INFANT Child Development Need This Done Thursday April 9, 2019 By 12pm PACIFIC TIME ZONE!

Teaching refers to the process of facilitating, in this case, children to acquire new knowledge and understand themselves as well as their surrounding environment. Different approaches of teaching are adopted for various groups of people. As such, the type of approach adopted for early childhood education is different from approaches used with other groups of people. Children are very brittle at a young age, therefore, they must be handled with care. A small error made when teaching a child can have long-lasting effects, (Bullard, 10). The main purpose of teaching practices among infants is to facilitate them into becoming who they are naturally meant to be. Teaching in early childhood education is based on observations made on the infants. The main role of a teacher at this stage is to encourage good behavior and discourage bad habits. Therefore, teaching in children's education involves more nurturing practices rather than inculcating new knowledge and skills among infants.

On the other hand, learning refers to the process through which young children acquire knowledge and develop awareness about their surroundings. This process involves various ways through which children can understand the guidance and teachings of their educators. As such, the learning process is dependent on the cognitive abilities of individual children. Some children are fast-learners while others are slow learners. “Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been recognized as a fundamental step in children’s development as it lays the foundation for future growth and learning,” (Bullard, 11). Learning is a gradual process that starts at a slow pace and increases speed as the child grows. Children should be facilitated to learn one thing at a time rather than subjecting them to an environment that overwhelms their abilities. It is also important to understand that the learning process for infants manifests through their childish play and childish interaction with their surroundings. Therefore, children should be allowed to explore their childish nature as much as possible.

With the concepts of teaching and learning in mind, we can now formulate the teaching goals in early childhood education. The main goal is to ensure that children get a good start as they develop their cognitive capabilities. This can be achieved by creating just the right learning environment for children. The use of objects that children can playfully manipulate and appealing colors is a good strategy to achieve the goals of teaching. “Play in a rich environment also provides the vehicle for optimal cognitive development,” (Ahmad, et al., 5). According to Piaget's theory of development, infants and toddlers struggle with logic and can only learn through pretend play and sensations they get from various objects. Another goal is to encourage communication among the toddlers. This can be done by creating and maintaining a good relationship between children and the surrounding environment. Encouraging playful activities that involve objects and people in the child’s learning environment promotes their language development. This promotes a child’s ability to express themselves freely.

With clearly-stated goals for childhood education, the next step now involves creating a conducive environment that is accommodative and promotes a child’s learning process. Children, especially infants, and toddlers learn through their interactions with people and objects in their surroundings. It is important to design a learning environment that will promote the learning process and ensure that specific goals are met. The type of environment created for infants and toddlers has a significant impact on their learning process. Adults “help young children to make sense of their world and support them to learn and practice the values of the cultures and communities in which they live and learn,” (Casper and Sharon, 5). Time, reflection and planning are factors that must be considered when creating an emotionally supportive environment for infants and toddlers. Also, the environment design must account for the conditions that the children are exposed to outside of the learning space. A supportive learning environment is well-organized, dependable, and flexible.

Families are the first and primary teachers for toddlers and infants, therefore, they must be involved in early childhood education. Toddlers and infants can detect a tension between adults and adjust accordingly. In such situations, children are stressed and cannot freely express themselves. For this reason, families must be involved in the process of designing the learning environment. Creating a two-way structured communication between teachers and parents is crucial for the assessment of a child’s development. It also enables the scheduling of caregiving practices based on the parent's work schedules. Engaging families enables caregivers to understand the culture, values, and beliefs that the toddler is exposed to at home and incorporate the same when teaching. This type of interaction promotes the effectiveness of the caregiving practices implemented within a learning environment. This can be done by requesting the families to provide the specific materials and toys that their children have at home. The parents can also recommend the type of practices they desire their child to be exposed to.

The quality of education provided to infants and toddlers can best be promoted by implementing specific quality standards. Providing high-quality care means creating the most appropriate environment for toddlers and infants. Quality is guaranteed by training the care-givers, implementing relevant policies, limiting the size of the group handled by one teacher, and maintaining good communication with the families, (Vandenbroeck, et.al., 23). In conclusion, all stakeholders must work together to ensure teaching and learning processes for infants and toddlers are effective.

Works Cited

Ahmad, Saghir, et al. "Play and Cognitive Development: Formal Operational Perspective of Piaget's Theory." Journal of Education and Practice 7.28 (2016): 72-79. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1118552.pdf