which they enjoy. Sometimes, repetition of games/activities helps them to discover different aspects of the activities. Childs intellectual skills can be developed by playing memory games with them. We can increase their concentration by presenting activities, games and stories in an interesting way. A child can always be encouraged to use their senses to experiment with different materials. Language development: A child learns or develops his language by listening to an adult. When a child listens or whenever he is being talked he improves his language skills. A child can be talked about anything and everything. It is always advisable to use a simple sentence while talking to an infant. Sometimes, repetition is required to reinforce unknown or new vocabulary. Sharing books, stories and exchanging ideas also help to develop language skills. Emotional development: Praise and encouragement always help to build self-confidence and to focus a child into which he/she is good at. Sharing resources, helping others and contributing ideas increase an interest in the pupils efforts and achievements. 1.e Analyse the importance of early identification of speech, language and communication delays and disorders and the potential risks of late recognition. Importance of early identification: Speech, language and communication play a vital role in all our lives. We begin our communication development skills from birth. Speech, language and communication allow us to be social. Some children may have some speech, language and communication delays and disorders which can affect their personal, social and academic life. Sometimes some children overcome their speech and language problem by the time they enter school and some will not be able to do so. Hence, it is important to identify those children who will find it difficult to overcome language or speech problem. An adult acts as a facilitator by providing appropriate activities and experiences to enable children to develop their speech ,language and communication skills in meaningful situation   A child can quickly fall behind if speech and language learning is delayed. Sometime, the problem can be very severe, when an individual cannot communicate at all without alternative or augmentative communication such as signs or communication aids. Early identification of speech, language and communication delay is extremely important as the chances to alleviate these problems and improving these skills are greater. Early identification helps children to conquer their communication difficulty, language and speech delays with the assistance. Potential risks: The potential risk for late recognition of speech, language and communication is childs learning and development will suffer, which may affect their behaviour when they are not understood. If these delays are not identified the delay will continue and the child may suffer from lack of confidence, less able to manage their thoughts and will more than likely experience emotional problems. Other aspects of development will also be affected, e.g. cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural.  They may struggle to keep up their views and ideas and will have trouble getting others to understand what they are trying to communicate. Many children with communication problems will go on to develop mental illness if untreated. Often underlying health and medical conditions go unnoticed and undiagnosed in children with communication problems. They would also struggle to understand what they are being told or asked them in a learning environment which may lead the child to a negative effect on their self esteem and confidence. A child will also find it difficult to form a relationship with other children and will then feel angry and could lead to behavioural problems and isolation. 1.f Explain how play and activities are used to support the development of speech, language and communication. Play and activities are important throughout our life. These help a child to develop speech, language and communication skills.  Play and activity encourages children to communicate and thus to practice and develop their language and communication skills. They will need to communicate with their playmates and others, so that creates a situation where they can practice and develop their language skills. In the end, it is practice that allows for the development of language skills and activity is a good way to encourage that practice. Speech language and communication play a crucial role in childrens development. Language helps an individual to express thoughts, ideas feelings emotions and information. Children can communicate through actions and gestures as well as through language. Children through their play and structured activities can communicate through verbal and nonverbal interactions. Play and activity contributes and supports childs learning .It helps them to learn discipline. Play activities enable child to impose some structure or organisation on a task, make sense of their experiences. During play children combine many skills such as movement, thinking, attention, seeing, listening and, of course, communicating. It follows that children with a difficulty in one or more of these skills can be helped to progress through play. Children are always using toys in different ways than we would expect boxes can become cars to drive in to distant lands, the sand tray becomes a desert and absolutely anything can be used as a gun or a cricket bat apparently!! It would be helpful for the children if we do not try to limit the toys uses as children can learn so much during role-play working and playing with others, different language, turn taking, problem solving, and feelings for others, decision making, knowledge exchange between their friends or grownups. When a child is encouraged with different kinds of activities it helps them to express themselves, and feels confident enough using different materials, such as paint brush or a pencil and helps them to experiment with different playing equipments which may also help to bloom up their personality. For instance using of paint brush encourages the child to use fingers, thumbs, hands and feet to do paint printing and brings in them some innovative ideas. When a child is participating in a musical activity by singing, dancing, clapping and playing instruments he or she is developing a sense of music along with that they are coor