Promoting learning and development in the early years Essay

For a child to develop and learn there are seven areas of learning and development located in the EYFS which are divided into two groups, prime and specific areas of learning. Personal and emotional development, physical development and communication and language. The prime areas are important as they lay the foundations for a child’s success in the specific areas of learning. He specific areas are learning are Literacy, Mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design, which provide a range of opportunities for children to broaden their knowledge and skills. Personal and emotional development means a child developing skills to be able to make relationships and bonds, having self confidence and self awareness, understanding that actions may affect others and be able to learn positive dispositions such as empathy. Physical development means a child moving, running, crawling, minor and major motor skills, health and self care. For a child to communicate effectively he/she will be able to sustain attentive listening and use language appropriate. For a child to use literacy effectively he/she will learn to read, write and listen to instructions. For a child to understand the world, he/she will understand that people have different beliefs, colour skin and religion, the world and technology. A child will also learn other children’s names, talk about family and friends. Expressive arts and design means a child learning to make things, being imaginative and use different materials. Maths will enable a child to use numbers, counting, shapes and measurements. Each of the areas of learning and development are interdependent on each other because if a child lacked the skills needed in one of the areas the he/she would consequently struggle in the others. Personal, social and emotional development supports physical development as if a child who feels secure and safe will then be confident and motivated to move and test physical capacities. It also supports communication and language as it establishes turn talking, joint activities, a desire to communicate and express feels to others. Physical development promotes understanding the world as when a child takes a risk he/she will learn, for example gravity. It also promotes communication and language as a child will be able to use heir body language as well as words to express feelings or thoughts. Mathematics closely supports communication and language, literacy and personal, social and emotional development as if a child cannot read or write they will find it difficult to complete tasks, and if a child cannot communicate then they wouldn’t be able to ask for help. This would then have a knock on affect to a child’s confidence and emotional development. When a child is placed in setting, they follow the EYFS which illustrates different outcomes for child at different ages. These are called the early learning goals, the EYFS profile and the two year assessment. A early years learning goal is a target that a child should be achieving by the age of 5. Practitioners will also observe if a child is exceeding levels or not yet reaching them, meaning they can then give them the required support. The early learning goals are found within the EYFS. A two year assessment is carried out between the ages of two and three. Parents/carers/guardians are provided with a short written summary of the child’s development in the prime areas. Within the progress check it focuses on the prime areas and identifies the child’s strengths and any areas where the child is struggling or where progress is less than expected. An action plan will be made to address any concerns and the practitioner may include other relevant information in addition to the prime areas. The two year assessment must be provided in time to inform the health child programme, this will enable the health visitor to identify a Childs indicial needs accurately and fully at the health review. A EYFS profile provides the reception leader with a detailed picture of the child’s knowledge, understanding and their abilities. All early years providers must complete the EYFS profile for each child until they reach 5 years old as The profile describes the Childs level of attainment at the end of the EYFS and identifies their leaning needs for next stage of school. A copy of the EYFS profile is given to the parents of the child so they are also aware of their child’s progress and so the school can work with the parents to overcome any problematic areas. While in setting a child or young person development is monitored by assessors and recorded. Information about the child must be completed by observations on the child, which means 80% of these observations must be carried out during child initiated activities, this mean that if a practitioner has set up the sand pit for child to play in and one child then decides to take a car and by using his/her imagination to make the sand into a track and race the other cars this would be child initiated activates as the child has decided what he/she wanted to do without being prompted into doing so. Within the EYFS a child’s learning and development are reviewed and documented using the early years foundation stage profile, this document provides a record of the Childs progress in each of the seven areas of learning. This will include all the outcomes from the two year assessment, the EYFS profile and the early learning goals so parents/carers/guardians, practitioners and teachers will be able to see what progress a child has made. As all child sometimes do not complete all the outcomes at the expected times for various reasons, change of nursery, family problems, disabilities, illnesses, communication barriers or age, this must be taken into account and were necessary give a child extra support to enable them to be ready to start school.