Promote_Child_and_Young_Person_Development

Unit 2: Promote child and young person development 1.1 When assessing a child’s development many factors need to be taken into account. First of all you should account for circumstantial factors such as if the child is tired, ill or what their friends are doing at the time, they may not try as hard, therefore, it could be marked that they are not developing in a certain area when really they just didn’t want to take part that day. Also, home problems should be taken into account when assessing a child. If the family are having problems, there has been bereavement or there’s been a birth of a sibling, this can affect a child’s behaviour and often can make a child regress. Another thing to think about when assessing development is the phrase, “stages not ages”. It is more important to assess if a child is following the expected pattern of development rather than where they should be at their age because the ages are just guidelines so unless a child is very far over the age there is no need to worry. It is important to consider a child’s ethnicity and culture as a child living in an area different to their own ethnicity and culture may be discriminated against or may feel different to others and feel like they do not fit in. If a child feels like this they will have low self-esteem which will keep them back from joining in and developing the same as others. Also, if a child’s family life is different to that of a ‘normal family’ they may be discriminated against and may not be provided the same opportunities as others, such as if they live in poverty or are travellers. These children may feel under-valued which will affect their attitude to learning. Also disability and additional needs need to be taken into account and when assessing a child with a disability it is important to assess their development and progress rather than compare the child to others who do not have a disability and may find the task easier. Having a disability could also give a child low self-esteem and make them feel discriminated against which again will affect their development. Also you should remember every child is different and the rate of development is affected by how much stimulation they get from home and can be affected by factors before birth. It is important to realise that information you gather is not always reliable, the child may have guessed the colour, or heard a child’s answer before, therefore several assessments should be made before coming to a conclusion. It is also important to remember confidentiality of assessments unless the child is at risk. 2.3 A person-centred and inclusive approach means children have the opportunities to explore, think, and question for themselves. They get to have a choice in their learning, which will mean they are keener to learn. Involving children in decisions that affect their lives mean they are happier with the situation, they will feel more responsible and grown-up, therefore behaviour in the situation will improve and they will try harder. Having a person-centred approach should include the use of observations, involvement the parents/carers and constructive feedback and encouragement. At Alphabet, spider diagrams are used. The children are asked what they would like to learn about regarding that terms topic or ideas of what we may talk about. Their ideas are written in a spider diagram, they also sometimes draw pictures to stick on the spider diagram, which is then placed on the wall and implemented into the planning. Observations are made on children in all areas of development which are then used to influence planning so to develop a certain area which children are not making satisfactory progress. For example, if a focus task meant the children had to cut pictures out and observations showed half of the children could not hold scissors correctly, planning would then involve activities for practice and development in that area. 2.5 At alphabet, to encourage the children to actively participate in decisions affecting their lives I ask their opinions. Such as, what would they like for snack, rather than deciding for them. I also ask what toys they may like to play with, what they may like to talk about at circle time. Also, at story time, I ask if there is a story they would like me to read. I find this helps them to sit and listen to the story better than if I chose a story, and it promotes positive behaviour as they cannot choose a story if they have not been behaving correctly. 3.1 An environment to promote development should be safe and stimulating with a variety of equipment big and small that allows children to practice and progress such as pens and paper and tricycles. The environment should be attractive and personalised with children’s work and pictures on the wall as this will encourage children to do more work. It should also be organised with not too many toys, not too many pens out etc. As if there is too much choice for the children to play with they spend minimal time in each area before running to the next thing. Therefore if there is a few stimulating toys, children are more likely to spend time playing and developing. The environment should be meeting group and individual needs with equipment out to promote development according to planning. It should provide appropriate risk and challenge so to stimulate children’s learning. The setting should also have high quality policies in place and have met the regulatory requirements. 4.1 Working practice can have a negative impact on development through poor organisation and not planning appropriate activities. Also, lack of enthusiasm and positive relationships with practitioners will have a negative impact on development. The children will not have the encouragement to learn that they need and may feel not valued in the setting which will affect their self-esteem. However, practices can have a positive impact on development. At Alphabet, the development plan is child-centred. We also have good communication with others involved in caring for the child, regularly talking to parents and having an ‘open-door’ policy meaning parents and carers can come in to talk to us anytime and also talking to the nursery workers if there are concerns of progress of development in children that are in nursery. When a child first comes to Alphabet, a baseline assessment is uses so it is noted from the first days if a child is not making satisfactory progress, we can then plan activities to promote development and make observations which can then help identification of development need or difficulties in the early stages. 5.2 Children need to learn what is good behaviour and acceptable and appropriate. We need to encourage sharing and manner in order for children to be socially accepted by others. Preventative measures should be used to promote positive behaviour such as explaining to the child what is acceptable behaviour, what happens if they demonstrate unacceptable behaviour and monitoring and supervising children so to stop unwanted behaviour before it starts. Social Learning Theory says children learn from watching others around them. Early Years Practitioners should work together so not to send mixed messages as this can leave a child confused as to what is the correct behaviour. Through this theory if a child sees aggressive parenting they are likely to be aggressive themselves, therefore practitioners should be good role models and not shout at the children or be aggressive. The behaviourist theory says behaviour will be repeated if child gains something positive and may disappear if it is not rewarded. Positive re-enforcers such as praise and attention, stickers and treats should be used in settings to promote good behaviour. Ignoring behaviour of a child mean is it not reinforced so may disappear. This is a good strategy if the child is not putting themselves or others at risk. The self fulfilling prophecy says children behave according to the expectations of the adults around them. Therefore it is important to be positive, smile, praise and show through body language that we enjoy being with them. Expectations must be realistic and if a child has demonstrated bad behaviour ensure they know it is the behaviour you are unhappy with, not the child. Child-centred approaches consider that unacceptable behaviour is linked to underlying issues. Taking this approach and focusing on the underlying issues may make a bigger improvement in the long term compared to simply managing children’s behaviour. Isolating children from their peers to manage behaviour may prevent them from having the same learning opportunities as others. It has also been noted that there is a link between language development and behaviour. If a child’s language has not developed they may show frustrated types of behaviour. It is then important to promote language and communication skills in order to make changes in this type of behaviour. Having a behaviour policy in place means children know what behaviour is expected from them and helps staff at a setting know how to promote positive behaviour and procedures to follow when a child is not demonstrating positive behaviour. Explaining the consequences of their actions to children means boundaries are set for them. It is important to carry out the sanction so children fully understand the consequences of actions. 6.1 There are many different types of transitions; emotional, physical, physiological and intellectual. Emotional transitions could be bereavement, birth of sibling, separation of family or entering/leaving care. Physical transitions could be moving house/town, moving schools, or moving to a different activity. Physiological transitions could be puberty or long-term medical conditions. Intellectual transitions are moving up in the school, from pre-school to primary school to secondary school. At Alphabet, to support children experiencing these types of transitions we have an ‘open-door’ policy meaning parents are welcome to stay in session to support and comfort the child if needed. We also have a key-worker system. In order to support children experiencing transitions, continuity of care is important for the child or young person to feel secure and safe. Having the appropriate numbers to call to refer to a specialist if needed is important too, such as councillors or social workers. Also to support children, explaining the smaller day to day transitions to children will help. For example, continuingly telling children the order of the day, such as play, snack, story and home time, will reassure the children help them feel more at ease and secure at the setting.