Childhood Experience In Early Childhood

In my first semester of college at Concordia, I had the opportunity to have the class EDU 120. A requirement for this class was having 10 hours of fieldwork; at least 3 hours in each level of childhood. The reason for this requirement is to help the students discover what grade level they want to teach in the future.

Cognitive development can be defined as a field of study in neuroscience and psychology revolving around the growth of the brain (Schacter & Woods 2009). This development is the evolution of skills such as, information processing, perceptual skills, conceptual resourcing, language knowledge and other brain development traits (ibid).

Norton, B. et al. (2011) "Somatic Expressions of Trauma in Experiential Play Therapy" in International Journal of Play Therapy, Vol. 20, No. 3, 138 152.

Within my ten hours of observation, I witnessed an Early Childhood, Childhood, and Middle Childhood classroom. Through the duration of these hours, I visited School 17 and School 30. My seven hours at School 17 consisted of experiences within an Early Childhood and a Childhood setting. The Early Childhood hours occurred in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom setting with Ms. Mitrakos. The Childhood observations occurred in a first-grade classroom with Ms. Hordan. My three hours at School 30 involved experiences within a Middle Childhood setting. These observation hours occurred in a 6th-grade math class. My observations within both schools inspired me to continue my passion for Early Childhood Education.

Cognitive development is the childs brain process of how they learn to develop physically (sit up, stand etc.) as well as speech in early years, through to problem solving, thought processes and learning as the child grows and develops.

Every stage in the span of life is critical and valuable, as each stage builds upon the last stage and lays the groundwork for the next stage. Middle Childhood is a developmental stage that spans the time from age seven to age eleven that is filled with both complex and simple changes that span multiple categories of development including cognitive, physical, social, emotional, moral, and spiritual development. In each category leaps and bounds of progress are made. While some of these changes and progressions are obvious, such as the serious physical changes that a child in this age range undergoes, some changes are not as obvious. This is the stage where an individual begins to become more aware of themselves and the perspectives of others.

All of the mentioned observations are linked to biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects of human developmental in early childhood. The observations provided many connections to different concepts and theories produced by developmental psychologists. This analysis provides an understanding as to why the children acted the way they did in the observations.

Early developmental experiences can have dramatic effects on the child and can last well into adulthood. “Researchers have long considered early adverse experiences as having a great etiological significance in the development of depression” (Gotlib, & Hammen, 2014, Chapter 12, loc. 6420). There is a strong link between chronic depression and abuse or maltreatment from childhood (Gotlib, & Hammen, 2014). There are many differing theories as to why early adverse experiences can be linked to depression, including genetics.

I chose to go to Orchard Hill elementary school in South Windsor, Connecticut. A few of my cousins attended this school so it was an easy choice for me. I decided to observe Mrs. Zerella, who is a kindergarten teacher. I fell in love with kindergarten when I did my first observation two years ago and I knew for this assignment I wanted to go back to a kindergarten classroom. They are so eager to learn and we all know they are pretty cute. When I walked in I first saw a big circle rug in the middle of the room. It looked like an inviting place for children to gather. There was a great deal of colors and posters around the room it was almost overwhelming. Right away, I noticed an enormous smart board and three desktop computers. When I

I enjoyed reading the article because I learned something very interesting. I thought the underlining reason for Maggie's issues was because she was hungry, thirsty and upset, but because of that I was blinded to the subtle hints of problems with her mouth. She was not eating because she had a tooth problem. I thought it was a simple problem but it was more complex then that. It's best to look deeper even if you think you have the answer. I wonder if anyone guessed the correct problem.

TH has finished his first year of 6th grade at Rose Hill Middle School and is excited to start the 7th grade. TH is a good student that gets A’s, B’s and C’s. Math is one of his favorite subjects. Currently, he receives special education services in reading and math. His teachers give him many questions to challenge him. He states that he likes P.E., because of all the running that they do. He likes being able to hang out with his friends. After school lets out, he usually takes the bus back home. This was the first year riding the bus for him and he thought it was scary, not only because it was a stranger picking him up but also the bus driver drove crazy down the dirt roads (TH, 2018). On days that he has to stay to participate in extracurricular activities, he is picked up by one of his maternal grandparents.

1.1 A child’s lifestyle even from a young age will impact his or her health throughout adolescence and adulthood. According to Health People, “Diet reflects the foods and beverages consumed over time and in various settings such as worksites, schools, restaurants, and the home. Interventions to support a healthier diet can help ensure that individuals have the knowledge and skills to make healthier choices and healthier options are available and affordable (Healthy People). In order to live a full and healthy life, children should be exposed to proper nutrition and exercise. I believe that it is up to parents and school systems to provide environments that support healthy choices. In contrast, low-levels of exercise coupled with unhealthy diets can result in a child being overweight and developing chronic diseases.

I thought it was very interesting to read about the different theories and perspectives that are discussed in chapter two. It is important to look back on the roots of early childhood, but it is more important that we build upon those roots to adhere to the needs of children in this day and age. The book gave an example of how some child care traditions would seem abusive or strange to modern families today. This supports the fact that early childhood education is always developing and changing over time. As I continued to read the chapter, I was very unfamiliar with the different philosophies of guidance such as the maturationists and the constructivists. It is interesting to observe the different perspectives and ideals people have on early

Gross and fine motor skills do not fully rely on maturation of the child but also on the child’s environment, parent’s expectations and teachings of the skills. School counselors should know about this topic because gross and fine motor skills will be needed throughout life and it is an important part to the developmental process. Another concept of physical development is the current issue of child obesity. Childhood obesity is caused by an imbalance of energy in and energy out or in other words calories put in to the body and calories burned out. Too much of the wrong types of food and lack of physical activity can cause this (Zuk 2008). Currently 15% or about nine million children are obese in the United States. Child obesity is almost to the point of being an epidemic and many physicians believe that this generation will be the first where children have shorter lifespans than their parent’s due to diseases caused by obesity as adults (Steinberg 2011). The issue of child obesity is good for school counselors to be aware of because of the medical risks that go on into adolescence and adulthood such as asthma, and type II diabetes. Counselors can be prepared with answers if asked by students.

Chapter 5 “Early Childhood: Body and Mind” section “Thinking during Early Childhood” teaches about the cognitive development of children during early childhood at around ages 2-6 years old, in which, children targeted at this age do not use logical operations (reasoning process). Such a term is called the “Preoperational Intelligence” conducted by Piaget. Furthermore, Piaget’s preoperational thought establishes that children have language but use symbolic thought where “words can refer to things not seen and that an item, like a flag, can symbolize something else (in this case, a country).” Symbolic thought proves Animism; the belief that young children have thinking that “natural objects are alive and nonhuman animals have the same characteristics of a child” (Berger, 173).