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Teaching and learning in Schools Assignment 1 Physical Development between the age range of 3-7 years olds Physical development provides children with the abilities they need to explore and interact with the world around them. It is also about improving the skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement, although the age at which they achieve them may differ from child to child. The physical development of young children must be encouraged through the provision of opportunities for them to be active and interactive and to improve their skills.
They must be supported in using all of their senses to learn about the world around them and to make connections between new information and what they already know. They must be supported in developing an understanding of the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices in relation to food. Early development of children’s intellectual, social and physical abilities has the potential to affect their long term achievement, beyond the initial introduction to the classroom, through their school lives and into adulthood.
A greater understanding of the processes at work in these early years and their role in later success is therefore important to ensure that resources are appropriately targeted. I have been working with children in my placement who are developing skills through a wide range of physical activities, these may be gross motor skills such as beginning to walk, or fine motor skills like holding a pencil. A child’s physical development depends just as much on their upbringing as it does on nature.
On the one hand a child is born with a genetic map that will guide such matters as height and general muscle development but on the other the child’s surroundings will influence overall health and activity levels which contribute to physical development. Problems with a child’s development can be an indication that the child may have some learning difficulties. In order for children to further their physical development, they must practice the many skills that will ultimate lead to gross motor control, fine motor control and overall balance and coordination.
Gross motor skills involve whole body movement. Learning to run and jump requires strength, suppleness, stamina and lots of practice. The Development of gross motor skills include: Walking, running and climbing. Hopping, skipping and jumping. Sliding, dancing, and swimming. Bending, stretching and carrying large objects. Pushing and pulling toys. Ball skills – rolling, kicking, throwing and catching. Awareness of body in space. Exploring movement in space. Experiencing speed. Balance and co-ordination. Control of body.
Manoeuvring equipment – tricycles, bikes, cars, carts and prams. Fine manipulative skills are a precise use of the hands in co ordination with the eyes, and also include: Dexterity using equipment – gripping, holding, drawing, colouring, painting, tracing, writing, cutting, gluing, threading, sewing, building. Exploring sand, water and dough – touching, poking, feeling, squeezing, pouring, filling, emptying. Using tools in woodwork and construction – hammering, tapping, sawing. Playing musical instruments. Social skill using a spoon, fork and knife.
Dressing and undressing – using zips, buttons and laces. For children to master their gross motor skills they should be encouraged to engage in activities that offer them the chance to walk, run, jump, and throw – outdoor activities are particularly suited to these skills. To master their fine motor skills, children should be encouraged to participate in stereotypical indoor activities such as cutting paper, writing, drawing and colouring. Coordination and balance can be practised in most children’s activities, riding wheeled toys, balancing along benches and skipping.
Children should be encouraged to participate in a wide and varied spectrum of activities each day which will give them the best chance to round off all of their skills for their overall development. Activities that allow observation and assessment of children’s gross skills like art and craft are one of the activities that take place in school regularly. Doing tasks like making mother’s day cards using the pencil to draw the shapes and cut out and glue will help their motor skills.
Another activity which supports children’s physical development is play; it contributes to the physical, cognitive social and emotional well being of children. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Playing outside with a ball or running around a playground or sports field, climbing and using the slide will offer children the chance to further these skills. You can support children’s learning by showing them what we are going to do, supervising them and giving encouragement and making sure they understand the task’s.
With a creative task for example you could make a display for the wall using materials collected from outside, the children could collect these and you could construct a bar chart and every child could contribute by making their own square of paper using a range of materials, paint, glue, tissue, felt, glitter etc The foundation phase curriculum is planned as a progressive framework that spans four years (3-7 years) to meet the diverse needs of all children, including those who are at earlier stage of development and those who are more able.
Throughout the foundation phase, the children acquire and develop their skills in many ways. Observation and assessment of children’s gross skills is important because we want to find out what stage of development they are at and whether it matches the average stage of development for their age, it could also be that there has been a change in a child’s behaviour, by observing them we will find out what causes them to react and get stressed. We can then find out if anything has been going on at home and plan activities within school to help them learn much easier to suit their needs and bring in activities that will stimulate them.
Another reason why children are observed could be because a child has not been very sociable and doesn’t have many friends or any at all. By observing them you can find out what is causing this, and can plan activities that encourage the children to make friends and work as a team, for example, setting out chairs in a certain way, then telling each child where to sit so that they don’t favour their friends, they are then encourage to communicate and get involved with the new children around them.
As a Classroom Assistant additional observation can help the teacher to diagnose children for classifying them as visual, auditory, tactile or kinaesthetic learners. Transitions are defined as any significant phase or experience in the life of a child that can affect behaviour or development. Transitions include those that are common to all children and young people, such as moving school. Coping with change, such as parents getting divorced, or loss, such as the death of a relative or a family pet, can be very difficult for a child to cope with and they may display their emotions in a variety of ways.
To support a child through a major change in their life you should offer to: Encourage the child by asking questions and answer them to the best of my ability, honestly and simply using language and words that are age appropriate. Talking with the child about the person/animal who has died Offering to listen to the child, so they can share their thoughts and emotions in a safe and caring environment with a familiar and sympathetic adult Observing the child and noting any concerns or changes to their play and interaction with others and sharing these with you
Finding appropriate ways for the child to become involved in remembering the person/animal, for example a memory box or jar. Regularly discussing with the teacher how the child is coping. Ensuring that the other children understand (according to their age) that the child is more sensitive at the moment and may need to be given more space or support. As adults, we are all motivated in different ways and the same is true for children. Some children are highly motivated and take great pleasure in their own success.
Others are highly competitive and enjoy gaining greater success than their classmates. Most pupils wish to please the teacher so it is the job of the teacher to encourage all pupils to be proud of their own achievements and to raise self esteem, so that the pupil continues to give maximum effort and increase personal success. If a pupil displays a negative attitude to school this could be due to variety of factors both in and out of school. The pupil may have a history of failure and have just ‘given up’.
Most teachers can recognize and reward success. Failure is more difficult. It is important that children recognize that making mistakes is part of the learning process and by developing strategies to rectify their mistakes they will be able to solve them in future. Children are motivated to do their best when they enjoy what they’re doing and who they are with. That’s why one child can have a great year in math one year and a not-so-great year the next. Teachers change. Circumstances change.
A lot affects a child’s motivation. It is important to pay attention to what increases children’s motivation and what discourages them. True motivation comes from finding the ideal point of being challenged. When children are overly challenged, they may give up because the expectations are too high. If they’re not challenged enough, they may become bored. Establishing a positive and mutually respectful relationship between a class or teaching assistant, is the key to successful working.
Both teachers and teaching assistants value each other as members of the children’s workforce, appreciate their respective roles and responsibilities and respect personal and professional boundaries in their interaction with each other. There is an importance for teachers and teaching assistants to develop an effective, positive working relationship which is strengthened by four essential elements: ‘trust’, ‘respect’, ‘communication’ and ‘teamwork’. Many teachers will rely on a teaching assistant’s judgment during a lesson and both parties will give feedback afterwards and work on plans to address learning issues.
Teachers often appreciate having a colleague to bounce ideas off and when a teacher/support staff relationship is working at its most effective this can happen on a regular basis. One of the important points to remember is that for a successful working relationship to take place there has to be commitment and understanding on both sides. A Teacher should always keep the teaching assistant working in there class fully informed about the intention of the lesson, the way they have planned it and what they hope the outcomes will be.
That way they will be able to enhance the lesson by building on the objectives they have set. The working relationships between teachers and teaching assistants have continued to be vitally important for successful schools. Yet teachers receive no formal training on working with other adults in the classroom. Such relationships need to be worked at and developed to ensure that both teachers and teaching assistants fully benefit from them and in turn that the pupils do too. References: Louise Burnham (2006).
The Teaching Assistants Handbook. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. 2. [pic][pic][pic] Bibliography: Lave, J (1988) Cognition in Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bee, H (1997) The Developing Child, Addison Wesley Publication Barshaw & Farrell (2003) Teaching Assistants, London: David Fulton Publishers Burnham, L (2003) The Teaching Assistants Handbook, Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers Meggitt, C (2006) Child Development, Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers ———————– 5