The process of child development and factors that may affect it.

1.2

Describe with examples how different aspects of development can affect one another.

All aspects of development and learning will affect one another. One aspect of development will lead to another so if a child is less developed at reading for example, and a group of children are having carpet time reading books together, a less developed child may find it difficult to mix with the other children if they are having difficulties reading, especially in a group. Another example may be if a child has a language barrier. This could be either through either late development of speaking, a foreign language as their first language or a speech impediment. This may prevent children from talking to each other in many different circumstances, for example, if children are playing a game at playtime in the playground. If the children with the barrier does not fully understand what is being said this could cause the child to feel left out, not part of the group and in turn could make them less confident and withdrawn from their social setting.

Task 2

2.1

Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people’s development including background, health, and environment.

Background –

There are many different background influences that can affect a child’s development. These can include the family set up, for example who is in their family, who cares for them, the way the child is brought up, their religion and social wealth. A child who is from a less fortunate family may not have the trendiest clothes, footwear or accessories and may get bullied because of this. This could make the child go one of two ways. They could become withdraw because they are ashamed or they could become over confident and bully like as a way of hiding behind this. Lack of money within the family may cause the carers to become stressed, which may have a knock on affect with the children. If the parents are stressed they may spend less time with their children and be less affectionate, which again may cause the child to rebel or become withdrawn. Religion may influence a child’s development. Some religions have very strong beliefs and may not allow child to do certain things or behave in certain ways. Again this may make the child feel excluded from certain activities or social events, or may even make the child rebel against their carer’s religion.

Health –

Medical conditions may restrict some children from playtime or certain activities, though no fault of their own. This may make it harder for the child to make friends or it may make them fall behind in lessons in class if they have to miss lessons due to appointments or because of their illness. They may also find, it hard to concentrate if they are tired or feeling poorly because of their condition. They may get upset because of this. A child’s eating habits may also have an affect on their development. A child who is overweight may get called names, or may not be able to do activities as quick, like running. This may make them less confident, excluded from social activities with their peers.

Environment –

Learning opportunities can have a huge effect on children’s development. Some children are lucky enough to have lots of toys, books and creative materials at home, nursery or school which can give them a good head start in their education, while others less fortunate may not have the same things and may therefore not be as developed as some children. This can affect things like their speech, for example, if a child is read to a lot at home/in their setting, this will bring on their language skills. If a child has lots of outdoor activities to try and do, this will bring on their confidence. Where as if they don’t have activities to do, they may roam the streets, may drink from an early age and even get into trouble with the police.

2.2

Describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young people’s development.

It is important to recognise and act on any persons development who you think may be of concern. Acting on this quickly can make a big difference, especially if noticed early on. The additional help may only be needed for a short space of time, whilst for others it may be a little more long term.

Short term may mean a little extra help in class in a particular area e.g. literacy/numeracy and sometimes this can be over come in a matter of months or even weeks. This help may assist the child in their learning needs, helping them to get up to the same level, or close to the same level the rest of the children are at. Lots of intervention work is only a short term, however some may take a little longer, for example a child may need to see a speech therapist or may have long term learning difficulties like autism and may require additional help on a long term basis.

In some cases the sooner help is given the greater chance the child has of catching its other peers up in school and in all cases the sooner help is given the better chance they have.

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Task 3

Identify the transition experienced by most children and young people –

        

Task 3.3

Describe with examples how transitions may affect children and young people’s behaviour and development.

Changes in a child or young persons life are happening all of the time. Although some are good changes, others can be difficult for them to deal with and may affect their behaviour or development. Some common examples are:

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Some transitions that only some children may experience are: