CHILD DEVELOPMENT © Laser Learning Ltd 2014

We look at child development under the four EYFS themes:

A unique child This theme reminds us that all children are individuals. All children should be treated with equal respect and consideration. We base our provision on children’s own starting points, not that of the group or chronological age. Their experiences shape who they are and who they will be.

To understand our unique child We must listen to the child. We must listen to the parents and carers of the child. We must observe the child in as many situations as we can. We must collect information from any other child care provider they might have been with previously.

Day to day goals We need to ensure that we are building into the child's day opportunities to: Raise their self esteem. Give them an insight into who they are. Provide additional support if and when required . Learn about personal safety.

Positive relationships In creating positive relationships we seek to offer: A warm and loving environment A key person to make an attachment with Opportunities for the child to learn independence A stimulating environment Opportunities for children to learn respect for themselves and others

Providing activities We need to provide activities for children to learn about : Understanding the people around them How to share and take turns Feelings and emotions How to make good choices

Enabling environments – what are they? Areas where there is opportunity for children to play, explore, develop and grow in knowledge. Places where it is ok to “have a go”, to make a mistake and see it as learning. A place where a child can poke, prod, make, break, look, question and just try out the world and its resources. A place where an adult can extend children’s play.

Learning and development The things to consider here are in three main areas, they are: Active learning Play and exploration Critical thinking

7 areas of learning Learning and development must be across all 7 areas, the 3 prime and 4 specific. They are: 1. Communication and language 2. Physical development 3. Personal, social and emotional development 4. Literacy 5. Mathematics 6. Understanding of the world 7. Expressive arts and design

Stages of development It is important to remember that development charts have an age range as a guideline. We need to bear in mind that development occurs in fairly routine stages. We use development charts as a way of provoking us to consider developmental delay if a milestone is not reached by a certain age or in line with other stages.

Developmental delay If, through regular observation and progress tracking, we think there is some developmental delay, we can then quickly arrange some additional support before the child gets too far behind and gets frustrated (possibly leading to other issues such as behaviour problems and low self esteem).

Dealing with delay As practitioners we will come across children with moderate to severe developmental delay. It is important to start at their base level and provide for them as individuals just as we would with all “on target” children. We must adopt the inclusive practice approach to all children in our setting, aiming to bring them on developmentally whatever their age and stage.