Teach English in WuxigAoxinjishuchanye KAifAqu - Wuxi Shi

Early child development refers to the process through which humans typically grow and mature from birth to the beginning of adolescence. It describes the physical, intellectual, social and emotional changes that equip a child for life. Children grow and mature at different rates and therefore it is very difficult to define what the ‘normal’ rate of development is. However, there are developmental milestones that needs to be considered. During the development process, a child will progress from being dependent on their parents/guardian to increased independency. The early years, until approximately five years of age, are essential as this is the period when the brain develops most rapidly and when there is a high capacity of change. However, the first three years are the most crucial in shaping the brains architecture. Early experiences with what the child sees, hears, touches, smells and tastes will stimulate the brain and create millions of connections forming the foundation for health and wellbeing. These have a direct impact on how the child will develop learning skills and social and emotional abilities. Factors such as genetics, events during prenatal life as well as environmental factors all play a role in the child’s learning ability. A parent’s understanding of the stages of their child’s development will help them to know what to expect and how to best support their child as they grow and develop. Jean Piaget, a Swiss biologist and psychologist who observed his own children, developed a four-stage model of how a child’s mind processes information. He focused on children from birth to adolescence and characterised the developmental stages according to language, moral, memory and reasoning. The four stages are sensorimotor stage (Birth to 2 years old), preoperational stage (Age 2 to 7), concrete operations stage (ages 7 to 11) and the formal operations stage (beginning at age 11 to 15). During the sensorimotor stage, from birth to 2 years old, the infant will start to build an understanding of the world by using its senses and body movements. They will touch, grasp, watch, taste and listen to their surroundings. A baby will initially use their reflex movements such as waving their arms to explore their environment and gain experiences on how to differentiate between people, objects, textures, sights and how these make them feel. Their most advanced cognitive achievement will be object permanence, which refers to an infant’s understanding that objects still exist even though they aren’t able to see, smell, touch or hear it. This cognitive achievement is important as it shows that the infant has developed a mental image, instead of just reacting to an experience in their immediate environment. In the preoperational stage the child develops abstract thoughts and continues to build on their object permanence. They start to use more advanced language skills and words to represent objects and events. There are five key behavioural changes that happen during this period. They include imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental imagery and verbal recreation of events that happened in the past. They are more egocentric during this stage and struggle to relate to other people’s points of view. The concrete operational stage involves another major cognitive change in the child’s development. They utilize their ability to apply logical rules and orders to objects as well as to classify objects into groups and subgroups. They also have a better understanding of conservation where objects may change in appearance but stay the same object. Eventually the child will reach the operational stage, which is the final stage of their cognitive development. They are now able to understand abstract concepts and solve problems according to more sophisticated rules. They can analyse their environment and often move beyond the limits of understanding toward problem solving. The regularly use their existing knowledge to base theories or create new theories about the world. Jean Piaget is not the only biologist and psychologist to observe children’s developmental stages, though appears to be the most referred to. Child development can be actively enhanced through the parents/guardian’s knowledge and active involvement in their child’s development. Parents/guardians are their children’s first and possibly most important teachers. They have an extremely important role to play in shaping their child’s literacy, social and emotional development from birth. Parental involvement in their child’s early education is vital to create a connection between the school and home environment. Parents that are involved in activities conducted at home and in early child development centres directly and indirectly support the learning of their child. Extended teaching outside the centre also creates a more positive experience for the child and in turn they perform better at school. Parents who understand what their child is working on at school have a better sense of their child’s competency and which areas need work on at home to improve their child’s confidence and ability. Due to the rapid speed in which children are developing, they need the love and nurturing from their parents to obtain a sense of trust and security that can turn into confidence as they mature. As mentioned above, it is vital for parents to have knowledge of early child development to help them reach their full potential.