Understanding the child in early childhood

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Understanding the child in early childhood

• Dr. Kanwal Kaisser

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Contents
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Learning and Early Experiences
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Two processes that bring about change
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Learning

• A permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a
  result of experience
• Learning is dependent on a persons environment

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Critical periods for learning

• If miss out can still achieve but not as
  efficiently or effectively

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How important are early experiences?

• Early experience is important
• Most children who have a poor start in life often
  do not reach their potential

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Changing the environment

• Poor environment can retard development
• Later experience can partially change the course
  of development

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Predicting development

• Be careful about making generalisations or
  predicting future development

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Understanding Development
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Domains/Areas of Development
Momin Child
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Principles of Development

• Development is orderly, not random.
• Development is a continuous and gradual process.
• Development is most rapid during the early stages
  of infancy and the adolescent years.
• Not all children develop at the same pace.
• Not all children possess the same temperament.
• Development is a multi-faceted concept.

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Who and/or what influences a childs growth and
development?
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Cognitive and Social Development
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Important Factors That Impact the Developing Child

• Biological Development
• Environmental Influences

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Biological Development

• A childs abilities coincide with the development
  of his/her central nervous system (CNS),
  particularly the brain.

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Environmental Influences

• Understand the balance between developmental
  limits and adult expectations (i.e. 2 year-old
  children cannot be taught how to read, but their
  language development can be enhanced by reading
  to them).

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Four Major Stages of Cognitive Development
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Five Major Stages of Psychosocial Development
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Preoperational Stage (2-6/7 years)

• Developing ability to manipulate images and
  symbols, especially language.
• Play becomes key in learning.
• Begin to see use of symbolism in pretend play
• Childs view of the world is egocentric.
• Logical organization of thoughts remains
  undeveloped

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Initiative Vs. Guilt (2-6 Years)

• Description
• Children begin to interact with environment in
  more adult like manner as motor and language
  skills develop. They learn to maintain an
  eagerness for adventure and play, while learning
  to control impulsive behavior.
• Positive outcome
• If adults are encouraging, but consistent in
  discipline, children will learn to accept concept
  of right/wrong without guilt, and not feel shame
  when using their imagination and engaging in
  fantasy play.
• Negative outcome
• If not, children may develop a sense of guilt and
  may come to believe that it is wrong to be
  independent.

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Ages 2-6/7

• Preoperational

• Initiative Vs Guilt

• Language development is prominent.
• Fantasy/imaginary play becomes key in learning
  about and expressing their understanding of the
  world.
• Childs view of the world is egocentric.
• Formal logic is not a part of their thinking.

• Children begin to interact with environment using
  motor and language skills.
• Impulse control is initiated by external
  structure.
• Guilt can often stem from an egocentric
  understanding of the world around them.

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At 4 yrs

• Enjoys jokes and silly games and loves showing
  off
• Play still very important
• Can still demonstrate stubbornness, aggression,
  and blaming others
• A sense of past/future developing

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At 5 yrs

• Becoming more independent and can be serious and
  realistic at times
• Friendly talkative to strangers
• Becoming less frustrated and less angry

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At 6 yrs

• Speech becomes more social, less egocentric.
• Wants to be the "best" and "first."
• Grasp of logical concepts in some areas.
• Concepts formed are crude and irreversible.
• Perceptions dominate judgment.
• In moral-ethical realm, only uses simple do's and
  don'ts imposed by authority.
• Has boundless energy.
• May be oppositional, silly, brash, and critical.
• Cries easily shows a variety of
  tension-releasing behavior.
• Is attached to the teacher.
• Has difficulty being flexible.

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At 7yrs

• Begin to calm down a bit.   
• Begin to reason and concentrate.
• Worry, are self-critical, and may express a lack
  of confidence.
• Demand more of their teacher's time.
• Dislike being singled out, even for praise.  

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Building Positive Teacher-Child Relationships
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Whyfor success in school

• They result in
• Good peer interactions
• Positive relationships with teachers
• Lower levels of challenging behaviors
• Higher levels of competence in school

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Activity 1 Greeting Children

• Amna
• Most days Amna has a difficult time entering the
  classroom. She clings to her mother and cries.
  The teacher often has to stop what she is doing
  and physically take Amna from her mothers arms.
  After Amnas mother leaves, Amna often sits in
  her cubby and watches as others engage in
  activities within the bustling classroom.

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Techniques to develop positive teacher-child
relationships
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How can teachers develop positive teacher-child
relationships?
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Developing Relationships with Children

• Keep in mind
• Cultural, linguistic, and individual needs
• Adapt strategies to unique child and family
  characteristics

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Challenges to developing positive Teacher-Child
relationships
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Activity 2 What Could You Do?

• Ahmed is a 3-year-old who has recently been to
  the zoo. He crawls around the classroom roaring
  and pretending to claw at other children.
  Yesterday he scratched one of the other children
  on the arm. Ahmed ignores the teachers attempts
  to involve him in the class, even though the
  teacher has prepared many interesting activities.
  

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Activity 3 Gallery of Ideas

• Directions Identify as many ideas as you can
  that will help teachers to develop positive
  teacher-child relationships in the following
  situation or classroom area. Continue
  brainstorming until you hear the signal. Switch
  sheets with another group. Write with the same
  color that you have been using.

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Helping Children Learn to Manage Their Own
Behavior
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What is Self-Management?

• Pay attention to their own behavior.
• Use appropriate play and social interaction
  skills
• Participate in classroom routines
• Engage in instructional activities

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Steps to Self-Management

• Assess childs current level of self-management
• Identify behaviors you want the child to learn to
  self-manage
• Visually display behavior for the child
• Guide the child to learn the desired behaviors
  and self-management system
• Provide positive attention for using the
  self-monitoring system correctly

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Activity 1 Developing a Self-Management System

• Saima asks the children in her class to put the
  art supplies away, put their art work on their
  tables, and gather together on the rug for story
  time. Haroon, a 4-year-old in her class, often
  leaves everything on the table and wanders around
  the room instead.

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Using Environmental Strategies to Promote
Positive Social Interactions
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Ms. Rabia and Ms. Sadias Classroom

• The 20 preschoolers in Classroom are busy during
  choice time. They are washing toys in the sensory
  table, playing with play dough, listening to
  books on tape, and making art projects. Five
  children are seated in bean bag chairs listening
  quietly to different books, while another 5
  children are making paper cars with individual
  glue sticks, scissors, and boxes of crayons.

• The 5 children at the sensory table are arguing
  over the two bottles and one multicolor water
  wheel. The remaining 5 children are fighting for
  the 3 plastic knives to cut the yellow play
  dough. The two teachers look around the room
  wondering why half the room is so quiet while
  the other half needs constant monitoring.

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Teaching tools/aids
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