Sequential development is the sequence of development. This means that you must finish with one area of development before you move onto the next one. The cephalocaudle principle believes that development moves from the head downwards.
This is to do with small children and understands that infants get full control of their heads, then arms then finally feet , from the top down. This is also seen later on and the understanding is that the spinal cord needs to develop properly before other areas such as the hands and feet and then fingers and toes develop. This is sequential and you cannot skip sequences or you will not be fully developed.The rate of development is the pace that a child develops at, this can be the pace within each sequence or the pace over all and goes to cover all the set areas or periods in between or altogether in the sequences.
These principals run through all areas of development from mental to physical to emotional, no matter what the age of the child. If one is skipped or is slow it can be a cause for concern and may lead to a child being given a special recommendation or having a special need in or outside school. Growth and development are a continuous process and are different for all individuals.The rates all move from the general to the specific, for example from moving a hand in any direction to grasping a pencil or catching a ball. So the variation is to do with the building blocks of development, which is sequential development versus the rate or the speed of development which is the rate of development.
Both are obviously interlinked.Discuss what is meant by milestonesDevelopmental achievements are often called ‘milestones’ and there are certain physical milestones. Gross motor skills involve the coordination and control of large muscles and skills like walking, sitting and running. Fine motor skills (or manipulation) involve the coordination and control of small muscles, and skills like holding a rattle, picking up crumbs and scribbling with a pencil.
Vision is the ability to see near and far, and to interpretwhat’s seen.Hearing is the ability to hear, listen to and interpret sounds, whereas speech is the ability to produce sounds that form words. Language is something different again, but also important. Emotional and social behaviour and understanding is your child’s ability to learn and interact with others, including skills for play and communicating with other people and children. What parents need to know about physical developmentBriefly explain how you might monitor a child’s development in school?Observing children is an important skill for a childcare practitioner to practise because it is an essential element of being able to assess a child’s progress and plan for the child’s future development and learning.
Observation can be used to strengthen virtually every aspect of an early childhood programme. I can get more out of observing a child if I plan in advance when I will make the observation and what approach I will take. It is important do not disrupt a child’s activities and routines if I want to get an accurate picture of what the child is doing in the normal course of their day.This means that I will need to plan my observations to fit into times when circumstances mean I am free to focus on the child they wish to observe. Busy times should be avoided and any distractions removed from the child if possible.
In addition to generally watching children and making mental notes of any changes or developments there are a number of specific observation techniques that can used. In order to make the most of any observation I should record what tI have witnessed. Ideally I should make some form of record on the spot at the time of the observation in a form that is clearly understood. Any hastily written notes can be written up in more detail later, especially those that will be shown to parents. Something suitable should be chosen to make notes on.
Perhaps a small notepad or sticky post-it notes are best as an A4 pad is probably too big and obtrusive. I should note the time I commence and end an observation and the record should always be dated. A series of dated observations enables the tracking of a child’s development over a period of time.The most helpful observations are made when the child who is being observed is not aware that they are being watched. If children are aware they are being looked at they can become inhibited or embarrassed or ‘perform’ for the observer.
I shouldnot try to interpret their observations at this stage, but stick to describing what is happening and focus on recording what I see and hear, ready to come to conclusions later. If the record created is to be of real value, it is important that what is written down is what actually happened and not what was thought to have happened. For this reason the carer: Should be consistentShouldn’t make assumptionsShouldn’t be judgementalShouldn’t be intrusiveI should be certain that what they have witnessed a child doing has not just happened as a one-off coincidence, but is truly representative of what the child can do regularly and that I can achieve the same result again. This may involve repeating an observation on several occasions before making an assessment.
It might be difficult to get everything down and the observer will inevitably be distracted at times by other children’s needs. If this happens I should just stop and try again when things are calmer
