The Importance Of Ear-Ly Childhood Development

The initial years of learning are vital to a child’s upbringing and how we approach this issue not only has a lasting impact on the child but society as a whole. Research into ear-ly childhood development has shed light on the fact that the years from conception to eight years of age is the most sensitive stage of intellectual, cognitive, emotional and physical development (UNICEF, n.d). Due to the importance of this issue, there has been a need to devise methods and standards to be put in place in our schooling systems to best approach early childhood development. One of which is developmentally appropri-ate practice (DAP), which was devised by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This paper will outline the main tenets

One of the key principles of DAP highlights the importance of interaction in early age children. Children forming positive experiences through inter-acting with adults has a lasting impact on learning and development (naeyc, n.d). The relevance of this was illustrated in a study done by the Center on the Developing Child (2007) which found that a key element in a child’s development is the process of serve and return, when young children use basic form of communication such as babbling, fa-cial expressions, and gesture, and receiving reciprocal response forms healthy brain de-velopment. It could be argued that the absence of this relationship or providing unsuita-ble responses could have a negative effect on development. The ramifications of which are likely to be detrimental to the child. Consequently, the significance of communica-tion in early childhood is not to be overlooked. Children developing good communica-tive skills in DAP setting will probably have better social skills, may be better at ex-pressing their ideas, thoughts and needs. As such, exposure to DAP pedagogy in this cru-cial stage of brain development will likely be a great asset for the children in their later

Evidence from a publication from Montana State University (2010) sug-gests that play enables children to develop the skills of negotiation, problem solving, sharing, and working within groups. Students who engaged in play were more advanced in reading and mathematics and were better adjusted socially and emotionally in school. These students excelled in creativity and intelligence and oral expression. From this finding, it is apparent that these aforementioned skills are all vital to humans as they are the tools we utilize on a daily basis to interact with others from our early years, through adolescence and well into adulthood. In addition, further evidence suggests DAP pro-grams improve children’s early language, literacy, and mathematics skills (Foundation of Child Development, 2013). Play is an inherent character of a child and through this method caregiver can capitalize on the child’s ability to garner complex knowledge. Children need this knowledge to be successful in their later years not only in their aca-demic surrounding but also in their social environment. It is plausible that DAP provides a solid framework for teaching which demystifies any notion that play should be a hap-hazard act serving little purpose, but instead it is time for carefully created activities fo-cused on