Learning About Children Parenting/Child Development Mrs. Wagner

Development  Increasing skill in one or a combination of abilities  Areas - Physical - Intellectual (Cognitive, Mental) - Emotional - Social - Moral (PIES – M)

Characteristics of Development  Development is similar for everyone – same sequence  Development builds on earlier learning  Development proceeds at an individual rate  Development is interrelated  Development is continuous throughout life

Why is it important to know how children will develop?  Know what to expect and how to handle  If problems arise – aware  More confident as a parent  We learn about human development from theories and observations

Theory  Organized set of suggestions about facts or events that is developed through study and observation  Not fact – what is believed  Organized, stated, tested and published  Not Perfect!!!

Developmental Theory  Combination of many theories that describe in various ways how children grow and develop.  What most people who work with children follow  Ages & Stages  Infants – Birth – 1 year  Toddler – Age 1-3 years  Preschooler – Age 3 – 5  School Age – Age 5 – Puberty  Adolescent – Puberty - Adulthood

Observation  Helps you understand children and parenting concepts  Should be done in natural settin (do not change or manipulate)

Purpose of Observations  Learn how children grow and accomplish developmental tasks  Ideas for planning appropriate activities  Find out how a child feels about self  Recognize children’s distress signals

Guidelines for Observing  Choose 1 or 2 children  Pretend you are only looking – not observing  Write a description of what you see – should be Objective – What you SEE – Not subjective – what you think!  Keep confidential

Analyzing Observations  Look for behavior that is repeated  Look for circumstances  How does behavior affect learning and relationships?  Look for efforts of child  Listen to conversations of child – note questions  Use resources