Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Principles of early childhood education
Principles of early childhood education
Principles of early childhood education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Principles of early childhood education
PREFACE
Friedrich Froebel proclaimed a compelling educational system unprecedented for teaching children, and named the system Kindergarten, which in English means Children's Garden. Similar in aim to caring for a flower or vegetable garden, the purpose of the original German Kindergarten was to nurture the growth and development of children. Froebel’s Kindergarten, consisting of a balanced curriculum for academic and vocational studies, is made up of twenty-four different kinds of playthings, with each one mirroring essential qualities of geometric forms, organized and presented according to geometric methods and principles – that is to say, in the form of solids, planes, lines and points. Picture a young girl with concentration and thought, lovely designs shaped by her fingers
…show more content…
Thus, the development of these senses in children enabled parents and teachers to establish in them a most intimate union between objects and their opposites, words and symbols, connecting them into one. Play and speech constitute the element in which the child lives, therefore imparting on objects everything that he imagines representing his inner being outwardly imputing the same activity to all about him. Thus, in German Kindergarten, Froebel opened to the outside world of children the inner nature of the human spirit, through child-play as the highest phase of human development. Ten years later, Froebel in 1826 drew up plans for other schools, which spread outside Germany to Switzerland, establishing educational institutions for an orphanage and a normal school. Teaching methods were formalized for the training of prospective teachers, using his ideas for the development of interests, while adhering to coordinated instructions and
The application of Prussian derived normal schools set in motion a series of obviously undemocratic trends that resulted in some extent to under educated teachers. Within the new system of common schooling, what was compulsory to the unique education of an educator was the minimum academic knowledge within elementary curriculum to be taught and extensive training related to instructional mechanics and pedagogy. These were criticized as “…training technicians but not educating scholars…” ( Tozer, S., & Senese, G. (2009)
Dr. Alison Gopnik’s drew the following truth that “children are intellectually more skilled and far more sophisticated in their thinking then we ever imagined”(Gopnik2009). Gopnik also stated preschoolers are extremely well designed for learning. They are naturally curious. They learn through exploring and playing. “The value of play” was also presented in Gopnik’s research. He clarified that when children engage in pretend play, they will have imaginary characters and explore other world. They are learning peoples’ nature, how people think, do, and work. This helps them understand themselves and other people, to improve their social traits or in balancing school, and to increase their social competences in life. Gopnik demonstrated the idea
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
Swiss theorist Jean Piaget constructed the multi-stage cognitive-development theory, which suggests that as a child develops and explores their different environments, their brain is also developing, these advancements are characterised by different ways of thinking during the different stages (Lamdin & Lamdin-Hunter, 2012). Using John Bowlby’s theory of attachment in conjunction with Piaget’s cognitive-development theory, we can conclude that the secure environment formed from a child’s early caregiver type relationships allow them to explore these different environments safely allowing for cognitive development during early childhood and beyond. Between the ages of approximately two to seven years, a child enters the preoperational stage, a time in which symbolism is used to express sensorimotor discoveries and the development of language and the ability to pretend occurs (Berk, 2008). During this stage the child’s thinking lacks the logic that is typical of the concrete operational and formal operational stages (Berk 2008). To assist my own development my mother ensured I attended pre-school from the age of four to supplement my cognitive, social and physical development. This environment was stimulating with elements of play incorporated into each
Going back to our text, it is mentioned that in 1920s, the emphasis was on physical and intellectual development, and the early education programs were based on the works and studies of Froebel, Montessori, and McMillan. But as education improved in late 1940s, the attention was to focus on physical, social, and emotional growth (Eliason, et al., 2008 p.5). So the creative curriculum has been based on the theories and researches that inform decision making in the early childhood field. We can find these theories in the works of Piaget, Maslow, Erikson, Vygotsky, Smilansky, and Gardner. (Colker)
Concrete operations (ages 7-11) – As a child accumulates experience with the physical world, he/she begins to conceptualize to explain those experiences. Abstract thought is also emerging.
Elaine Surbeck explains the background of early childhood learning programs. She talks about the history and how things have originated. Programs for children between the ages of three and six, while more recent to the American educational scene, have roots that are deeper and more diverse in origin than most people realize. Kindergartens, nursery schools, and day-care centers have existed in the United States for more than 100 years. The kindergarten, serving 5-year-olds, was first established in St. Louis public schools in 1873; private kindergartens have existed since 1855. Nursery schools serve children two through four years old. While the first nursery school in the U.S was a parent cooperative “typical” in America were often associated with university home economics departments and were established about 1922.
The modern nursery school has changed the mold from when it was first introduced. It is centered more around education than daycare. After WWI many different universities set up labora...
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
His reforms in secondary schools helped shape the German education system to what they are today. They include new requirements for teacher qualification, such as university-level training for high school teachers. He also modernized the structure and curriculum of the Gymnasium, the preparatory school. After the Gymnasium, he proposed that students take a qualifying examination, the Abitur, for university admission. Another big change to Germany education, and education abroad happened in 1837 when Friedrich Froebel-a German educationalist- developed the concept kindergarten that we know today
Froebel believed that the kindergarten's primary focus should be on play–the process by which he believed children expressed their inner thoughts, needs, and desires so that's why Froebel's emphasis on play. For Froebel play is facilitated by children's process of thoughts, imitation of adult vocational activities, and socialization. By playing, children socialize and imitate adult social and economic activities as they are gradually led into the larger world of group life. The kindergarten provides an environment that encouraged children to interact with other children under the guidance of a loving teacher he also believed in outdoor play and nature. (hardy, 2013) (Notes, 2013)
Friedrich Froebel was a German scholar born in 1782 who did a lot of work on child’s play and how children use nature in their development. Although one of the early theorists (1782–1852), Froebel’s theories are still relevant today. He stressed the importance of play and recognised that the outdoor environment is vital to children’s learning and development. Each child should be allowed the time and space to play and develop through play activities.
Play is thought to be of central importance for young children. The idea of play has developed along with the history. It is necessary for the early childhood teachers to know some theoretical perspectives on play in order to further understand play and better working with children. This essay will introduce two theories of play, one of the traditional theories of play, which is The Recreational or Relaxation theory and one of the contemporary theories which is The Psychoanalytic theory. In the essay, these two theories of play will be compared and contrast, the implications for practice in the early childhood setting will be explained and the role of the teacher would be classified.
In Frühlingserwachen. Wedekind expresses his skepticism of the oppressive “Moral” of Prussian society in Germany at the time. Children and adults were expected to behave in a certain way and they were shunned if they did not conform to the norm. The German schooling system represented this “Moral”, together with strict discipline, allowing no one to be different. The Gymnasium Moritz and Melchior attend, like other schools at the time, does not cater for individual learning needs nor foster critical thinking.
The main concept of Jean Piaget’s theory is that he believes in children being a scientist by experimenting things and making observations with their senses. This approach emphasizes on how children’s ability can make sense of their immediate everyday surroundings. Piaget also proposed that children perceived to four stages based on maturation and experiences. Piaget’s theory was guided by assumptions of how a learner interacts with their own environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information into existing knowledge. Briefly, he proposed that children are active learners who construct knowledge from their own environment. They learn through assimilation and accommodation in complex cognitive development. Furthermore, interaction with physical and social environments is the key and development occurs in stages. An example of Jean Piaget theory carried out in the classroom is that giving children a great deal of hands-on practice, by using concrete props and visual aids. Taking into consideration and being sensitive to the possibility that