Child Development Theories and Practice

Child Development Theories and Practice The Scottish Government (2010) has issued national guidelines for adults working with children from pre birth to three years informing them of the four key principles which promote positive outcomes for young children and families. Nine features have been identified to put the key principles into practice. The four key principles are rights of the child, relationships, responsive care and respect. Research has shown that birth to three years is a critical age for growth and brain development. The Scottish Government (2010 pg 15) note that Forming and reinforcing connections are the key tasks of early brain development. It is the early experiences and developing relationships that cause the connections in the brain to increase rapidly. It is essential that staff form warm and respective relationships with young children. Quality interaction with adults at this age is important in order for the child to develop cognitively. Attachment is seen as one of the features of the key principles. It is the process through which young children form close relationships with a few well known people ie parents or grandparents. Bowlby the theorist at the forefront of this theory maintained these relationships act as a lasting template for shaping the childs ability to make and keep successful relationships with family and friends. It is thought these early experiences with the first people who looked after us may shape our long term emotional wellbeing (Birch 2007). Mary Ainsworth (1969) built on Bowlbys work. She maintained that caregivers should be sensitively responsive, be aware of the young baby or childs signals and be able to interpret them accurately and respond appropriately and promptly. Through my observations it was apparent that the child had a strong attachment to both his parents, see appendix 1, observation 1. During my project I was open and approachable with both parents, finding out about the child s temperament, routines, likes and dislikes, making both parents and child feel comfortable in my company. According to Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010 pg 24) one of the most effective ways of demonstrating respect for children and families is where staff express a genuine interest in them. I have been able to witness the benefits of working with a family in a home environment and feel that home visits should be arranged in order that a relationship can be built up with parents, children and practitioners before younger children attend an early years setting. This should make the transition from home to the setting run smoothly, enabling the child to feel safe and secure in a new environment. According to Dryden et al (pg 81) Having a secure attachment to their primary carers and to a key worker in a nursery setting appears to impact on a childs ability to cope with major life changes. This emphasises the importance of stable and sensitive care for very young children in an ear ly years setting. Goldschmeid was influenced by Bowlbys work and introduced the keyworker concept (The Early Years Foundation Stage 2007). This approach sees an adult being responsible for the care of a small group of children, getting to know their routines well and tuning into their needs. Ratios of staff to children could be a challenge of the system. It is not always possible for the same person to attend to the needs of younger children. Also rotas and turnover of staff may mean that other colleagues in addition to a childs keyworker will be required to know childrens routines and preferences. There are various models that can be used to track the growth and development of children in the early years. The medical and checklist models can result in a deficit view of the child, focusing on what the child cannot do. Learning should always start with what the child can do. The conventional method of studying child development has been to use the Normative Development model. Mary Sheridan carried out research in the 1950s. This work was used to develop a framework for child development. This uses the milestones approach and suggests that children should be able to achieve certain things at a certain age. Although there are recognized sequences of child development it is thought that as children develop at different rates it is more appropriate to look at a childs development holistically (Dryden et al 2007). The EYFS (2007) has divided learning and development into the following six areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication, Language and Literacy, Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy, Knowledge and understanding of the World, Physical Development and Creative Development (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2008) Observations and assessments should be completed in order that childrens development can be tracked and progression can be seen. It is important that there is a good record keeping system in place. Experiences offered during this project were not based on learning outcomes as this type of curriculum is not suitable for a child of this age. It is not appropriate to plan weeks in advance. By observing the child, together with information gained from parents I was able to go on to plan experiences based on his individual needs, see appendix 1, observation 3, I promoted play and supported and extended the childs learning where appropriate. I will take this into account when working in an early years setting, building childrens learning around their daily experiences and encouraging them to interact with others in the setting. Lev Vygotsky was a leading theorist of cognitive development whose thoughts are very current. He is seen as the founder of the social constructivist approach who be lieved that through social interactions with adults, children learn cultural tools and social skills. He felt that culture and community were essential elements of childrens cognitive development (Linden 2005). Children learn to think and put into practice their thoughts as a result of social interaction. Dryden et al (2005 pg82) notes the most important element of a high quality play and learning environment for babies and children up to three is the adult. I realize that I must provide an environment rich with child initiated learning to enable children to develop their language and cognitive skills and recognize that I will have to make reflection a part of my work routine. This will allow me to look at the opportunities of play that are provided and ensure children are being given the tools to make choices and decisions regarding their play and learning. Throughout my project I demonstrated to the child that I was interested in his learning by interacting with him and responding flexibly, tuning into his interests, enabling me to plan responsively for his learning. During observation 3, see appendix 1, the child was wrapping himself in curtains and on further discussions with his mother I learned that he liked to hide in the understairs cupboard and under tables and chairs. On reflection I thought this could be an envelopment/containment schema. Chris Athey (2003) identified schemas as a pattern of repeated actions. Children exhibit schemas when they are playing and trying to find out more about the world. Practitioners can use schema theory to interpret childrens actions and go on to support and extend childrens learning by providing appropriate resources. It may be difficult to explain schema theory to parents and I believe it may be helpful to use a video camera as a means of observation which may help the parents better understan d their childrens learning. Observation of childrens learning from both the home and setting can be shared and their learning taken forward from there. Working in partnership with parents is one of the features of the key principles in practice (Scottish Government 2010) Language acquisition is one of the key milestones in early childhood development. BF Skinner the theorist associated with Behaviourist Theory thought that children imitate the language of their parent or carers. The behaviourists believe that children learn through positive and negative reinforcement, using praise when a childs spoken word is recognized and ignoring unsuccessful attempts at speaking. This line of thought was challenged by Jerome Bruner a Social Interactional Theorist who believed that language development is both biological and social and that language is influenced by the desire of children to communicate with others. Bruner believed that through using a Language Acquisition Support System, various approaches can be used such as pointing out and naming objects and responding to childrens utterances all help children to acquire the language skills required for cognitive and social development. Bruner called this scaffolding the childs language acquisition (Birch 1997 ). I put this into practice during observation 2, appendix 1, talking to the child throughout, naming objects and responding to his gestures. The child seems to have good understanding of words but has a fairly limited vocabulary but this should increase rapidly around this age. After taking into consideration government initiatives and guidance, various theories of child development and my observations of a young child it has become apparent to me the importance of establishing a relationship between keyworkers, children and parents which is both respectful, responsive and nurturing. Research regarding the rapid development of babies brain development means practitioners must be aware of the impact of their practice on very young childrens social and cognitive developments. I realise the importance of continuing professional development in order to keep up to date with government legislation and any advances in child development which will help me make informed decisions regarding my practice. I believe it is important to put in place policies and procedures in early years settings that will facilitate the reflection on practice with practitioners, colleagues and parents.

Franklin, Rosalind (1920 - 1958) Essay -- Papers

Franklin, Rosalind (1920 - 1958) Franklin was a Londoner by birth. After graduating from Cambridge University, she joined the staff of the British Coal Utilisation Research Association in 1942, moving in 1947 to the Laboratoire Centrale des Services Chimique de L'Etat in Paris. She returned to England in 1950 and held research appointments at London University, initially at King's College from 1951 to 1953 and thereafter at Birkbeck College until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 37. Franklin played a major part in the discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick. With the unflattering and distorted picture presented by Watson in his The Double Helix (1968) her role in this has become somewhat controversial. At King's, she had been recruited to work on biological molecules and her director, John Randall, had specifically instructed her to work on the structure of DNA. When she later learned that Maurice Wilkins, a colleague at King's, also intended to work on DNA, she felt unable to cooperate with him. Nor did she feel much respect for the early attempts of Watson and Crick in Cambridge to establish the structure. The causes of friction were various ranging from simple personality clashes to, it has been said, male hostility to the invasion of their private club by a woman. Despite this unsatisfactory background Franklin did obtain results without which the structure established by Watson and Crick would have been at the least delayed. The most important of these was her x-ray photograph of hydrated DNA, the so-called B form, the most revealing such photograph then available. Watson fir... ...anklin's showing an image of the now famous Photo 51. Franklin, went on to study the tobacco mosaic virus, and continued her work in absolute dedication, despite having been diagnosed with cancer in 1956 (probably due to the chemicals she was using). She died two years later, 37 years old, never knowing how much her work had played a role in Watson and Crick's discovery. In 1963 they received the Nobel prize for their discovery, along with Wilkins, Franklin's collaborator. In 1968 Watson's popular book, The Double Helix, recounted the events leading to their ultimate discovery, making clear for the first time how critical Franklin's experimental work had been. Franklin's social isolation prompted by the contempt male scientists showed toward her as a woman-scientist, is one of the tragedies in the history of science.

Friedrich Froebel, Founder of Kindergarten Essay

Friedrich Froebel was a German educator of the nineteenth century who developed an Idealist philosophy of early childhood education. He established kindergarten and education for four and five-year-old children. Kindergarten is now a part of education worldwide. Friedrich Froebel was born in the small town of Oberwiessbach, Germany in 1782. His mother died when he was a baby. His father remarried, but Froebel never liked his stepmother. His feeling of rejection and isolation remained with him for life. This had a strong effect on his theory of early childhood education. He believed the kindergarten teacher should be loving, kind and motherly. Froebel also had an unsatisfactory relationship with his father which, along with his shyness, caused him to be â€Å"introspective and socially inept† (Gutek, 2005, p. 261). Therefore, he wanted his kindergarten to â€Å"foster a sense of emotional security and self-esteem in children† (Gutek, 2005, p. 261). At the age of ten, Froebel went to live with his uncle. As a young child, Froebel spent a lot of time playing in the garden around his home. This led to his love of nature and had a profound effect on his educational philosophy. When he was fifteen years old, Froebel apprenticed with a forester and surveyor and studied forestry, geometry and surveying in school. He briefly attended the University of Jena from 1800-1802. Then he studied architecture at Frankfurt University. Although he ended his studies without receiving a degree, Froebel gained a sense of artistic perspective and symmetry he later used to design his kindergarten â€Å"gifts† and â€Å"occupations. † While in Frankfurt Froebel was hired as a teacher at the Frankfurt Model School, which was a Pestalozzian school. He studied the Pestalozzi method of instruction which emphasized using objects to teach. His method rejected the use of corporal punishment and emphasized respecting the dignity of children. This method of teaching very much appealed to Froebel. Froebel wanted to incorporate Pestalozzi’s method and creation of a loving and secure environment for children in his own teaching methods. After teaching at the Model School for three years, Froebel studied with Pestalozzi for two more years Froebel also decided to study languages and science at the University of G? ttingen. He wanted to identify linguistic structures that could be used in language instruction. During this time he became very interested in geology and mineralogy, and also pursued this in his studies. Froebel believed that the process of crystallization (moving from the simple to the complex) emulated a â€Å"universal cosmic law that also governed human growth and development† (Net Industries, 2008, Biography section,  ¶ 3). He would later incorporate the geometric shapes and formations in crystals to create his kindergarten â€Å"gifts. † In 1816, Froebel started a school in Griesheim called the Universal German Educational Institute. He enrolled students who were 7 years old or older. The school eventually moved to Keilhau. The school remained opened until 1829 when it struggled and was forced to close. However, Froebel was able to test and develop some of his educational ideas in his school. In 1818 Froebel married Henrietta Hoffmeister. She shared Froebel’s love of children and assisted in his educational work until her death. Froebel established an educational institute at Wartenese in 1831. Later, he was invited to establish an orphanage at Burgdorf. Here he conducted a school for the town children and a boarding school for those who lived away. He trained teachers and established a nursery school for 3 and 4 year olds. He developed songs, rhymes, games, physical exercises and other activities for the nursery school. He experimented with the objects and other materials that eventually became his kindergarten gifts. He also stressed play and its role in education. In 1837, at the age of 55, Froebel relocated to Blankenburg and established a new type of school for early childhood education. He called it â€Å"kindergarten,† or â€Å"the children’s garden† (Smith, 1999,  ¶ 5). This word expressed Froebel’s vision for early childhood education: â€Å"Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers† (Smith, 1999,  ¶ 6). He used play, songs, stories, and activities to establish an educational environment in which children, by their own activity, could learn and develop. According to Froebel, this meant that children, in their development, would learn to follow the â€Å"divinely established laws of human growth through their own activity† (Net Industries, 2008, Biography section,  ¶ 5). This is where he used his kindergarten gifts and occupations. â€Å"Gifts were objects Froebel believed had special symbolic potential. Occupations were the raw materials children could use in drawing and building activities that allowed them to concretize their ideas† (Gutek, 2005, p. 265). Froebel became famous as an early childhood educator in Germany and by 1848, forty-four kindergartens were operating in Germany. Froebel began training young women as kindergarten teachers. Kindergarten achieved its greatest influence in the United States. It was brought to America by the Germans after the European Revolution of 1848. Kindergartens appeared wherever there was a large concentration of German immigrants. Henry Barnard, the first United States Commissioner of Education, introduced Froebel’s kindergarten into educational literature in the 1850’s by including it in the American Journal of Education, of which he was the editor. He also recommended to Congress that a public school system be established for the District of Columbia that would include kindergartens. In 1873, William Torrey Harris established a kindergarten at a school in St. Louis, Missouri and incorporated it into the public school system. This event led to more public schools incorporating kindergartens into their systems. Eventually, Harris became the U. S. Commissioner of Education and he continued to press for the incorporation of kindergartens into public school systems throughout the United States. Before Froebel started his kindergarten, children under the age of seven did not attend school as it was believed that these young children did not have the ability to develop the cognitive and emotional skills needed to learn in a school environment. However, Froebel believed in early childhood education: â€Å"because learning begins when consciousness erupts, education must also† (Pioneers, 2000,  ¶ 7). In his book, Education of Man, Froebel states the idealist themes of his philosophy: â€Å"(1) all existence originates in and with God; (2) humans possess an inherent spiritual essence that is the vitalizing life force that causes development; (3) all beings and ideas are interconnected parts of a grand, ordered, and systematic universe† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). This is what Froebel based his work on, claiming that each child had an â€Å"internal spiritual essence – a life force† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). This life force seeks to be manifested through self-activity. He also believed that â€Å"child development follows the doctrine of preformation, the unfolding of that which was present latently in the individual† (Net Industries, 2008, Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy section,  ¶ 1). Froebel’s kindergarten created a special educational environment in which this self-activity and development occurred. Froebel used his kindergarten gifts, occupations, social and cultural activities, and especially play to promote this self-activity. Froebel also believed that children were to learn that they were members of â€Å"a great universal, spiritual community† (Gutek, 2005, p. 266). Thus the use of games and social activities. According to Froebel, play was essential to educating the young child. He believed that through engaging with the world, understanding would develop. That is why play was so critical – it is a creative activity through which children become aware of their place in the world and the world around them. Education was to be based on each child’s interests and spontaneous activity. The kindergarten teacher’s job was to create an environment that would stimulate the child’s development. She was also to create a safe, secure environment that prevented anything from disturbing this process. It was essential to the kindergarten children’s progress that the teacher did not hinder the child’s free play and individuality. Each child would learn what he was ready to learn when he was ready to learn it. As Froebel states: â€Å"Education in instruction and training, originally and in its first principles, should necessarily be passive, following (only guarding and protecting), not prescriptive, categorical, interfering† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 8). Froebel believed the kindergarten should have a pleasant physical environment. He recommended the use of an adjoining garden or a brightly painted room with plants, animals and pictures. This should also be a prepared environment which would provide the teacher with the proper tools which the teacher felt would be most beneficial to the learning environment. And instead of traditional books, the kindergarten should teach using geometrical play objects of different shapes, sizes and colors (â€Å"gifts†). He also believed in symbolism and that if a child played with the â€Å"gifts,† they would help the child to understand fundamental truths. Froebel’s gifts consisted of: six soft colored balls; a wooden sphere, cube, and cylinder; a large cube divided into eight smaller cubes; a large cube divided into eight oblong blocks; a large cube divided into twenty-one whole, six half, and twelve quarter cubes; a large cube divided into eighteen whole oblongs with three divided lengthwise and three divided breadthwise; quadrangular and triangular tablets used for arranging figures; sticks for outlining figures; wire rings for outlining figures; various materials for drawing, perforating, embroidering, paper cutting, weaving or braiding, paper folding, modeling, and interlacing. (Net Industries, 2008, The Kindergarten Curriculum section,  ¶ 1). Also, Froebel designed â€Å"occupations† to be used in the kindergarten. These allowed more freedom and were things that children could shape and manipulate. Examples of â€Å"occupations† are string, sand, clay, and beads. As always, there was an underlying meaning in all that was done in Froebel’s kindergarten. â€Å"Even clean up time was seen as a reminder to the child of God’s plan for moral and social order† (Nichols, n. d. , Occupations section,  ¶ 1). Froebel’s careful study of the nature of children and their part in the world continues to be of great importance, as it opened a door to a new world in childhood education. Froebel attached importance to what â€Å"originated in children, not merely what adults gave them to do or learn† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 15). He also discovered the educational value of play and the use of new non-book, hands-on materials in teaching children. Froebel provided a â€Å"theoretical basis for early childhood education that recognized stages of intellectual growth† (Sniegoski, 1994, p. 15). The one aspect of Froebel’s theories that has disappeared for the most part is the mysterious symbolism that overcastted his educational philosophy. However, his ideals of freeing children to develop according to their own interests and needs and giving them a bright, playful, nurturing environment in which to learn remains an important and vital part of early childhood education today. References Gutek, Gerald Lee. (2005). Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the kindergarten. In Historical and philosophical foundations of education: a biographical introduction (4th ed. ) (pp. 256-273). Upper Sadle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Lucas, Bill. (2005, October 24). Studying the creation of kindergarten. In Boxes and Arrows: The Design Behind the Design, July, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2008, from http://www. boxesandarrows. com/view/studying_the_creation_of_kindergarten. Net Industries. (2008). Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): Biography, Froebel’s kindergarten philosophy, the kindergarten curriculum, diffusion of the kindergarten. In Education Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from http://education. stateuniversity. com/pages/1999/ Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852. html. Nichols, Rachel. (n. d. ). Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the first kindergarten. Retrieved July 11, 2008 from http://hubpages. com/hub/ Friedrich-Froebel-Founder-of-the-First-Kindergarten. Pioneers in our field: Friedrich Froebel: Founder of the first kindergarten [Electronic version]. (2000). Scholastic: Early Childhood Today, August, 2000. Retrieved July 11, 2008 from http://www2. scholastic. com/browse/article. jsp? id=3442. Smith, Mark K. (1997). Friedrich Froebel. Retrieved July 12, 2008 from http://www. infed. org/thinkers/et-froeb. htm. Sniegoski, Stephen. (1994). Froebel and early childhood education in America. Retrieved July 12, 2008 from the Educational Resources Information Center Web site: http://www. eric. ed. gov/ERICDOCS/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/ 00000196/80/14/19/02. pdf.

Perimeter Area and Volume of Common Shapes and Solids

Circle: Parallelogram: Surface Area and Perimeter Rectangle: Surface Area and Perimeter Trapezoid: Surface Area and Perimeter Triangle:Surface Area and Perimeter Cone: Surface Area and Volume Cylinder:Surface Area and Volume Sector of a Circle:Area Isosceles Triangular Prism Surface Area and Volume Rectangular Prism Surface Area and Volume Sphere Surface Area and Volume Square Based Pyramid Surface Area and Volume

Perimeter Area and Volume of Common Shapes and Solids

Circle: Parallelogram: Surface Area and Perimeter Rectangle: Surface Area and Perimeter Trapezoid: Surface Area and Perimeter Triangle:Surface Area and Perimeter Cone: Surface Area and Volume Cylinder:Surface Area and Volume Sector of a Circle:Area Isosceles Triangular Prism Surface Area and Volume Rectangular Prism Surface Area and Volume Sphere Surface Area and Volume Square Based Pyramid Surface Area and Volume