Naturalistic Observation In Early Childhood

Toddler Learning and Development Introduction Unlike adolescents and adults, growth and development is different in infants and toddlers. Observations from the physical, cognitive and perceptual development show that toddlers and infants grow and develop at a faster rate than adults. The physical, cognitive and motor development in infants and toddlers is higher than the same development in adults. This paper is an analysis and interpretation of an observation conducted with an aim to understand the growth and development of toddlers and infants. It explains an observation of an infant boy named Taylor who is 8 months old.

This theme addresses the question of whether or not children shape their own development. It is evident that the active child theme applies to the subject of infant cognitive development, as infants contribute to their development through the use of visual preferences and observation, interaction with the environment, and through the use of play. The bountiful research in the field of infant cognitive development serves as a confirmation that infants are not as inactive as they were once thought to be. Infants are the pioneers of their minds and they are able to gain a great deal of knowledge through their observation of the world

In this chapter, I learned about human development. Types of human development are moral reasoning and cognitive ability. Developmental psychology is the study of how human humans grow, develop, and change throughout life span. In other words, an individual goes the stages of infancy, early middle childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood, later adulthood. However, psychologists proposed different theories of development.

All of the theoretical frameworks of child development appear in Curious George. Behaviorism and social learning being the most prominent theory and psychodynamic being the theory that is most lacking. The development of a preschooler is complex and involves many factors including

At 3 years, with more fine control over their hand movements, they learn how to draw recognisable shapes. Theyâ€TMll enjoy looking at books and using toys they can sit and move on, e.g. a tricycle. Theyâ€TMll walk, climb, run and jump with confidence. Between 3 and 7 years, confidence plays a big part in child development, helping them develop as theyâ€TMre unafraid to try new things.

Most of the time, adults focus on the physical development and so quick to base their conclusions or judgement on the physical skills. The child being able to sit, stand, walk, talk or even making gestures to communicate in which initiated and strongly coached by the adult. Babies and

Childhood development is both a biological and psychological period that occurs with every human. Early childhood

This was the birth of Jean Piaget’s theory on learning. According to Mc Cune & Zane (2001), they proposed that toddlers are constantly involved in activities that can stimulate their mind, senses and also lead to early motor skills development. Children are curious explorers who explore their abilities through play and interaction. Mc Cune & Zane also stated, “as young babies are seen playing on their own, toddlers play and interact with other children their age”. A situation where five children are playing with the same toys in the same room, might follow different activities for each of them.

Statements made about a child that are inaccurate can lead to harming the child’s development, especially if it can lead to adults underestimating a child’s potential. This is why it is important to consider the reliability of the information that we gather and also the limitations of any observation methods that are used. • Avoiding bias It is really important at all stages of observing and assessing a child to be completely objective. Two people can record the same child doing the same activity and they can produce two very different observations, for example one person might decide that a smile is important and so they will record it but another person might decide otherwise.

The third stage of Erikson’s eight stages of development is Initiative vs. Guilt. Initiative vs. Guilt is the stage in which children really begin to explore about the “real world”. This stage usually occurs around the age of preschool. During this stage dramatic play becomes a big part of the child’s life; they began mimicking what they see adults do, they make up stories and play them out usually revolved around what they have seen. Another factor during this stage children start to learn male and female roles, you will see the girls playing with the babies and in the kitchen because they are mimicking what they see many other women do.

In this stage, children build up personal control over their physical skills and mostly their independence. Success over this will cause feelings of autonomy and failure leads to shame and doubt. The third stage is preschool and it starts at 3 to 5 years of age and the basic conflict is initiative vs guilt. In this stage, children assert

When he is upset, he will feel better if his educator gives him a big cuddle and sits with him for a while. He builds a sense of belonging and establishing relationships with other children, evidenced by his attendance at group times, music times, meal times. He shows interest in other children and being part of the group by observing them and copying what they do, for example, he is learning to wipe his hands before meals as he sees all his friends doing it. He interacts with his friends as well as sit along side his friends in a small group enjoying plastic blocks together. He feels relexed and comfortable exploring the environment in the room.

The second stage is between age of 2 to 6 years old, children form ideas with words and images, which is tend to be over generalizing. Developmental phenomena of this stage include pretending play, egocentrism and language development. And then the third stage from 7 to 11 years old, children think logically about concrete events and understand similar events. In this period, abilities of conversation and mathematical transformation get to be developed. Last stage, 12

For the purpose of this essay, a child developmental theory will be referred to as an approach and development will be defined as “the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the life span” (Santrock, 2011, pp.6). This essay

Having the right knowledge, skills and experience in understanding how children or young people develop are very important tools for early years practitioners. We must put to mind that each child born to this world is unique; they are born with different characters and their personalities and behaviours are formed and influenced by variety of factors. These factors may affect their ways of interacting to the environment and community or setting in which they live in. In my experience as a child care practitioner most of the time, adults mainly focus on the physical development of a child and so quick to base their conclusion or judgement on the physical aspect.