2.1Provides a thorough account of these developmental influences, supported by key theorists, frameworks, literature& /or research.  


I believe play is an important factor in children's development and his semester we read up on key theories that contributed a great deal in the early childhood sector.  The late 19^th and early 20^th century saw the emergence of four great constructivist theorists’, Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), Erik Erikson (1902-1994).  They viewed educators’ role as directors of children’s development through play. They believed that a child would explore and adapt to the surrounding environment by adjusting to the social, cultural and physical aspects of their lives.  According to Van Hoorn, 2011, play is a fundamental part of early childhood, which encourages young children to develop and learn particularly between the ages of 0 to eight years. Play develops in children a sense of self, physicality, personality, intellect and social capacity.

Piaget’s stages of development. Children better understand the world, which develops gradually across each of the stages.

• Practice/functional play (Sensorimotor, 0-2 years old) infants exhibit mastery of movement, when infants repeat an action, like waving their arms in the air.

• Symbolic play (Preoperational Intelligence, 2-7 years old) children start to role-playing and pretend one object represents another, like using blocks and play dough.

• Game with rules (Concrete operational, 7 to 11 years old) children learn to negotiate with other players and play games with rule. 

• The last stage (Formal Operational, 12 to adulthood) concrete think about the future.

While Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that children learn to express ideas, feelings, and needs thru symbolic play and symbolic role-play with objects. Vygotsky coined the terms Zone of Proximal development (ZPD), where teachers discover how new concepts, capabilities and abilities emerge in the play of each child in relationship to others.

The basic principles underlying Vygotsky's theory is that: children construct their own knowledge, development can not be separated from it's social context, learning can lead development and language plays a key role in mental development.

Based on Piaget, Vygotsky, Mead and Erikson’s development theories, educators come to understand the use of play in an early childhood classrooms and how vital it is for a child to develop through a positive process that is influenced by family, community values and histories. As educators we can augment the learning of children by listening, observing, understanding and learning about sociocultural factors of the children in our schools. Play reinforces the development and understanding of special concepts and provides skills that align with academic norms.  Play also gives educators cues for assessing children and implementing curriculum goals. It helps children develop to their full potential intellectually, socially, morally, physically and emotionally as they learn 

to negotiate their developing with the demands of the group.

Reference:

Van Hoorn, J. N. (2011). Play and Development: Theory, Play at the centre of the Curriculum (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

4.1 Critiques other plausible perspectives on early literacy & numeracy awareness & immersion

During our tutorial this week we searched for children’s storybooks on the Internet and critiqued them on any implied or hidden messages, bias and stereotypes they might have within their text.  The story I chose was “The Gruffalo” children's book written by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The book’s target audiences are children aged three to seven years old.

The story is about a little brown mouse that eludes being eaten by several predators as he walks through the woodlands, by deceiving them with accounts of an eccentric monster that he is to meet. The plot twist is that when the Gruffalo does appear he too has plans to eat the mouse.  The mouse persuades the Gruffalo that he should not eat him but instead fear him and convinces the Gruffalo to follow him back through the woods to watch the other predators run in fear. The Gruffalo is not aware of his reputation and is led to believe that the mouse is the true source of the creature’s discomfort. The Gruffalo concedes to his craving to gobble mouse and instead returns to the woods, while mouse is left to enjoy his nut.

The Gruffalo is a story about survival

The story highlights relationship of size to power. The bigger the animal the more power they have and intelligence

The little mouse, because of his size has lease power, but he used his intelligence to save himself from being eaten by the other much bigger animals. Being small he could not afford to be stupid.

The Gruffalo was portrayed as a big powerful animal, he is the largest of all the animals and has the most power over them, and he could afford to be less intelligent.

After further reflection and research i came across a blog with a different perspective of the hidden messages in The Gruffalo.  Another blogger shared that it is a story about the "analogy of the corrupt nature of celebrity, media and how one can ultimately achieve one's goals only through deceit"

http://littleliteraturereview.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/gruffalo-analogy-on-nature-of-celebrity.html

Before we had the tutorial discussion I did censor majority of my own children's experiences.  The thought processes that went into those decisions were not as deep compared to what we went thru during class.  I now understand the learning experiences that we introduce or engage children in, build on how they emerge as individuals and how they interact and react to their world. I believe this outcome is all about being aware of the different perspectives that each child might experience throughout their day and as educators it is important to always bare this in mind, while working hand in hand with the family and community.  

2.3Sources further information; developing &/or collecting resources for literary & numerical teaching & learning.

Given my limited exposure to the childcare sector I think it is important to source as much information, resources and materials in order to maximize both the students and my enjoyment in the subjects of literacy and numeracy.

Below are some websites that I have enjoyed using thus far in my career.

The website of the South Australian Department for education and child development has a very informative site specifically for the English language and literacy in the birth to eight age range.  They have a framework that describes children’s knowledge in literacy and language skills utilizing assessment examples and criteria of evidence. This is useful for educators when observing and assessing children’s literacy in the first years of school.

http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/literacy/files/links/link_157513.pdf

This website has the “Child development tracker” which gives an insight on a child’s stages of growth from one to eight years old.  They go into depth about

·       Approaches to learning

·       Creative arts

·       Language

·       Literacy

·       Mathematics

·       Physical health

·       Science and

·       Social and Emotional Growth

There are other subheadings in the site including information about Education, fun and games, food and fitness, parenting and many more.  I personally enjoy this site since it is easy to follow and understand, I think it is ideal for all parents to read and use as a resource.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/

The next two sites give example lesson for maths and English from foundation to year 6 so it is important to remember the age that you will be focusing on and ensuring that the activities are age appropriate.

http://splash.abc.net.au/primary/maths

http://splash.abc.net.au/primary/english

As additional resources I have used the course text books and found them to be informative and helpful in my experience as a childcare professional.

  

http://www.nctm.org/resources/elementary.aspx

http://naeyc.org

http://www.skwirk.com.au

https://www.scootle.edu.au

http://projectconstruct.org

2.2Recognises subtle differences & levels in literacy & numerical learning & development according to age, ability, culture & social circumstances.

During one of our weekly workshop I tried to construct a literacy and numeracy continuum. Based on Geist, infant and toddler developmental milestones (table 5.1), this was adapted from PBS Parents website at  http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/ .
The milestone table used by Geist goes from 0 - 36 months, while the website details stages of growth from 0 - 8 years old and goes on further to details stages of development with reference to social and emotional growth, physical health, approaches to learning, creative arts, language, literacy, mathematics and science.

(Geist, 2009, p. 139-144)

(Jalongo, 2011, p. 56-57)

Gestures play a key part in early childhood communication.  In a study of 50 families with 14 month olds, toddlers produced 13-25 meanings through gestures in 90 minutes. 3 year olds made gestures in response to music revealed their thinking.  A child's first six months are crucial to a child's development of language skills.

Reference:

Geist, E. (2009). Children are born mathematicians: Supporting mathematical development, birth to age 8. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Jalongo, M. R. (2011). In Early Childhood Language Arts. In Understanding language development in early childhood (5th ed ed., pp. 43-72). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person Education Inc.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/