TASK1
Reflect on what you already understand about early childhood drawing on your prior experiences. What has influenced you to study early childhood and why did you choose to embark on this degree?
Empowering and facilitating children with fundamental knowledge is an outstanding ability to have, as the skills and information from learning will help them advance not only in their everyday practical lives but also in their future careers. Education has always been vital to me which is why I aim to positively influence children with it. (Doherty, Jonathan, 2014. P.7) Child development is concerned with understanding the various processes that determine both the physical and psychological make-up of children.
As the second-born in the house, I help care for my brother and sister on an everyday basis which has provided me with competence to interact well with children. I also routinely help them with the majority of their homework. This has taught me how to be patient and compassionate. Apart from being fortunate enough to see the impact that great teaching and learning has had on my siblings, I have also volunteered at Cardboard Citizens organisations where we put on workshops for the homeless. This is what inspired me to want to teach as assisting others, especially children who need to be catered to, was something that I found myself to be extremely passionate about. The homeless that we helped self-develop, teach and re-integrate back into society were from all social backgrounds. I also dealt with many young children. Being able to visually see their various stages of progress was very rewarding to me and to this present day has made by vision of being an early childhood teacher clear.
During my gap year, I volunteered to work in an orphanage in Ghana for six weeks which fuelled my passion for teaching even more. I engaged in the teaching, constructions and development of the local community. Tedam, Prospera (2014) suggests that people who work with children will be striving to support the development of children into adulthood that are positive, productive and respectful. I believe that my experience could also make this major impact on a child’s life and can relate with this. This helped me to become not only more responsible but adaptable which is needed when teaching young children. I feel as though this is one of my best achievements of giving back, however I have a lot more to offer.
Since then I have been helping the children at my local youth club with their academic time management, learning structure as well as providing learning techniques based on their proven capabilities. Many of them have reported back to me that they’ve seen improvements in their grades which brings great pleasure to me as I always seek to challenge myself. I feel that a teaching degree would be relevant to me because I’ll be able to expand on the skills gained through the above experiences as well as being able to examine critical reasoning and analytical skills in relation to early childhood. The learning of key documents, policies and procedures will be very useful to me for the professional working environments. Marion Dowling (2005) recommends that ‘people who are profound effect on her self-esteem these are described as the significant others, they include the parents, carers and practitioner who have early contacts with the child’. Through learning the key points by experience would eventually make an impact on a child’s self-esteem.
In conclusion, my long-term plan is to inspire children in primary schools internationally with my teaching that will be matured through higher education, whilst enhancing the knowledge of others and myself. Having a mixed-cultural ethnicity provides me with tools needed in this multicultural and diverse society, making me relatable in many ways to the upcoming generation. As an enthusiastic, multidimensional, motivated and warm-hearted practitioner, a university teaching training course will provide me with a beneficial experience to develop my own style of teaching. Overall, this course early childhood will help me apply theoretical research into my chosen career path for the future.
Bibliography
Doherty, Jonathan, 1961; Hughes, Malcolm, (2014). child development: theory and practice 0-11. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Harlow: Pearson. 7.
Prospera, Tedam (2014). an introduction to early childhood . 3rd ed. London: Tim waller and Geraldine Davis. 91.
Marion Dowling (2005). young children’s personal, social and emotional development. 2nd ed. london: Paul chapman . 4.
Task 2
Summarise a chapter from your reading on play.
Book title: An introduction to early childhood
Chapter: Well-being
Well-being is vital in everyday life, whether it be in children or adults and is highly recognized to be principal to people. Well-being is a core concern with children, it is so important due to the development, growth, self-esteem, physical health and staying safe. According to (Manning-Morton, n.d. P.2) is a complex concept that shares several points of emphases to the different disciplines and perspectives. In this essay, I would be summarizing a chapter of well-being on the book titled ‘An introduction to early childhood’. This book highlights the significant periods for physical, intellectual, and psychosocial improvement. It marks the procurement of cognitive and language abilities, the combination of attachment relationships, and the development of a sense of self.
It is intensely significant to make sure a child grows up in a correct way with the right things in place as a child is more sensitive than an adult. Every child is unique and has their own way of growth. (Waller, T. 2009. P.16) suggests that going back to history well-being relates with Health- the World Health Organization (1948) this concept defines the global health of a person. From my research, I notice that well-being is one of the most important things for professionals and practitioners to be aware of. In recent times, Pollard and Lee (2002) put forward five individual domains for how childhood look like in literature. The five include research on social, physical, cognitive, psychological and economic.
In relation to young children, children should feel safe in whatever environment they’re in as well as whoever takes responsible for it. Every child is distinctive in their own way; they have their own way of learning and expressing themselves. Some children have disabilities, learning difficulties and behavior problems. Knowing this it’s extremely important that the professional or practitioner in the early working years could give the right support to create guidance to help the individual for future references.
According to (Waters, J, 2009. Pg. 18) professionals and practitioners should consider how the setting in which we work considers the term well-being. As practitioners and professionals, it is vital to be aware of the instrumental and holistic view of well-being in the policy or practice. By considering the instrumental view, it leads to knowing what skills they should have such as knowing how to keep clean, knowing how to keep safe and knowing how to eat healthily. Whereas the holistic view is viewed as how children experience their lives, for example, having a voice, feeling a part of a community and feeling valued (Waters, J, 2009. Pg. 19).
Overall, this chapter on well-being provides a concise overview of many important aspects of early childhood and emphasizes the relationship between well-being and health. The chapter provides a solid foundation for the early years’ professionals to promote well-being.
Bibliography
Manning-Morton, J. (n.d.). Exploring well-being in the early years.
Waller, T. (2009). An introduction to early childhood. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Pollard, E. L., & Lee, P. D. (2002). ‘Child Well-being: A Systematic Review of the Literature’. Social Indicators Research, 61, 1, 59-78.
Task 3
Explore the meaning of the term ‘parental partnership’. What does true partnership
look like in practice?
The parental partnership is practitioners and parents working together to ensure continuity between home and learning setting which evidence has suggested is very important for child development and learning. Martin Needham (2011) also suggests that this approach seeks to identify elements of shared culture and cultural dissonances in relation to supporting learning.
The most important people in children’s early years is their parents. Parents can likewise support children’s learning in out-of-home settings, for example, pre-schools, childminding settings, crèches, playgroups, and primary schools. By cooperating, parents and practitioners can upgrade children’ learning and improvement. Children find out about the world and their place in it through their discussions, play exercises, and schedules with parents, guardians, and families. There are loads of benefits of shared working when parents and practitioners have a shared sense of what the term partnership (Lawson, 2003). This sets an emphasizes on the processes of shared communication.
When you think about families, there are diverse set ups there could be, set ups that don’t involve two parents. The reality is that not every family is the same. As a practitioner, it’s important to understand that there are many different types of families and that families change. Traditionally, couples in families with children but you may perhaps also get different types and situations such as same sex parents, single mothers, foster parents, and carers.
All parents require support at a point. For instance, a money issue, the loss of a friend or family member or sick well-being may imply that they require additional help. Time requirements, cultural identity, social and economic foundation, poverty, discrimination, past negative encounters, language, literacy difficulties, or diverse incapacities, can likewise make it difficult for parents to take participation in their children’s’ learning and advancement as much as they like to. While partnership can profit all families, parent/practitioner partnerships organizations can be particularly vital for these families. The guideline is to work with families to creative an effective partnership that allows to exchange of information,
Bibliography
Martin Needham (2011). Making sense of theory & practice in Early childhood; the power of ideas. Great Britian: Tim Waller, Judy whitmarsh and Karen clarke. 58-59.
Lawson, M. A. (2003) ‘School- family relations in context. Parent and teacher perceptions of parental involment’. Urban Eudication, Vol. 38. No 1. P. 77-133.
Prospera, Tedam (2014). an introduction to early childhood . 3rd ed. London: Tim waller and Geraldine Davis. 91
TASK 4
Choose one of the lectures from the module that you feel extended your learning. Reflect on this with a peer via an electronic conversation. Demonstrate how you further supported your learning of the topic using your wider reading.
Friedrich Frobel had many inspiring ideas which believed that there is a connection between play and learning. Likewise, his works recognize the significance of natural materials in the environment and outdoor play. He established the principal kindergarten and has altogether influenced play theorists throughout history and continues to do so today (Bruce, 2012). In this essay, I would be discussing my chosen lecture which is Froebelian Legacy. This subject really extended my learning as Froebel’s work has a positive impact and relevance on the early year’s practice.
Froebel believes that there is a connection between play and learning. Likewise, his works recognize the significance of natural materials in the environment and outdoor play. He established the principal kindergarten and has altogether influenced play theorists throughout history and continues to do so today (Tovey, n.d). Working with children in the past, ‘play time’ was the most important part of the day for children and enables them to have a connection through playing outdoor games, imagination, creativity and learn through their senses.
Outdoor play is such a distinctive part of a child’s life and brings a safe environment for children to explore. Play allows children to discover areas of the world that both excite and concern them (Johnston, 2017). Observing as a practitioner, play provides a starting point on gaining understanding of where children are in their interests and their learning. “Play” is in some cases departed from “work” and is described as a sort of movement which is basically immaterial, insignificant and ailing in any genuine reason.
Discussing play with my peer I discovered that many people have different outlooks on play. Play in all its rich assortment is one of the most noteworthy accomplishments of the human species, nearby dialect, society and innovation. For sure, without play, none of these other accomplishments would be conceivable. The estimation of play is progressively perceived, by scientists also, inside of the approach stadium, for grown-ups and in addition kids, as the proof mounts of its association with scholarly accomplishment and passionate prosperity.
The human mind has around 10 billion interconnected nerve cells with a huge number of expansions (Perry, 1996 in Mustard and McCain, 1999). This intertwining of nerve fibres and their intersections permits a nerve motivation to take after any of a for all intents and purposes boundless number of pathways. In the early months of life, the human mind is customized to build up numerous pathways as it develops and encounters its surroundings. Early encounters influence how a tyke’s cerebrum gets to be organized and how the psyche creates. Ordinary encounters trigger neuronal improvement inside of the cerebrum, and the more regions of the mind that are empowered and utilized, the more pathways and systems that are built up. This procedures children’s development.
Jean Piaget is most noted for presenting the phases of kid advancement. These stages specifically identify with play, as he expressed that scholarly development happens as kids experience the phases of life, or controlling the outside world to meet one’s own particular needs–playacting–and settlement, or straightening out one’s own perspectives to address the issues of the outside environment, or work. Overall, my opinion on Piaget’s statement gives me the opportunity to understand that play is fundamental to children’s learning. The benefits of play allow children to explore not only their idea’s but their feelings, this also gives practitioners recognition of their knowledge and issues a child is facing though play.
Bibliography
Bruce, T. and McNair, L. (2010). Early childhood. Los Angeles: Sage, p.57.
JOHNSTON, J. (2017). EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES. [S.l.]: ROUTLEDGE.
Penn, H. (2008). Early childhood services. Buckingham [u.a.]: Open Univ. Press.
Tovey, H. (n.d.). Bringing the Froebel approach to your early years practice.
Waller, T. (2005) An Introduction to Early Childhood: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach. London: Paul Chapman Educational Publishing.
(Perry, 1996 in Mustard and McCain, 1999). https://www.bing.com/search?q=%28Perry%2C+1996+in+Mustard+and+McCain%2C+1999%29.+&qs=n&form=QBRE&pq=%28perry%2C+1996+in+mustard+and+mccain%2C+1999%29.+&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=151620361ac146718bbbafc4829db278