Category: Education

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Seven Domains of Early Childhood Education #AllAboutPreschoolers #MyFriendAlexa

Hi Everyone

This is my fourth post for #MyFriendAlexa and one of the most important aspect in Early Childhood Education for everyone to know. Now before we move on to know these domains it is important to understand what development is.

Development describes the growth of humans throughout the lifespan, from conception of death. The scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain how and why people change throughout life. This includes all aspects of human growth, including physical, emotional, intellectual, social, perceptual, and personality development.

THERE ARE 7 DOMAINS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Gross Motor

This involves learning to use all the “big” muscles on our body. Crawling, walking, running, skipping, jumping and climbing are all examples of gross motor activity.

Fine Motor

Fine motor involves activities teach hand-eye coordination. These activities require a child to learn to precisely control the muscles in the hands. Things like colouring, writing, cutting with scissors, using tweezers, tearing paper, etc. all help build fine motor skills.

Language

This domain includes alphabetic, phonemic awareness, oral, and written language. Even though your little one won’t be able to read for several years, you can read to them. Talking about things throughout the day even when it feels silly is especially important as well. Learning ABC’s, as well as sound each letter makes is another example of language activity.

Language development is a process starting early in human life. Infant start without language, yet by four months of age, babies can discriminate speech sounds and engage in babbling. Some research has shown that the earliest learning begins in uterus when the fetus starts to recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mother’s voice. Usually, productive language is considered to begin with a stage of preverbal communication in which infants use gestures and vocalizations to make their intent known to others. According to general principle of development, new forms then take over old functions, so that children learn words to express the same communicative functions which they had already expressed by preverbal means.

Stages of Language Development

Babbling (3-9 months)

Single Words (10-13 months)

Two Words (18- 2 years)

Multi word Sentences (2years+)

As children age, they continue to learn new words every day. By the time they enter school around the age of five, children typically have a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more.

Cognitive Development

This includes cause-and-effect, reasoning, as well as early-math skills. Believe it or not, a baby who continually drops a spoon from his highchair is exercising his cognitive ability. He learns that when he drops it, you will pick it up (Cause-and-effect). Counting and patterning are also included in this domain for pre-schoolers.

Cognitive refers to the inner processes and products of the mind that leads to “knowing”. It includes remembering, problem solving and decision making.

Social/Emotional

Your child is a social being! Learning to play especially with others is a skill. “Teaching” in this domain also involves making sure a child feels safe and nurtured. Manners and using kind words might also be examples includes in this domain.

Self-Help/Adaptive

Activities in this domain include learning to dress yourself, feed oneself, using the toilet, brushing teeth, bathing, tying shoes, etc. Everything that a child needs to know to start being more independent could be included in this domain.

Moral/Spiritual/Cultural

It is difficult to make generalization and identify milestones within moral, spiritual and cultural development. And the reason is, there are many factors which influence their development like nationalities, cultures and families, all do things differently.

Moral development

Morality is the ability to learn the difference between right and wrong and understand how to make right choices. Children do not usually demonstrate moral behaviour and beliefs until they are around the age of two. At this point many children start to show empathy-based guilt when they break rules. As with other facets of development, morality doesn’t form independently from the other areas of development. Children’s experiences at home, the environment around them, and their physical, cognitive and social development influence their understanding of right versus wrong.

Spiritual development

This is often closely linked to moral development. It includes beliefs, whether religious or not, the search for meaning or purpose, relationships, creativity, a sense of otherness, wonder and awe, self-knowledge, feeling and emotions. A child is likely to have the same opinions as their caregivers until they are of an age where they can decide for themselves. This development continuous throughout a person’s life.

Cultural development

Culture refers to the customs, practices, languages, values and world views that define social group such as those based on nationality, ethnicity, region or common interests. Culture affects many areas in a child’s life, including food they eat, the behaviours they are allowed to exhibit, the holidays they celebrate and the activities they participate in.

The main thing to know about these domains is they are all equally important. Each of these domains are also interrelated. For example when your baby starts crawling, he will also be enhancing his cognitive abilities by learning about world around him. Leaning new words will encourage her to participate more in social situations. Just watch your child for a few minutes and you will see how each domain affects the others.

You can read my previous posts here

How to choose right preschool for your child?

Importance of Early Childhood Education

What is Early Childhood Education?

I am taking my blog to another level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.

Pics courtesy : Pexel / Canva

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How to choose right preschool for your child? #AllAboutPreschools #MyFriendAlexa

Hi Everyone,

This is my third post for #MyFriendAlexa. You can read my previous posts here

What is Early Childhood Education?

Importance of Early Childhood Education

THE BEST PRESCHOOL IS THE PRESCHOOL THAT IS BEST FOR YOUR CHILD

How do you know? Start with what you know about your child. Does he thrive on playing with other children? Is she more likely to need the attention of an adult? How do you want your culture and traditions supported? Does your child have special needs? You know better than anyone where your child is most likely to thrive.

With over thousands of preschool partners across country, the Preschool Program offers lots of choices. These choices range from family childcare homes and centre-based programs to classes in public schools. But regardless of the exact setting or type of program, all preschool partners should be licensed and undergone a rigorous quality rating process.

5 STEPS TO CHOOSE THE BEST PRESCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD

Schedule a visit with your child so you can see how your child feels in the preschool and how staff relates to your child. Remember first impression matters when you walk in the preschool with your child.

  1. Is your first impression positive?
  2. Watch your child’s response. Did adults acknowledge your child or just focus on other adults?
  3. Observe how teachers interact with children. Are they at children’s eye level when they talk to them? Do they appear responsive to individual children by listening closely, asking questions and using positive language?
  4. It is important that your child’s classroom has a variety of learning materials, toys and equipments. Are there places for quite time and an area for dramatic play?
  5. Does the classroom seem clean and safe with enough adults to supervise children? As child’s safely is of utmost importance.

ASK QUESTIONS

  • What is the school’s philosophy about how children learn?
  • What is the school’s approach to children’s behaviour and discipline?
  • How do activities promote social, emotional and intellectual growth and stimulate creativity?
  • Is there space and materials to promote a wide range of development activities from holding a pencil or cup to running and jumping?
  • Walk around the room and ask the teacher what the child is learning from the different activity centers.
  • Since no two children are at the same stage of development, how does the teacher support individual children in their learning?
  • Do children have their own place to keep their special things?
  • What is the daily schedule? Do the preschool offer activities your child would like to participate in and is there time for your child to explore?
  • How does the school communicate with families and how often?
  • Can you visit the classroom at any time?
  • Ask to talk to parents who have a child in the school.

It is important that when considering an early education facility, caregivers and teachers in the facility have knowledge of the cultural support for the language and literacy learning of the children and families they are serving. They need to have sufficient skills in guiding small groups of children to give full attention to individual young children’s language and literacy efforts. They need to be able to draw out shy children while they help very talkative ones begin to listen to others as well as to speak. Caregivers or teachers need to arrange environment that are symbol rich and interesting without being overwhelming to infants and toddlers. Even the simplest exchange becomes a literacy lesson when it includes the warmth of a relationship coupled with words, their concept, and perhaps a graphic symbol.

To be effective, an early year’s curriculum needs to be carefully structured. In that structure, there should be three strands

Provision for the different starting points from which children develop learning, building on what they can already do

Relevant and appropriate content which matches the different levels of young children’s needs

Planned and purposeful activity which provides opportunities for teaching and learning both indoors and outdoors.

If your child is between the ages of three and six and attends a preschool or kindergarten program, the National Association for the Education of Young Children suggests you look for these 10 signs to make sure your child is in a good classroom.

Children spend most of their time playing and working with materials or other children. They do not wander aimlessly and they are not expected to sit quietly for long period of time.

Children have access to various activities throughout the day. Look for assorted building blocks and other construction materials, props for pretend play, picture books, paints and other art materials and table toys such as matching games, pegboards, and puzzles. All the children should not necessarily be doing the same activity at the same time.

Teachers work with individual children, small groups, and the whole group at different times during the say. They do not spend all their time with the whole group.

The classroom is decorated with children’s original artwork, their own writing with invented spelling, and stories dictated by children to teachers.

Children learn numbers and alphabet in the context of their everyday experiences. The natural world of plants and animals and meaningful activities like cooking, taking attendance or serving snack provide the basic for learning activities.

Children work on projects and have long periods of time to play and explore. Worksheets are used little, it at all.

Children have an opportunity to play outside every day. Outdoor play is never sacrificed for more instructional time.

Teachers read books to children individually or in small groups throughout the day, not just at group story time.

Curriculum is adapted for those who are ahead as well as those who need additional help. Teachers recognize that children’s different background and experiences mean that they do not learn the same things at the same time in the same way.

Children and their parents look forward to school. Parents feel secure about sending their children to the program. Children are happy to attend, they do not cry regularly or complain of feeling sick.

I hope all these pointers can help you select right school for your child.

I am taking my blog to another level with  Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.

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Importance of Early Childhood Education #AllAboutPreschoolers #MyFriendAlexa

HI Everyone,

This is my second post for #MyFriendAlexa. Now you know what is Early Childhood Education. So lets move on and understand It’s Importance.

Did you know that the capacity of the brain to absorb new learning peaks at age 3? Scientists have learned that a toddler’s brain develops over one hundred trillion brain synapses. A brain synapse is the wiring between two brain cells that grasps new learning. The more the synapses, the more your brain will learn. It is during this time that the human brain has the highest potential for new learning in its lifetime. Recognizing shapes, drawing, singing and playing with toys are all examples of behaviors your child learns in the first few years of life.

By their third birthday, your child should be able to do many things, including throw a ball overhand, feed themselves, ride a tricycle, balance on one foot or copy a circle, just to name a few. And by age 4, your child will begin knowing their first and last name, following family rules, recognizing colours, eating by themselves, dressing themselves, etc.

High-quality preschools and pre-kindergartens are geared to give your child a jumpstart to learning. Most have standards in place to prepare your child for kindergarten, so that on the first day of school, your child is ready to learn.

Appropriately early childhood programs not only help your child’s brain develop in a timely fashion, but they also contribute to physical, emotional and social development. Along with school readiness, it is also important to look for key development milestones in your children.

Some Development Milestones

Age 2Age 3Age 4
Walk, jump, runTell stories with two
or three sentences		Know first and last name
Kick a ballCan name a friendCopy images
Scribble with crayonsThrow a ball overhandEat by themselves
Imitate othersCopy a circleSing a song from memory

Benefits of quality early childhood education and care:

You can place your child in childcare or kindergarten and know they are safe and well cared for, by people who have a qualification and share an understanding about what is important for your child.

Your child will have the opportunity to develop skills by playing with others and taking part in activities that build on their abilities and interests.

You will be supported in caring for your child.

You will have increased opportunities to work, attend appointments or recreational activities or have time to yourself.

The importance of the early years is now well known throughout the world. These years are a time when brain develops and much of its wiring is laid down. The experiences and relationships a child has, plus nutrition and health, can actually affects this enormously. Positive experience help the brain to develop in healthy ways. Seriously negative experiences such as neglect and abuse, on the other hand, affect brain development in more harmful ways, and contribute to emotional and behavioural problems later in life. So the experience a child has in the early years can either support learning or interfere with it.

“The brain is the only organ that is not fully formed at birth. During the first three years, trillions of connections between brain cells are being made. A child’s relationships and experiences during the early years greatly influence how their brain grows”.

Children’s development and learning can be affected by

Influence within themselves, their genetic inheritance, temperament, gender and health.

Influence within the family, family relationships, parenting styles and values, the family’s financial situation, parents’ level of education, parent’s occupation and parent’s physical and mental health.

Influence within the community, children’s services, support for parenting, housing, safety and crime in the neighborhood, unemployment levels and general feeling of trust among the residents.

Influence within their culture, with different cultures marked by differences in parenting styles, beliefs and values, and different views on how children should be educated.

Early childhood is a crucial time for children to learn because this is when they develop the foundation of their brain for learning during the rest of their lives. The things children learn during these years play a very important role in the proper development of children. Children learn by exploring their environment and watching people everyday life.

I am taking my blog to another level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.

Pics courtesy : Pexel / Canva

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What is Early Childhood Education? #AllAboutPreschoolers #MyFriendAlexa

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post for #MyFrinendAlexa, and I am really excited to share my theme for the campaign, “All About Preschoolers”. Here I will be sharing all the important topics related to preschoolers from, It’s importance to how to choose the best preschool, health and hygiene and many more.

In terms of a child’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social development early childhood is considered as one of the most crucial stage of life. It is the time when children need high quality personal care and learning experience as the growth of mental and physical abilities advance at an astonishing rate and a very high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six.

Whether anyone believes it or not, education begins from the moment the child is brought home from the hospital and continues when the child starts to attend playgroups and kindergarten. The learning capabilities of humans continue for rest of their lives but not at the intensity that is demonstrated in the preschool years. Now keeping this in mind, babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to help their intellectual, social and emotional development and lays the foundation for later school success.

Aids In Early Childhood Education

Parent

During the first three years parents will be the main influence in the child’s learning experience and education. Therefore, what parents do and expose their children to, have a vast impact on the development of the child.

Environment

Environment plays a very important role in child’s growth. It is essential that the environment that the child is placed in during these years be as positive and intellectually stimulating as possible.

Speech Development

Speech development is one of the first tools that a child will demonstrate. And a parent or care giver can have a vast impact on child’s speech development by the amount of time that is spent talking with and reading to a child.

Play

Most of the child development experts will agree with me that play is very important in the learning and emotional development of all children. Play is multi-faceted as while having fun, often many skills can be learned. Play helps children learn relationship and social skills and develop values and ethics. Functional play helps children to develop motor and practice skills. Water and sand play is a favourite amongst pre-schooler children and a valuable teaching tool. Constructive play is characterized by building or creating something like puzzles, building blocks, puppets and easy craft activities. Pretend play allows children to express themselves and events in their lives which in turns helps them process emotions, practice social skills, develop a rich imagination, learn values and also develop language skills.

There is a range of early childhood education and care services for young children, include license and unlicensed, center based and home-based services. Talk to individual providers to find out about how they may cater for your child. It is important to consider the full range of early education and care options available to your child.

Education and care services aim to meet the education, care and development needs of children. There are range of different models of early education and care services. Most of these services are approved to operate by the Department of Education and Communities.

Important areas of learning

Health and physical well being are the basis for all learning and development. Such areas as eating, habits, attitudes towards exercise and self care routines build from the child’s earliest experiences. One of the most important things children learn in the early years is about themselves, that is, they develop a picture of themselves that affects the way they approach any situation, task or relationship with another person. In other words, they develop a self concept. An important part of that self concept is the picture they have of themselves as learners. Is it okay to be curious, to explore, to ask questions, to tackle problems, to try to figure things out, to experiment? Is it okay to try something and fail sometimes? Being a good learner means having a go, seeing yourself as capable, and taking reasonable risk. There are many different ways to categorize learning in the early years, but whatever the categories, it is important for parents, and others who work and live with children, to keep in mind the broad range of kinds learning that are important in the early years.

  • Use of body, including hands
  • Respect for others
  • How to relate to others, both adults and other children
  • How to resolve conflict
  • Problem solving skills
  • Communication getting used to things that make people different from each other
  • Self knowledge, understanding of feelings, a sense of your own strength, talents and uniqueness
  • Confidence, a sense of belonging to family, community, culture
  • How to look after and take care of yourself
  • Last but not the least, behaving in acceptable ways and controlling your own behaviour

Early childhood education typically focuses on five domains

  • Cognitive
  • Language
  • Social-Emotional
  • Fine motor skills
  • Gross motor skills

Early childhood educators are professionally trained to observe and enhance children’s development skills and refer children appropriately for additional services when a delay is expected. However, all children do not develop at the same rate and may not complete a development task when it is scheduled to be completed. If a child is having trouble with a development task, the child’s teacher can do extra activities with that child to help the child master the development task they are struggling with. Early childhood educators are trained to know what the time frame is in which to wait before they refer a child for additional services.

Children can never be too young to educate and the younger a child begins education the better. Infant’s and toddler’s brains are rapidly growing and this age is the perfect time to begin educating their little brains.

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MYFriendAlexa.

Pics Courtesy : Pexel / Canva