The_Development_Nature_of_Childhood_and_the_Holistic,_Integrated_Nature_of_Development

403 K4D383 The development nature of childhood and the holistic, integrated nature of development. Holistic learning and development involves all areas of development and embraces a view of the whole child developing in the context of family, home and community. Young children do not learn in units they make connections across their learning with these connections changing and developing with new experiences. When looking at children’s development I need to look at the whole picture, seeing child as a whole, physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, morally, and spiritually, every area of development overlaps and integrates with each other. All are connected, when I look at all children’s development I need to use various strategies, planned observations, snapshot observations, slips, photos, other staffs findings. I need to have strong relationships with parents to find out about the child at home and in other settings, so I can look at the child as a whole, remembering each child will have its own individual development journey at their own rate. Children are competent learners from birth and develop and learn in a wide variety of ways. I should, therefore, look carefully at the children in my care, consider their needs, their interests, and their stages of development and use all of this information to help plan a challenging and enjoyable experience across all the areas of learning and development. The Early Year Foundation Stage which I work with to determain where a child is developmentally has six areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; Physical Development; Creative Development. None of these areas of Learning and Development can be delivered in isolation from the others. They are equally important and depend on each other to support a rounded approach to child development. All the areas must be delivered through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. The statutory early learning goals establish expectations for most children to reach by the end of the EYFS. They provide the basis for planning throughout the EYFS, so laying secure foundations from birth for future learning. By the end of the EYFS, some children will have exceeded the goals. Other children, depending on their individual needs, will be working towards some or all of the goals – particularly some younger children, some children with learning difficulties and disabilities and some learning English as an additional language. Children in my setting who are not developing in the norm will have IEP’s to help support them in their learning and development.