Childcare Essay Example for Free

Childcare Essay Birth-12 months- Babies will begin to smile at adults especially at their careers. Will gaze at faces and will copy facial movements. They respond to faces and voices of familiar people around them, they are still shy around strangers but enjoy affection from their careers. They enjoy being held, cuddled and tickled by adults. They will start to talk using babble noises. â€Å"Temper tantrums† may have started. They start to become more demanding and assertive and can express rage at being told ‘no’, they have no idea of sharing and a strong sense of ‘mine’. 1-2years- Are becoming aware of others around them, they may begin to start to display attachment and anxiety separation from carers and adults they are close to. They will begin to start exploring their environment knowing there is a familiar adult nearby for reassurance. As they develop they can start showing signs of emotions e. g. when another child cries they may start crying as well, when another child smiles at them they will smile back. Are very possessive of toys they may have and find it hard to share. Play becomes more fun with other children, and they will mostly be cooperative. They may start to display temper tantrums. 2-3 years-Children will begin to learn about relationships and will start to seek others to share in their experiences and for reassurance. They tend to find it hard to control their feelings especially when they are excited and frustrated. They tend to still look for adults for comfort if they are upset. They are starting to become more independent in things they do. 3-4years- children will begin to social with in a group of children and began to play cooper actively some of the time. They began to take control of their toilet needs and become more independent in the in self-help. They are starting to develop own feelings and start to show empathy towards others. Most children will have started school at the age 4 and will be enjoying their independence. 5-7years-Children will become independent by dressing and undressing themselves. Begin to choose own friends. They start to understand rules and boundaries and like to have structure and routines. They will seek out adults for approval and praise. They have good sense of when other children are upset or sad. Their social skills will be growing as play becomes more cooperative with other children as they enjoy turn taking. They will have a developed a good sense of self-awareness both positive and negative. They now know the difference between right and wrong. Progression towards teenage years- They are a lot more independent in what they do and become less reliant on others. They begin to form good relationships with others and are more aware of their gender. They begin to understand what behaviour is acceptable and what is unacceptable and have a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They are beginning to what their own privacy. They become more concerned of what other people think of them and can often become unsure about new changes. 13-19 years- Become more self-motivated within themselves. Need a lot more reassurance as they start to approach adolescence/puberty, do not appreciate that parent’s get involved in how independent they become as they get older. Mood swings and confrontation become more apparent. Will start to engage in new friendships especially as they progress to further education in a new environment. Becomes more self-conscious about their appearance and social status. Will begin to engage in more adventures activities but may be aware of the forth coming actions due to their involvement. Will begin to think things through before undertaking the action and are more independent in their decisions and intellectual interests. They begin to set goals for their future in education/employment but still worry about failure. Language Birth-12 months-Will communicate with others in different ways such as crying, babbling and squealing and will use their vocal voice and enjoy vocal play alongside adults , will use gestures such as putting arms up to be picked up, when talked to from a familiar person will make own sounds in response. 1-2 years- Speech is starting to develop as they start to respond and understand more words. They are starting to acquire new words on a regularly basis. May start to use one-two word questions and is able to put two words together. 2 years-3years- Will start to become more able to express what they want to adults and start to understand a little more of what adults are saying to them through words and gestures. They will start to extend their vocabulary rapidly up to about 70 words between 1-2 years old; will tend to have conversations with themselves about what they are doing and uses personal words which as they begin to develop their vocabulary and is able to follow one instruction when given by an adult. 3-4 years- Children begin to develop their language skills further by beginning able to say their own name and how they old they are. They begin to have a vocabulary of between 250 words to 500 words and starting to use more complex sentences. Can begin to describe things they are doing and explain why things are happening. 5-7years-Children are becoming to have good communication skills as their conversations and questions they ask become more complex. They are beginning understand the meaning of text and are starting to recognise letters, sounds and words as well as their own written name. They start to understand that one word can mean two things for example orange for fruit and orange as a colour. They are still building on their language in spoken and written form. Progression towards teenage years- They will still be developing their language skills but in a more complex way. Are starting to talk problems through to be able to solve them as their ability to think logically begins to mature. 13-19years- Their language skills are still developing but in a more complex way. Physical Birth-12months- A baby will grow rapidly during their first year of development within weeks a child will begin smiling and will turn the head to respond to different sounds in their environment. They will begin to have a pattern in their own routine for example feeding time and sleep time. On the approach to six months they will begin to roll over from their front to their back and start grasping objects which they will tend to put in their mouth. By 8 months they begin to crawl and by 9 months they begin to start walking. 1-2 years- Most babies will be crawling or possibly still shuffling; they start to pull themselves up on furniture to the standing position to support them to move along from one end to the other. They may start to take a few steps independently or with adult support, they start to become curious about different objects passing toys from one hand to the other , hand eye coordination is developing as they start holding an object in each hand and bringing them together in the middle. They will start to attempt to self-feed themselves with their hands or a spoon and use a cup with two hands. Fine motor skills are developing as they begin to use crayons/pencils in the palmer grasp when mark making. 2-3years- Begins to climb on equipment with confidence, and is able to walk up and down stairs holding onto the rail using two feet at a time. Fine motor skills when mark marking is developing from palmer grasp to tripod grasp as they begin to scribble/draw lines. They have developed the skills to kick a ball and throw a ball, increasingly able to manipulate small objects with hands. They become more independent in their feeding skills as they begin to easily use a spoon and possibly a fork. Potty training will start being introduced as a child begins to control their bowel movements. Bricks will be built into larger towers than before usually with six or seven bricks. 3-4 years- Children are becoming more independent in their choices. Gross motor skills are developing quickly as they begin to run, jump, climb up climbing frames and start to try and ride a tricycles, when mark making will hold pencil between thumb and finger and begins to draw lines and circles and may start to copy some letters from their name. Independence in dressing and undressing has developed and toilet training is more independent. Has more confidence in Self-feeding using a knife and fork. 5-7 years- Children begin to have rapid muscle growth in these years. Pencil control is developing as they start to draw circles, peoples and copying words. Preference for dominant hand is starting to show. Is able to care for own toilet needs independently. Begin to have preferences for likes and dislikes. Dressing becomes more independent as they start to learn how to do buttons laces etc. 7-12 years- They have well established hand eye coordination as mark making skills develop in drawing and printing. They are very active as they start to enjoy team games with other children/adults e. g. hitting balls and chasing each other. Boys begin to engage in a lot of rough and tumble games. The development of girl’s physical development is developing quicker than the boys. 13-19years- These years are classed as the transition from child hood to adult hood (adolescence) as they will start to experience changes in their bodies. The physical development in each child is different at this age as some may just start to mature physically and some may have fully physically matured. Intellectual Birth-12months- babies start to learn through their senses especially by putting things in and out of their mouths. 1-2years- They are still learning through their senses. They start to be curious about things and like to explore objects by using their fingers especially poking their fingers into things and taking things apart. They will start to say the names of familiar objects, people and familiar body parts. Start to use one word sentences â€Å"no† â€Å"bye bye† and starts to enjoy simple songs and rhymes. 2-3years-Are still learning through all their senses, they are still very curious about things in their environment. They are starting to use three to four word senses and start singing simple songs and rhymes. 3-4years- At this age they are still learning through using their senses. Are beginning to use their imagination in play using one object to represent another object and are starting to enjoy role play situations. Begin to start to become more curious and inquisitive about their environment. Has large vocabulary, 1500 to 2000 words as they start to approach the age of 5. 5-7years- children will start to follow instructions by adults and will accept help, although they are still unsure about trying new things if they are unfamiliar with them. Some children may begin to stutter when they get excited to tell someone something or if they are nervous. Colour and number recognition is apparent and may start to write a few letters they recognise. At this age most children are learning to read and write. 7-12years- Children start to have a good attention span and are able to solve more complex problems. Enjoys working hard to complete tasks they are set and enjoys challenging experiences. Are curious about how things work and why things happen. Reasoning and thinking becomes more abstract. They may start to enjoy reading, writing and using books. 13-19years- They start to begin to think logically about concepts. They become more argue mental with others Moral. Birth-12months- Babies do not have moral development at this age. 1-2 years- Are sensitive to adult approval/disapproval, despite tantrums and bursts of anger. No understanding of right from wrong, but starting to understand yes or no. 2-3 years- appears to be independent and self-reliant and wants to be good, but is not yet mature enough to be able to carry out most promises. They are starting to understand the word â€Å"no†, they still do not understand right from wrong. 3-4 years- Is starting to understand right from wrong. They are becoming more self-controlled and less aggressive, and may use extreme verbally threats such as â€Å"I will kill you† without realising the full consciousness. 5-7 years- Is becoming aware of right and wrong; is wanting to be good and please adults but may tell lies to blame others for own wrongdoing because of intense desire to please and do right . 7-12 years- Is very concerned with personal behaviour, particularly as it affects family and friends; May experience guilt and shame. Has difficulty in admitting to mistakes but are becoming more capable of accepting failure and mistakes and are aware of consequences of their behaviour. Is aware of right and wrong; wants to do right. 13-19 years- Understands right from wrong and consciences of their actions. They try to weigh alternatives and arrive at a decision of their own. They are very unlikely to lie and are concerned about how other people are treated. They will experience numerous feelings of anger, sorrow and frustration. They may even be interested in sex as response to physical-emotional urges. 1. 2 Analyse the difference between sequences of development and rate of development and why the distinction is important. Identifying the difference between the sequence of rate and the rate of development of children is important as it helps to identify a child’s ability and helps to meet the needs of individual children. It also enables you to be able to identify any special educational needs and helps you to plan effectively to make sure they are getting the help and support they may need in areas they may have gaps in. Sequencing- means a pattern of development in children but this can vary in each child. The sequence is a definite order of developmental milestones that children meet and accomplish over time as they need to finish one area of development before moving to another developmental stage. e. g. rolling over and sitting up occur before learning to walk, a toddler being able to walk before they can run Rate- Is the speed of which children develop but this may vary greatly in each individual child e. g. a child’s will start to babble before they begin to use words. 1. 3 Analyse the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the pattern normally expected There are many factors which contribute to a child not following the pattern of development disability either physical or mental will make them find it harder to learn the same as another child the same age, resources, facilities, possibly restrictions due to a disability, environment (poverty) due to lack of essential resources needed, emotional problems may cause a child to have lack of concentration or interacting skills, culture how people bring up their children. There are reasons why development may not follow expected patterns they are: †¢ Disability can affect development because if children can’t use certain parts of their body for example they may not be able to use their legs they won’t be able use a climbing frame their physical development won’t be able to develop in the expected way. The nursery or school they attend may not have the equipment needed for the child to achieve their desire to use the climbing frame. †¢ Emotional difficulties can affect expected patterns of development because a child who is not settled into a nursery and does not have solid relationships with the adults in their life are more likely to have low self-esteem and are less likely to try new activities that would help their development. †¢ Environmental factors such as poverty and family could affect a child’s development because if they do not have much money some opportunities such as nursery will not be available. Family could also affect a child because single parents may not have the time and energy to engage and challenge their child to try new things that would help their development. Food may not be as nourishing and nutritious. †¢ Cultural reasons for example girls in many cultures are not given the same opportunities as boys this will limit their development because they are not expected to go to school. †¢ Social factors such as transport could result in development not following expected patterns because parents who don’t drive may have difficulties in getting their children to school regularly which could result in poor attendance so the child could miss out on key factors of their education. Home schooling could also affect children’s social development as they won’t have had many opportunities for social interaction with children their own age which could result in a social delay. †¢ Particular learning needs may affect development because a child having difficulties with reading and writing and they are not receiving the extra help they need is likely to fall behind in school work. †¢ Communication difficulties could result in development not happening in the expected way because children who have a hearing impairment can cause a delay as we learn to speak by listening this could lead on to a speech impairment which may result in children only expressing what they can and not what they really mean. Parents who don’t talk or read to their children will also affect the child’s development. 2. 1 Analyse how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors Family Environment- Family life has the most important impact on children‘s development due to the various family structures and stability each individual child has. Cramped Housing May share a room with several other children, this can lead to cramped spaces for children, not enough room to play, no personal space. Single parents where children may have lack of male/female role models which may cause social stigma. Parents divorcing/separating- This is very stressful on everyone involved, children can become emotionally withdrawn, suffer lack of confidence and can create lack of self-esteem. Working Parents- When parents have to work all week this will leave little room for direct social, emotional and intellectual support. Step families- When children become part of a new step family it may cause friction, hatred and jealousy between the children from each family and children towards their new step parent. This could lead to the child/teenager to become socially and emotionally withdrawn. Health Problems – health problems can be a genetic problem or due to the poor living environment they grow up in. If a child is raised in poor quality housing this may lead to health problems e. g. damp can trigger asthma and other breathing problems, if a child is not getting a good variety of healthy food/nutrition this could lead to health problems. Children who suffer from health problems may miss out on a lot of their education, which could be departmental in the future learning. Learning difficulties – A child with learning difficulties will need extra support in certain areas of development and may develop a low self-esteem because they get annoyed with themselves for not being able to do something, such as a simple numeracy problem, or read a book. A child with language/communication difficulties may find it hard to socialise with other people/children. Disability A child in a wheelchair or with a serious physical impairment would find it hard to do many activities, particularly those that are physically demanding. Gross motor skills would be at a less developed rate than peers and fine motor skills may be affected if the child had little or no control over their limbs. Genetic A baby’s genes are determined at conception. If something is faulty at this stage, this can have a huge impact on the child’s development. This may be physical or intellectual. If a mother takes drugs, drinks alcohol or smokes when pregnant, there is an increased chance of delivering an underweight baby at birth. It can also lead to cognitive problems for the child as they get older . Visual impairment Children who have visual impairment usually have some vision; this can vary from each child. Some children may be able to see outlines of objects while others may only be able to tell the difference between light and dark. If a child has vision problems this nearly always initially delays their physical development. Their gross and fine motor skills would be affected because they would be unable to be as adventurous as children with good vision. Fine motor skills may not be in line with other children as the child would find it hard to do tasks that require precision such as threading beads or colouring. Hearing impairment Hearing is a very important part of learning language and being able to communicate effectively with others. Children will need to learn to speak and listen. Their language and cognitive development would almost certainly be affected, but their social development might be hindered as well. They may speak in a monotone voice and not respond when spoken to. People may start to treat them differently and this might make them feel isolated and secluded from daily experiences 2. 2 Analyse how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of external factors Education- Children deserve the best start in life in education as it will help them become very academic and achieve their full potential. If they are unable to access the resources they need for their education e. g. books, stationary and internet this will hinder their learning and they may not develop as well as those who have the opportunities. Poverty- Poverty effects children’s development in various ways; if they have a poor diet it may cause them to be unfit, lack of energy to be able to concentrate which will affect their progression of development. Children who come from low income families may have fewer opportunities to participate in out of school activities, and have limited access to equipment they may need for their education which will cause lack of motivation. Poor hygiene will lead to low self-esteem in a child as they become paranoid about their appearance and in some cases can lead to bullying. Foster Care- can cause long term effects on children due to lack of stability in their life. They have fewer opportunities to make positive relationships with others. They may be confused about why they are in foster care due to un answered questions. They are more venerable, as they have already had experience of the negative experience of being separated from family. Their self-esteem will be low which will make it harder for them to relate and socialise with others and to form attachments Personal choices- As children begin to develop they start to make personal choices for themselves, the choices they make can have a major effect on their development e. g. starting to smoke, using drugs, drinking, food choices, exercise choices. †¢ Family environment and background. In some homes education is not at the front of their things to do list. We can often see this where the parents/ carers are of a lower educational development. This could also show that there is no support at home as the parents do not understand the required educational elements needed to complete the work. †¢ Personal choices. If a child or young person as decided for what ever reason they do not want to be educated or leave school before they finish their education, this is their choice and we cannot always show them alternative choices for staying at school. †¢ Looked after/ care status. This again could have a huge influence as a lot of looked after children are moved around regularly. This will affect their education enormously. Separation and attachment issues are quite often the cause of many reasons not to want to be in school. This is constantly worked on by schools to find the best way to include these children in school and to be able to give them a good standard of education. †¢ Education. If for example a child has not attended a nursery or play group in their early years this can often set them back from what development stage they should be at when attending school. This could be the lack of nursery places, not good enough teachers to the child having a learning disability that has not been identified yet. †¢ Boyfriends/girlfriends. This is more apparent in young people more than children, but starting and finishing a relationship can be a huge influence on learning. Distracted and even heartbroken pupils will not learn to the same degree as others who are not at that stage. 2. 3 Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice Maslow- Believes everyone has fundamental needs that must be met in order for people to reach their full potential. The needs include warmth, food and shelter, love, security and self-esteem. His hierarchy needs has five stages which was expanded to include cognitive aesthetic needs. In our setting we ensure the children are well cared for, environment is clean and tidy, and temperature of nursery is at a comfortable level, we provide a healthy balanced diet. Children are allocated a key worker on entry in nursery key worker is responsible for ensuring each child’s needs are meet under the EYFP. Maslows theories of development include Humanist. Bandura – Created a theory that children learn by observing others, they do not need to be taught directly as they will imitate and observe what those around them are doing. This is a natural process and does not require the force of an adult. This learning is known as observational learning. In our setting we have a calm approach to all situations modelling good behaviour. We create an environment where observational learning can take place on a daily basis. Banduras theories including Social Learning. Skinner – Believes that children learn language through principles of conditioning and that they learn words by associating sounds with objects, actions and events. They also learn words by imitating other people. We support this in our setting by having a language rich environment, asking open ended questions, lots of interaction. Skinners theories including Operant Conditioning, Behaviourist and Attachment. Bowlby – Believes that attachment behaviours are instinctive and that early relationships and early experiences with care givers have a major role on development and behaviour and influence how children will react to social interactions with other people. Early attachment were children are secure to main carer will allow the child to have high self-esteem and will enjoy intimate relationships; they will start to have the ability to share their feeling and seek out others for support. We support this in my setting for new starters by introducing them gradually into the setting through visits which will start off with main carer staying with them and then progressing to the child having visits on their own to ensure they feel comfortable in their new environment. Lev Vygotsky- His theory is that children’s development depends on interaction with people and the tools that the culture provides. . He had three different ways cultural tools could be passed from one individual to another. Imitative learning where one person tries to imitate or copy another e. g. when a parent sings an action song and the child tries to copy, Instructed learning which involves remembering the instruction of an adult and then using these instructions, collaborative learning involves a group of peers who strive to understand each other and work together. He believes every new interaction is a learning experience to for children that they must be guided through until they know how to react properly. In our setting staff support this by supporting children who are having difficulty in managing certain tasks. We encourage turn taking and sharing, and provide plenty of opportunities for social interaction with adults and children. Piaget- Believes that children’s cognitive development moves through four different stages of mental development: Sensorimotor birth-2 years were a child recognises self as agent of actions and begins to act intentionally, preoperational 2-7years were they learn to use language and represent objects by images and words. , concrete operational 7-11 years were children can begin to think logically about objects and events and classify objects according to several features, Formal operational 11-adult hood were they can think logically about abstract propositions. He believed all children pass through these phases to advance to the next level of cognitive development. In our setting we encourage a more hands on approach and more relevant tasks for age/stage of development of child. We emphasise strongly on â€Å"child- Imitated† activities and observations to be able to plan for children’s needs. Freud- Believed that our personalities are made up with three parts; the â€Å"id†-is the instinctive part of our personality, the â€Å"ego†- is the planning part of our personality, and the â€Å"superego†- develops later in childhood it is known as the control part of our personality ,which are not all present at birth but will develop as the child develops. Freud theories of develop include Psychoanalytic. 3. 1 Analyse the importance of early identification of development delay Early identification and intervention is the best thing for a child’s long term benefits. Early intervention has a dual effect it helps children develop skills that are expected at their age but it also prevents the child from developing negative behaviours. Being able to identify signs of delay in a child’s development allows practitioner to make swift assessments and to involve outside agencies to make their own observations of the child. It is an important role for a practitioner to know and understand children’s learning and development in order for them to able to identify any early signs. 3. 2 Explain the potential risks of late recognition of development delay Late recognition of development, can lead to problems later on in life for young person understanding or a child being able to express their own feelings, leaving them feeling angry or frustrated and causing them to act out and maybe develop behaviour problems. It can also affect their confidence and self-esteem causing problems building relationships with peers and becoming. 3. 3 Evaluate how multi agency teams work together to support all aspects of development in children and young people Professionals from multi agency bring together all practitioners from different sectors that may need to be involved in working to support children, young people and families. Working with multi agency is a way of ensuring that children and young people who need additional support have exactly the right professionals supporting them. When a child needs additional support the SENCO of a setting will fill in a CAF form with relevant information and concerns about a child which will then be referred to relevant sector to enable team members to share information and support one another so the child’s needs are addressed efficiently and effectively. Regularly meetings are set to discuss the needs of the child or young people to plan for child’s development for example action plans. IEPs and to discuss child’s progress. The involvement of multi-agencies will vary as the needs of children and young people will be very different. What is important is that each person brings with them their own specialist skills, expertise and insight so that the child or young person gets the best support possible. Multi-agency working is a varied number l of services that have the collective aim to provide the best for children and their carers who are in need. The people involved to support a child’s needs could be a social worker, play specialist, early year’s practitioners, educational psychologists, health workers and any person with the ability to step in and help a child when their development is being hindered. Early years settings are more of an integrated working because they offer a cocktail of services within the setting, rather than external services which is multi-agency. England’s government framework, Every Child Matters, lists five outcomes that reinforce the importance of working together to achieve the best outcomes for children. The Early Years Framework also states that when professionals work together the results are better essentially, if all the people involved in a child’s life are aware of what that child needs, then development c