Enhancing Childcare: A Holistic Approach

The assignment content discusses the importance of considering children's temperament and brain dominance in education. The author reflects on their own brain dominance test results, indicating a right-brained person with stronger intuitive abilities. They also acknowledge the importance of creative development among children and plan to focus more on encouraging improvisation. The author discusses the Montessori approach to early childhood education, highlighting its child-centered nature and emphasis on play-based learning. Additionally, they compare the Te Whariki approach in New Zealand and the Early Years Learning Framework in Australia, noting similarities and differences. The content also touches on the Swedish early years framework, which emphasizes strong family involvement and community engagement.

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PSYCHOLOGY

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Table of Contents
Module 1..........................................................................................................................................5
Activity 1.1..................................................................................................................................5
Question 1................................................................................................................................5
Question 2................................................................................................................................5
Question 3................................................................................................................................5
Activity 1.2..................................................................................................................................5
Question 1................................................................................................................................5
Question 2................................................................................................................................5
Question 3................................................................................................................................6
Question 4................................................................................................................................6
Question 5................................................................................................................................6
Activity 1.3..................................................................................................................................6
Activity 1.4..................................................................................................................................6
Question 1................................................................................................................................6
Question 2................................................................................................................................6
Question 3................................................................................................................................7
Module 2..........................................................................................................................................7
Activity 2.1..................................................................................................................................7
Activity 2.2..................................................................................................................................7
Activity 2.3..................................................................................................................................8
Activity 2.4..................................................................................................................................8
Module 3..........................................................................................................................................8
Activity 3.1..................................................................................................................................8

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Activity 3.2..................................................................................................................................9
Activity 3.3..................................................................................................................................9
Activity 3.4..................................................................................................................................9
Module 4..........................................................................................................................................9
Activity 4.1................................................................................................................................10
Module 5........................................................................................................................................11
Activity 5.1................................................................................................................................11
Activity 5.2................................................................................................................................11
Activity 5.3................................................................................................................................11
Activity 5.4................................................................................................................................12
Module 6........................................................................................................................................12
Activity 6.1................................................................................................................................12
Activity 6.2................................................................................................................................13
Activity 6.3................................................................................................................................14
Activity 6.4................................................................................................................................14
Module 7........................................................................................................................................14
Activity 7.1................................................................................................................................14
Activity 7.2................................................................................................................................14
Activity 7.3................................................................................................................................15
Module 8........................................................................................................................................15
Activity 8.1................................................................................................................................15
Activity 8.2................................................................................................................................16
Activity 8.3................................................................................................................................16
Activity 8.4................................................................................................................................16
Activity 8.5................................................................................................................................17

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References......................................................................................................................................18

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Module 1
Activity 1.1
Question 1
In the changing world, the pedagogy has been changed due to the introduction of changing
nature of Australian society, the concept of equality and justice and new educational principles
‘Belonging, Being and Becoming’ (Arthur et al., 2013). In recent years, education is more
focused on helping the children to grow as part of the community. As an effect, the pedagogy
also is being more dependent on the unique family values, equality and sense of belongingness to
the community.
Question 2
While teaching a child in the early years, considering the culture of the community is necessary.
The expectations of the family, values and belief also need to be considered while educating the
child.
Question 3
The first unknown term in the chapter was pedagogy. Pedagogy can be described as a knowledge
area which deals with practices and methods of teaching and impacts of those practices on the
young learners.
Activity 1.2
Question 1
A child is an individual who is entitled to enjoy all the basic human rights similar to an adult.
However, a child needs care and affection to grow up. A child also needs a safe and appropriate
environment for growth (Edwards, 2002).
Question 2
My thinking on the children has been influenced by the experience of working with the children.
The academic theories also helped me to understand the needs of the children.

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Question 3
I will use the cognitive development theories and the areas of intelligence while working with
the children.
Question 4
From the theories, I will identify how the cognitive growth of the children can be promoted. In
practice, I will develop strategies accordingly to optimize growth.
Question 5
The children, with whom I work, learns from their everyday experiences at the care centre,
experiences with their families and also from the experiences in the community.
Activity 1.3
The three professional goals are—
1. Ensuring the optimum level of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of every
child
2. Incorporating the unique values and beliefs of every family in the teaching practices and
meeting expectations of the families
3. Developing new skills and improving my abilities as an educator
Activity 1.4
Question 1
The role of early childhood teachers includes supporting learning among children by providing
them with suitable material and activities (Arthur et al., 2013). The early childhood teachers
require ensuring that the children are getting adequate time to interact with others. The early
childhood teachers also require ensuring that the children are finding learning easy.
Question 2
Ken Robinson’s video changed my view on the role of rules in early childhood. The video
indicates that the children can grow at any time if they are provided with the appropriate
environment. The message in the video helped me to understand those early childhood educators

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should focus on providing the children with an appropriate environment that promotes growth
instead of incorporating strict rules and regulations at the care centre.
Question 3
In the care centre, children come from the different cultural and linguistic background. As an
educator, I have to consider the unique needs of every student irrespective of their background.
The diversity in Australian society is increasing continuously. Therefore, I also need to increase
my knowledge of the diverse background which is a challenging task for me.
Module 2
Activity 2.1
The key theories and the philosophies which influenced the activities as an educator are—
1. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development-- Piaget’s cognitive development theory indicates
the four distinct stages of cognitive development (Arthur et al., 2013). The stages mentioned in
Piaget’s theory are -- sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete and formal development
stage.
2. Principles of Maria Montessori-- Maria Montessori indicated several principles such as
experiential learning, mixed-age classrooms and providing the children with limited freedom.
3. Eight areas of intelligence as suggested by Dr Gardner -- Dr Gardner has suggested multiple
areas of intelligence that can be developed among the children.
Activity 2.2
The videos of Dewey helped me to understand the importance of interacting between the
environment and the children. The children should be exposed to the environment which gives
them exposure to reality also. Dewey also focused on encouraging the teachers to learn together
with the children. As per the videos, the teachers also need to interact with the environment and
learn with the children. In other words, the videos helped me to understand the importance of
interaction between the teachers and the learners.

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Activity 2.3
Piaget’s theory states that the cognitive development of a child occurs through four distinct
stages. Piaget's theory indicates that the stages of cognitive development are-- sensorimotor
stage, preoperational stage, concrete and formal development stage (Arthur et al., 2013). The
first stage of the cognitive motor occurs among the children who are aged 18 months to 24
months. During this stage, the children start learning from their experiences or through the trial
and error method. At the care centre also, most of the children are below 2 years. Therefore, the
children are still at the stage of sensorimotor development and they learn from the experiences
obtained from the care centre and the family.
Activity 2.4
Montessori proposed several principles that make the classrooms more effective. In my care
centre, the following principles are incorporated—
1. The children are provided with long work hours instead of short-term activities. The long
work hours are effective to increase the attention span of the children. So, they can concentrate
on a particular activity more.
2. The Montessori principles indicate that the teachers should give importance to paying equal
attention to every student. In the care centre also, the teachers give importance on paying
attention to every single child.
3. Maria Montessori proposed for introducing mixed-age classroom. In the care centre also, the
children are given with the opportunity to interact with the elder children and learn through the
interaction.
Module 3
Activity 3.1
The five systems mentioned by Bronfenbrenner are -- the microsystem, the mesosystem, the
exosystem, macrosystem and the chronosystem. The microsystem indicates the environment

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where an individual lives. The mesosystem indicates the relationships within the microsystem
(Arthur et al., 2013). The exosystem indicates the relationship between the environment where
an individual participates actively and the environment where the individual does not participate.
The macrosystem indicates the cultural context of an individual. The chronosystem indicates the
shifts in the lifespan of an individual.
Activity 3.2
My strengths are linguistic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence.
I focus on improving the linguistic intelligence of the children by increasing their exposure to the
new vocabulary. Logical intelligence is improved by providing them with the opportunity to play
with numbers. The spatial intelligence is improved by showing them pictures and involving into
painting. Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence is enhanced by providing the children with the
opportunity to play. The children are allowed to learn music and play with different musical
instruments to improve musical intelligence. The children also get the opportunity to play with
peers and children with another age group to enhance their interpersonal and intrapersonal
intelligence. The children are allowed to play in the outdoors to improve their naturalist
intelligence.
Activity 3.3
As per the 100 Languages written by Lorris Malaguzzi, the children can communicate in a
number of ways. The children also use multiple ways to connect their emotions, thoughts and
imagination. When an educator can interpret the ways of communication of the children,
identifying their strengths and new potentials become easier.
Activity 3.4
I was inspired by Piaget’s theory as it describes how the development of an individual occurs at
different stages of life.
Module 4

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Activity 4.1
The three contemporary issues that the children can face in modern times are—
1. Lack of attachment with extended family members –In modern society, the families are being
smaller in size. The children in the contemporary age hardly get any chance to meet the family
members other than parents. It restricts them from developing an attachment with others.
2. Increased addiction to technology-- A huge number of technological gadgets are available in
the modern age and children are accessing those gadgets from a very young age. The addiction to
technical gadgets is reducing the interest of children in outdoor activities. It, in turn, is affecting
the physical growth of the children.
3. Increased addiction to junk foods-- The children in the modern age has unhealthy food habits.
The increased consumption of junk foods is causing different disease among children.
5 examples of supporting the growth of children through play-based learning—
1. Playing with sand and water helps the children to get familiar with natural objects
2. Painting helps the children to develop fine motor skills
3. The role-play helps the children to enhance their creativity through imagination
4. Dramatic play also helps the children to promote the creativity
5. Playing with puzzles is effective to improve the problem-solving skill of the children

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Module 5
Activity 5.1
The brain of a child grows rapidly during the first three years of life. In the first three years of
life, the children experience motor development, emotional, social, linguistic and cognitive
development (Hair et al., 2015). The discussion indicates that the development in the first three
years is important to enable the children to use their full potential. The relationship between the
educators and the child plays an important role to promote brain development. When the
educator interacts with the children through playing, reading, speaking and involving the
children in different activities as per the age and physical abilities.
Activity 5.2
Toxic stress causes problematic interaction in a child. When a child experiences adversity for a
prolonged time, the stress occurs (Lai et al., 2017). The adverse experiences can be emotional or
physical abuse, negligence for a long time, long exposure to violence mental illness of the
caregivers and the family issues. When the children are experiencing stress, their brain
development system gets disrupted. The exposure to stress can cause cognitive impairment
among the children and affect their ability to interact with others.
The interaction with the educators is important to control the toxic stress among the children.
The toxic stress can be managed with the help of the care and affection shown by the educator.
The caring and affectionate behaviour encourage the children to share their emotions and
identify the strategies to cope with stress.
The children should be given the opportunity to be upset and share their feelings with others.
Sharingthe feelings with others help the children to promote their emotional development.
However, educators should ensure that the children are sharing their feelings in a socially
acceptable manner without hurting anyone.
Activity 5.3
The attachment indicates a deep and strong emotional bond that helps a child to stay connected
with another individual across time (Jimenez et al., 2016). The attachment between a child and

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an adult can be characterized by the tendency of staying close to a particular adult when
threatened or upset.
I was aware of the attachment among child from my personal experience before pursuing the
course. However, after pursuing the study, I came to know the importance of attachment among
children and the behaviour of the children when they are attached to an adult.
The attachment with children can be supported by showing care and affection to them. The
children can also be encouraged to share their emotion with the adults to strengthen the
attachment.
Activity 5.4
The primary caregiving model enables staffs and educators to provide the child and the family
with a positive experience. The primary caregiving model also ensures that every child is being
treated as a special person.
The primary caregiving model helped me to communicate with the children. The model also
facilitated me to empower the families and the children to share their concern with the educators.
The primary caregiving model also enables the educator to nurture their bond with the children
and maximizing their language level. Finally, educators become able to monitor and evaluate the
children and optimize their potential.
The primary caregiving model can be incorporated in the following three ways—
1. By communicating with the children regarding their feelings and emotions
2. By encouraging the parents to share their concern regarding the program through feedback
3. By introducing new vocabulary to the children and developing their language skill
Module 6
Activity 6.1
Establishing a positive relationship with children— the quality relationship with the children can
be developed by making them feel secured with care and affection. The positive relationship

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with the children can be developed by giving them the opportunity to learn, play and explore the
environment (Lai et al., 2017). Finally, the educators can also provide opportunities to the
children to interact with others, recognize the rights of others and showing care and affection to
others.
Respectful and responsive interactions— I focus on ensuring respectful and responsive
interactions with the children by recognizing and celebrating the differences with them. I also
give importance to listening to the children effectively to developthe respectful and responsive
interactions. Developing a relationship of empathy and promoting trust with others is also
emphasized by me to interact with the children in a responsive and respectful manner.
I give importance to improving my communication skills so that interacting with children from
every community becomes easier. Knowing the unique communication styles of children from a
different culture can help me to develop a strong attachment with them.
The pro-social behaviour among the children includes the acts of sharing, helping, donating, co-
operating and volunteering. Behaving in a socially acceptable manner is also considered as pro-
social behaviour. I encourage the children to explore the environment, take part in the gardening
works with others and playing with natural objects in groups. Experiencingthe nature helps the
children to develop empathy on the elements of the environment. Playing with others is also an
effective technique to encourage them to develop a strong attachment with others and create a
relationship.
Activity 6.2
In the childcare setting, the children can show a different number of behavioural changes. For
instance,the children can show clingy behaviour suddenly. The children can also start disobeying
the instructor. The children can get involved in fighting with others and may start hurting others.
The children can also be uncomfortable with the caregiver and start having difficulties to
communicate with the caregiver. In the case of the misbehaviour, communicating with the
children is necessary (McCormick et al., 2017). The communication helps the educator to
understand the key reasons behind the problematic behaviour and develop the behaviour
management plan accordingly.

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Activity 6.3
Raising Children Network is a network of childcare professionals and parents in Australia. The
website offers centralized information on how to take care of children to caregivers and their
parents. The information offered by the network is Australian-focused and contain evidence-
based data for the children up to 15 years of age.
Activity 6.4
Cognitive development among children is the favourite aspect of the subject. The subject has
helped me to know how the cognitive abilities of the children develop at different stages of
growth and how growth can be promoted.
Module 7
Activity 7.1
Adoption of the holistic approach in the early year's child education enables the educators to
promote growth from all aspects including the personal, physical, social, spiritual and emotional
development. The holistic approach in the early year's education promotes the connectedness
among the body, mind and spirit.
Activity 7.2
The temperament is a way using which a child can communicate with the world. The
temperament can be described using the three qualities such as the reactivity, the self-regulation
and sociability (Britto et al., 2017). The level of reactivity indicates the extent to which the
children are responding to the exciting events. The level of reactivity can also be understood
from the responses of children while dealing with rejection (McCormick et al., 2015). The self-
regulation indicates to the extent children can control their own behaviour. The self-regulation
can also be determined by their level of attention and the level of persistence. Finally, the
temperament can be determined by the level of sociability in the child. If the child remains
comfortable while meeting new people, the level of sociability will be high.

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The Goodness of fit in the temperament indicates the compatibility between the temperament of
a child and the environment. When the temperament fits poorly in the environment, it is evident
that the temperament issues are not addressed.
The children can utilize the full potential when their temperament fit perfectly with the
environment. Therefore, as an educator, it is necessary to consider the temperament of the
children I deal with. While dealing with temperament issues among the children, I can give
importance on assessing the problems related to reactivity, self-regulation and sociability among
the children. When the problems are identified, I can make strategies accordingly to improve
temperament issues.
Activity 7.3
My Brain Dominance result indicates that I am a right-brained person. The individuals who have
a more active right brain, are expected to have stronger intuitive, higher emotional intelligence
and subjective thoughts (Gazzaniga, 2015). However, I also give importance on rational and
objective thinking which is a quality for the individuals with stronger left brain. Therefore, I was
surprised after knowing my brain dominance results.
I have considered the importance of creative development among the children before also.
However, in future, after gaining knowledge from the course, I will give more importance to the
creative development among the children.
Currently, I encourage children to use their creativity while painting or during music lessons. As
I have clearer insight on the importance of creativity, I will focus on encouraging the children for
improvisation.
Module 8
Activity 8.1
The Montessori approach is child-centred in nature and the approach enables the teachers to
serve as guides. The Montessori approach gives importance to academics. However, the
approach also gives importance to promoting play-based learning among children. The
Montessori approach also enables the children to learn at their own pace.

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The Montessori approach aligns perfectly with the learning approaches adopted in the early
year’s education in Australia. The Early Years Learning Framework in Australia also gives
importance to promoting play-based learning and recognizing the unique skills and abilities of
each child, similar to the Montessori approach.
Activity 8.2
Currently, the curriculum in the childcare centre is conducted using the routines. In the childcare
centre, different activities are scheduled on different time slots and children are encouraged to
follow the schedule every day. However, the children may need time to start getting involved in
a new activity from another. The transition time required by the children is also considered while
implementing the daily routines.
Currently, I focus on watching the clocks and observing responses of the children to decide the
next activity.
In every activity, the children need to get adequate time so that they can participate in it with full
attention. Every activity in the curriculum is expected to develop particular skills among the
children. If the clocks are removed, I will ensure that the children are getting sufficient time to
provide attention and build on their skills before moving to the next task.
Activity 8.3
In my care centre, the educators took part in a skill development program which aimed at
enabling the childcare professionals to incorporate the key philosophies of early year’s education
at work. The skill development program was continued for a week and in the program,
participants were introduced to new approaches of childcare and early year’s education. In the
program, the participants were also given the opportunity to discuss the techniques used by them
to promote childcare and early year’s education. It also helps educators to learn from others.
Activity 8.4
The Te Whirki approach of early years education gives importance on the empowerment of the
children, ensuring holistic development of the children, making the children able to be an
integral part of the family and the community and enabling the children to develop a reciprocal
and responsive relationship with other people and things (McLachlan, 2017). Similarly, the Early

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Years Learning Framework in Australia is based on three principles—being, belonging and
becoming (Knaus, 2015). The early years learning framework also gives importance on
empowering the children to learn and grow, feeling connected to the community and enabling
them to become an integral part of the society.
Despite the many similarities, Te Whariki and EYLF have difference also. The Te Whariki
considers the social perspective and encourages the children to emerge as a learner who can
contribute to society. On the contrary, EYLF gives more importance to the personal growth of
the child.
Activity 8.5
The Swedish early year’s framework ensures that every child is getting the opportunity to access
quality education system (Gazzaniga, 2015). The Early year’s framework in Sweden gives
importance on educating the children with the help of the strong families and making the
children able to be engaged community members. The role of pre-schools in early year’s
education is recognized in Sweden. In addition, the framework also focuses on offering children
with learning opportunities inthe schools.

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References
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Elizabeth, D., Farmer, S., and Dockett, S (2013). Programming and
Planning in Early Childhood Settings. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 30-52 Smidmore Street,
Marrickville, New South Wales 2204, Australia.
Britto, P. R., Lee, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., ... and
MacMillan, H. (2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The
Lancet, 389(10064), 91-102.
Edwards, C. P. (2002). Three Approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio
Emilia. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 4(1), n1.
Gazzaniga, M. S. (2015). Tales from both sides of the brain: A life in neuroscience.
Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers.
Hair, N. L., Hanson, J. L., Wolfe, B. L., and Pollak, S. D. (2015). Association of child poverty,
brain development, and academic achievement. JAMA pediatrics, 169(9), 822-829.
Jimenez, M. E., Wade, R., Lin, Y., Morrow, L. M., and Reichman, N. E. (2016). Adverse
experiences in early childhood and kindergarten outcomes. Pediatrics, 137(2), e20151839.
Knaus, M. (2015). ‘Time for Being’: Why the Australian Early Years Learning Framework
opens up new possibilities. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 13(3), 221-235.
Lai, B. S., Lewis, R., Livings, M. S., La Greca, A. M., and Esnard, A. M. (2017). Posttraumatic
stress symptom trajectories among children after disaster exposure: a review. Journal of
traumatic stress, 30(6), 571-582.
McCormick, M. P., O’Connor, E. E., Cappella, E., and McClowry, S. G. (2015). Getting a good
start in school: Effects of INSIGHTS on children with high maintenance temperaments. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 128-139.
McLachlan, C. J. (2017). 'Not business as usual': Reflections on the 2017 update of Te
Whariki. Early Education, 62, 8.