B ASIC P RINCIPLES OF D EVELOPMENT

D OMAINS OF CHILDREN ’ S DEVELOPMENT Physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. All domains are equally important. Emphasis on one domain is bound to upset the interrelationship among various domains. Decisions about curriculum content must be made with this principle.

D EVELOPMENT OCCURS IN A RELATIVELY ORDERLY SEQUENCE Fairly predictable patterns of growth and development during the early childhood years. With individual variation. Understanding the behaviors and abilities associated with typical development shows how to best support children’s optimum learning experience. Children need time to proceed through the sequence.

D EVELOPMENT VARIES FROM CHILD TO CHILD Comparing children with similar ages is dangerous. Each individual is unique. (heredity, health, personality, etc.)

E ARLY EXPERIENCES HAVE EFFECTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL CHILD ’ S DEVELOPMENT Theses experiences have implications for later development. Times of readiness for optimal learning occur in the early years and need to be taken advantage of in planning curricular experiences.

D EVELOPMENT PROCEEDS IN PREDICTABLE DIRECTIONS Towards greater complexity, organization, and internalization. Learning in the early years proceeds from physical, sensorimotor understanding to symbolic knowledge.

D EVELOPMENT AND LEARNING OCCUR IN AND ARE INFLUENCED BY MULTIPLE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS Children’s development is best understood within the context of their family, then their school community, and finally the larger community. Children are capable of learning to function in more than on cultural context simultaneously.

C HILDREN ARE ACTIVE LEARNERS Knowledge is constructed through interaction with people, materials, and experiences. As children form their own hypotheses about how the world works, their thought processes undergo continual revision.

D EVELOPMENT AND LEARNING RESULT FROM INTERACTION OF BIOLOGICAL MATURATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT This includes both the physical and social worlds that children live in. Development is the interaction between heredity and environment.

P LAY An important vehicle for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. Play gives children opportunities to understand the world.

D EVELOPMENT ADVANCES WHEN : Children have opportunities to practice newly acquired skills. Children experience a challenge just beyond the level of their present mastery.

C HILDREN SHOW DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING AND REPRESENTING WHAT THEY KNOW Teachers must provide varieties of experiences, this way individuals can find their areas of competency and strengthen other areas as needed.

C HILDREN LEARN BEST WHERE : They are safe and valued Their physical needs are met They feel psychologically secure Attention is given so these needs are met.

S UGGESTIONS FOR T ALKING WITH C HILDREN 1. Get down at the child’s level and as close to his/her ears as possible. 2. Maintain eye contact with the child throughout the conversation. 3. Let your face & voice tell the child that what you are saying or doing is important or interesting & fun. 4. Provide honest answers. 5. Use reminders rather than questions when children forget/refuse to follow directions. 6. Use short, wimple sentences or directions.

7. Talk about the here and now. 8. Talk about what the child is seeing or doing or what the child is interested in. 9. Say the obvious. 10. Everything has a name. Use it. 11. Put the child’s feelings into words. 12. Use new words over and over. 13. Take a child’s short response and put the response back into a whole sentence. 14. When a child uses incorrect language, say what he/she was attempting to say correctly.

15. Use a variety of sentence forms. 16. Expand a child’s thoughts by adding more information. 17. Tell the child what you want him/her to do and NOT what you DON’T want him/her to do. 18. Make statements that will encourage the child to continue his/her desirable activity. 19. Praise children for efforts as well as accomplishments. 20. Provide simple explanations to a child’s questions.

21. Explain the anticipated consequences of specific behaviors. 22. Speak distinctly and use correct grammar. 23. Never talk about a child when the child or other children are present. 24. Talk about the children and not other staff during program hours unless the conversation is related to immediate program activities. 25. Ask questions that will make a child respond with something other than yes or no.

26. Use phrases such as “Tell me…..” 27. Provide clear directions and patience when handling transitions. 28. Address each child by name every day.