Unit 1

This assignment will show the areas of development from conception to age sixteen years, the theories of development and consider how it influences practice. It will look at physical development, and communication and language development in the age ranges of birth to three years and three to seven years. Also included in this assignment will be the theoretical perspectives which relate to my chosen areas of development and the evaluation as to how they may influence practice which affects the development of children.

The first few years of babies life’s they will undergo rapid social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Every child is an individual meaning not all children’s development happens in the same way or at the same time. Each child develops at their own pace reaching milestones at different times in their development. In general, child development progresses:
• From head to toe. Beginning at the top of the body and gradually moving downwards.
• From inner to outer. Firstly gaining control of muscles close to the head and then moving outwards so the large muscles in the shoulders and upper arms are first and the extremities last.
• From simple to complex. Children progress from simple words to complex sentences.
• From general to specific. Emotional responses involve the whole body in young babies but may only involve the face in an older child (HLC, ND).
Altogether there are seven areas of development. Each of the areas are interdependent and many activities can promote these areas of development.
Physical development covers the aspects of development that we can see happening. This includes fine motor skills, gross motor skills, hand eye coordination and movement skills. There are many different ways of c...

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...uld keep a continued link between the child’s home life and setting.
D1
D2 – Observations can be used to support planning to meet the child’s needs. Observations can be carried out to find out if a child is making any progress with their development. A child’s likes and interests can be shown through an observation.

A1 – Skinner believed that behaviour in setting which is reinforced tends to be repeated and behaviour that is not reinforced tends to die out or be weakened. Positive reinforcement should be used in setting to strengthen behaviour. Negative reinforcement can also strengthen behaviour because it stops or removes an unpleasant experience. Positive reinforcement can be shown by rewarding good behaviour with stickers and golden time. Negative reinforcement can be shown by doing the opposite of positive reinforcement with no stickers and no golden time.