The Developing Child

A child will realize many teachers in his life. Teachers are simply one component in his journey. There are many components. The importance of good teachers early will encourage a child to learn second only to his parents:

A child's development as a whole is dependent on a lot of things: home life, childcare life, friends, stability, parent and provider expectation, intelligence, experience, personality type, his sense of self, and even his personal agenda and the material goods provided by his circumstance.

These things either foster good development with good influences on children, or hinder growth and cause developmental delays. Through the most formative years, good child care and good teachers at the primary level are an important element in a child's formation.

When a knowledgeable provider or teacher watches a room of children, it's her job to recognize each different temperaments in the sea of personalities interacting for better or for worse. Good providers keep a critical eye on every child's development. It's possible to "map" the physical and social growth of the children in care. Emotions are harder, but a caring provider will understand what a child means more than what he does.

The knowledge of what very young children should be doing at about what age is not a big secret. Although theories of child development vary, and experts may argue about the "windows of opportunity," experience dictates what behaviors and skills are in the average ranges for what ages. Whether it's from a text book or from a provider's experience, the bottom line is: kids can and will do just about anything anytime with or without a reason.

Understanding the individual child takes a consistent interest. That's important in helping each child master skills as well as guide each one past the Kiddie pitfalls. And pitfalls are plentiful in very young development; they are called delays. Delays can be mild to serious and involve social, physical, emotional and even spiritual components of the child.

Sometimes delays occur because children have not been exposed to certain necessary parts of life: positive and building discipline, the right kind of productive attention, solid, sensible routines, order of time and talent, and the genuine loving consistency from the adult world.

At the same time, accelerations occur when careful adults have taught and re-taught an interested child, or a precocious child has taught himself.

The three most important things to look for in matching good homes with good care are not of a material nature. Good care does require proper tools, but more importantly good care requires the proper heartscapes that foster the kind of solid development that rears solid adults.

Look for spiritual satisfaction: A child is content with who he is becoming. He is sure he is understood and loved. Signal? A child enjoys going to day care and tells his parents at least something good about what he accomplished.

Look for intellectual stimulation: He is learning consistently. The days are filled with exploration and experimentation. Signal? He is more and more aware of the world around him and verbalizes it with excitement.

Look for emotional peace: A child makes friends and enjoys good constructive pay. Signal? Children play productively.