1.1 Explain how a child development chart can help you in your role
A child development chart can help me understand the sequence, rate and development milestones children and young people are supposed to follow. It is important to know these when it comes to monitoring children or young people’s needs during their school years. It will also help break down development into sections, these are, physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social (P.I.L.E.S).
The sequence of child development is the same for most children, but what often changes is the rate in which they develop. Therefore it is important that I monitor this. The best way to do this, is through ongoing observation of the children and young people in my care.
Knowing the areas of development and how they are linked, will help me identify when a child is not hitting expected milestones. I can then effectively put in place the methods of intervention or help the child or young person needs in order for their development to progress.
1.2 Describe with examples how different aspects of development can affect one another
All of the different aspects of development within children and young people are very closely linked and delayed development on one area can and does have a knock on effect in one or more different areas. When a child is taking part in an activity they will be drawing on all areas of the development at the same time for example an activity such as doing a jigsaw puzzle in a group setting. This covers the following areas of development and all are needed to complete the task successfully:
Language – language is needed to communicate with the other children or young people in order to complete the task as a group.
Social – the child needs adequate (to their age range) social skills in order to be able to work as part of a group. If these skills are lacking then chaos quickly takes over and the task can not be completed successfully.
Intellectual – the child needs to be able to recognise colours, shapes and patterns in order to be able to complete the puzzle.
Emotional – this area of development is very closely linked to social development. In order for the child to work in a group their emotional development needs to be at the expected range so that they are able to cope with not being the only one making decisions, sharing and taking turns.
Physical – fine motor skills are required to be able to pick up the puzzle pieces and manipulate them into the correct places. Depending on the size of the puzzle, for example, a large floor puzzle, gross motor skills may be needed.
If a child is lacking or is delayed in one of the above areas of development then it makes it very difficult for them to complete the task. This in turn can lead to further delay in social and or emotional development as they begin to think negatively about themselves.
2.1 Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people’s development including background, health and environment
A Childs development is influenced by a number of factors such as their background, health and the environment in which they are growing up in. All these factors can have an impact on their development.
Background
Children and young people may come from a wide range of different family environments, cultures and circumstances for example their parents may come from a foreign country and/or have different religious beliefs. This may have an effect on a child as they will be taught something different at home than at school and this may confuse the child. There may also be a language issue as the child may speak the parent’s language at home and may have problems speaking English at school.
Children with different cultural backgrounds will be influenced by several factors such as religion, beliefs and their families. The children’s belief may cause them emotional conflict when they want to participate in some
