Childcare Essay: Early Childhood Development and Practitioner Role

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of early childhood development, emphasizing the critical role of early years practitioners in fostering children's cognitive, physical, and social-emotional growth. It delves into the stages of cognitive development according to Piaget, highlighting how practitioners should adapt their approach based on a child's age and developmental stage. The essay also discusses the importance of communication, physical activity, and nutrition in a child's early years. Furthermore, it underscores the significance of social and emotional development, stressing the need for practitioners to create supportive and nurturing environments. The evaluation section highlights the importance of practitioners in keeping track of a child's development and working closely with parents to ensure the child's needs are met. The essay concludes by emphasizing the essential role of practitioners and parent partnerships in providing children with the best opportunities for learning and development, ensuring a holistic approach to early childhood education. The essay references several studies to support its claims.

Running head: CHILDCARE
Childcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Introduction
The development and growth of a child is heavily dependent on the surrounding and the
environment the child is nurtured in. There are several stages in the development of a child
during the early stage that is the infancy is the time of rapid growth both physically and
cognitively the child grows in a fast pace. The first five years are the time when the maximum
growth takes place this is the time a child learns to interact communicate and develop
relationship with the people around the child (Vogl 2015). Development of a child includes
physical growth, as well as their capability to learn and adapt to the social, emotional, behavior,
thinking and communication skills. These skills are interconnected and one helps in the
development of another. The role of the early year’s practitioner is crucial in the development of
a child as they are the people around the children during the time of their learning and adapting
to the society and surroundings (Racz et al. 2017).
The role of the early year’s practitioner when promoting child development
Cognitive development
According to Psychologist Jean Piaget, there are four stages of a child’s cognitive development;
depending on the age of child the practitioner should understand what is required for the child
and what extra information is (Vogl 2015). In the first stage that is the first two years of the life a
child learns with the help of their senses, therefore the practitioner should encourage and help the
child in developing the senses with the help of touch, sight smell etc. similarly, the next stage
form Ages 2 through 7 memory and imagination is developed hence the role of the practitioner
here is more of a teacher and educator (Racz et al. 2017).

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Speech, language and communication development
Communication is one of the most important aspect of an individual’s life, hence the for
the development of communication the practitioner should continuously communicate with the
child with the help of speech, body language, gesture; so that the child can understand the
reference and relevance and use the words or gestures in the future appropriately. Games and
recreational activities should be planned in order to develop the language skills and
communication skills of the children (Vogl 2015).
Physical development
Physical development in a child in the first few years is rapid and crucial for the future of
the child. In order to ensure that this development and growth is in constant progression a
practitioner should make sure that the milestone list is maintained. Physical development not
only means growth it also means control of the body. Physical activities in outdoor games should
be involved in daily schedule, the surrounding of the child should be safe and they should be
encouraged to walk and play. Nutrition is another important aspect in this case the practitioner
should take of the child’s food practices (Hsin and Felfe 2014).
Social and emotional development
A child learns whatever he or she sees and experiences around him or her. The
development of a child in the early years shapes the personality of the child in the future as well.
A practitioner should always be amiable and affectionate towards the child and should always
encourage the child to learn and experience new surroundings and be with new people (Vogl
2015). For example the child should be given on opportunity to play with other children. The
child should be exposed to various kinds of emotions and feelings in order to understand and

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comprehend with these feelings from a young age; the practitioner should also acknowledge the
emotions the child is exhibiting (Racz et al. 2017).
Evaluation of the role of the early year’s practitioner
The role of a practitioner is important in incorporating the early year’s foundation stage
keeping a track of the growth and development progress of children within their setting and
against the Early Learning Goals. Comprehending with the needs and requirements of a child is
important as it helps the child to understand the surrounding and develop skills accordingly the
role of a practitioner gains importance in this section. The practitioner ensures that the child’s
requirements are met. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to keep a close observation of the
daily schedule, the health and security of the child is also on the practitioner. The practitioner is
also responsible for developing a healthy relation of the child and the parents along with the
society (Brilli et al. 2016).
Analyses of working in partnership:
Enhancing the children’s learning and development:
Working in partnership is important as the parents are the most important people in the
life of a child. In order to keep up with the milestones and growth of the child the parents should
monitor the improvement so that in case of any gap immediate action can be taken.
Communication plays a key role in this segment as the parents should be updated and constantly
communicated the progression, it is necessary to have a flexible communication system. To have
a healthy relation with the child the practitioner should encourage more communication and
engagement with learning activities, learning games with the parents etc (Hsin and Felfe 2014).

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Values parents’ contribution
The child will learn about the parents and will learn to interact with the parents when the
parents and practitioner work in close partnership. The child learns and develops behavioral and
social patterns form the person they are physically close to at the early stages, the practitioner
must understand the importance of communication with the parents in order to keep the parents
involved. Parents are the initial and most influential educators in the life of a child; they ensure
safety, security, and several other developments of skills within the child. Therefore working in
partnership with the practitioner will ensure a positive impact on the future of the child (Grätz
and Torche 2016).
Conclusion
It can be concluded form the above discussion that the role of a practitioner along with
the importance of working in partnership with the parents is essential for the development of a
child. The early year’s practitioners are people who help and assist in a holistic development of a
child so that they get the best opportunities of learning and developing form the year early stage
of life.

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Reference List:
Brilli, Y., Del Boca, D. and Pronzato, C.D. 2016, "Does child care availability play a role in
maternal employment and children's development? Evidence from Italy", Review of Economics
of the Household, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 27-51.
Grätz, M. and Torche, F. 2016, "Compensation or Reinforcement? The Stratification of Parental
Responses to Children's Early Ability", Demography, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 1883-1904.
Hsin, A. and Felfe, C. 2014, "When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children's Time
With Parents, and Child Development", Demography, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 1867-1894.
Racz, S.J., Putnick, D.L., Suwalsky, J.T., D., Hendricks, C. and Bornstein, M.H. 2017,
"Cognitive Abilities, Social Adaptation, and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Childhood and
Adolescence: Specific Cascade Effects Across Development", Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 1688-1701.
Vogl, S. 2015, "Children's verbal, interactive and cognitive skills and implications for
interviews", Quality and Quantity, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 319-338.

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