Child Development
"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of children, there are seven billion!" - Walt Streightiff
PHILOSOPHY AND VISION
Childcare is at the heart of every household and the cornerstone of the community. It has the potential to build children up and allow them to be the best person they can be, positively influencing society and all around them.
“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.”
Oscar Wild
This quote best sums up the students first unit undertaken, and provides the inspiration behind the sylabus. Students will be guided and allowed to explore how play opportunities are designed to help promote development in all areas. Students will also be able to consider the value of play and how it can be used to help children progress and take the expected steps in line with expected milestones. They will also explore how helping young children learn and develop isn’t about taking giant steps, or making lots of different steps, it is about taking the same small step over and over again until they have perfected something. Childcare professionals need to develop new and exciting ways to engage children to practice the same core skills in as many different ways as possible.
Nature versus nurture – cultivating and tending, leads to the brightest and strongest crops
Year 10
Learning through play; How children from 0-5 years of age learn through play. Stages of children’s play including unoccupied, solitary, spectator, parallel, associative and cooperative. How play can be organised to promote learning; adult and child initiated play. The different types of development associated with play. Physical, Intellectual/Cognitive, Social/Emotional, communication and language.
Investigation and research into children’s growth and development.
Physical; reflexes, body control, senses, gross and fine motor control, diet and health. Cognitive; attention span, response, vocabulary, reading/writing. Communication/Language; speech, listening, gestures, interaction, sentence formation. Social and Emotional development; relationships and attachment, confidence, self esteem, friendships, independence and resilience, discrimination, poverty.
Year 11
How individual circumstances impact learning and development; delayed or restricted motor skills, English as a second language, negative role models, disruptive behaviour, experiencing transitions. Create safe environments; risks and hazards, safety labelling, safe technology, adult control, outdoor and indoor resources. Adapting Play to promote inclusivity; UN convention on rights of the child, additional needs, alternative communication methods.