Formative Assessment: Child Development in Early Education

This assignment delves into various facets of child development, exploring the significance of routines in fostering children's confidence and independence, while also emphasizing the importance of educators considering individual needs when establishing routines. It then examines the role of accessible play materials in promoting hands-on learning and active play across different developmental stages. Furthermore, the assignment addresses the concept of wellbeing, highlighting key aspects such as physical and mental health, safety awareness, and the development of responsible behavior through self-regulation, empathy, and decision-making skills. The assignment also explores the importance of one-to-one interactions and effective techniques to foster them. The assignment includes references to support the arguments. The assignment is a detailed exploration of key concepts in child development, providing valuable insights for students and educators alike.

Formative Assessment
Activity 1
Question 1
The routine is important for the children for the following reasons—
1. Routine increases the confidence and the independence of the children. When the children are
following a routine, they get an idea on what to expect from the daily life. The knowledge on
regular activities increases confidence. Being in a routine helps the children to learn from the
past experiences as well (Cooklin et al., 2012). As an effect, the children can gain independence
with help of their previous experience.
2. The routine helps the children to improve their self-control by putting restriction on some
activities. The routine helps the children to balance between the enjoyable tasks and the
functional tasks.
3. The routine reduces stress among the children by providing them with familiar experiences.
Reference:
Cooklin, A. R., Giallo, R., & Rose, N. (2012). Parental fatigue and parenting practices during early
childhood: An Australian community survey. Child: care, health and development, 38(5), 654-664.
Question 2
The educators need to consider the age, health status, unique needs of family, cultural background, the
daily involvement of the child while making the routine.
Question 3
The routine should include the functional activities and the healthy habits. The functional activities such
as the brushing the teeth, taking bath, taking meals, physical exercise and studying can be effective to
foster the physical and cognitive growth of the children. The enjoyable activities such as playing in the
routine are effective for cognitive and social development.
Activity 2
Question 1
Choosing the accessible materials by the children is important for enhancing the hands-on learning of
the children across all the developmental areas. Use of the right materials helps the children to get
engaged in wide range of play activities (Hamre, 2014). When the children can access the materials, they
become able to make their own plans and choose own materials as per their interest. The opportunity
to planning and choosing own activities enhance the independence among the children. Accessibility of

the materials that are needed by the children also helps them to feel valued, safe and competent.
Accessibility of the resources helps the children for using their imagination and being creative.
Reference:
Hamre, B. K. (2014). Teachers' daily interactions with children: An essential ingredient in effective early
childhood programs. Child Development Perspectives, 8(4), 223-230.
Question 2
The six play materials for promoting active play among the children are as follow—
 Balance and co-ordination materials such as balance beams and mini bridge
 Balls
 Alphabetic or shape bean bags
 Climbers
 Speed and jump ropes
 Push-alongs and riders
Question 3
The activity gym develops the hearing ability and gross motor skills such as moving hands and legs. The
blocks develop fine motor skills such as using fingers and they also help in cognitive development by
giving an idea on the shapes and sizes. The teething rings can develop gripping and gasping skills.
Toddlers-- Alphabets, pet and vet set, musical games-- The alphabets can develop cognitive skills among
the toddlers. The veterinary set helps the children to use their imagination and take part in the role
based play. The musical games give the children an idea on rhythm and develop the motor skills.
3-4 years-- Tricycles, Slides and Push based ride-ons-- All the toys develop gross and fine motor skills
among the children.
5-7 years—Doodle sets, racers, building blocks-- The Doodle sets help the children to draw using their
creativity, and racers help them to develop the motor skills along with the knowledge on speed and
direction. The building blocks help the children to develop the cognitive skills by providing them an idea
on the size and shapes.
8-10 years-- Books, suspension games , mini scooters-- Reading the books helps children to develop their
cognitive skills. The suspension games help them to get an idea of balance and develop the fine motor
skills such as use of the finger. The mini scooter helps the children to develop motor skills and also to get
better idea on the balance and direction.
More 10 years olds—Bounce off games, electronic discovery games, puzzles-- The bounce off games is
effective to develop the fine motor skills and the balancing techniques. The electronic discovery games
and the puzzles would help the children to develop the problem solving techniques.

Activity 3
The balance skills can be considered as an emerging activity for the toddlers. The balancing skill can be
supported in the following ways—
 Enabling the children to stand on one foot. Standing on one foot helps the children to build
strengths and improve the balance.
 Encouraging the children to ride the ladder is also effective for improving balance.
 Getting involved into Yoga is also effective to improve the balance.
Activity 4
Question 1
Wellbeing can be described as a combination of the quality of life and prosperity, sound health and
sustainable communities. Wellbeing can be defined by the measure of personal assessment of the
quality of life of an individual and the experiences (Michalos, 2017). Wellbeing gives a measurement of
how an individual is doing and how he/ she are being a part of the community (Steptoe et al., 2015).
Wellbeing can be measured by different dimensions such as the natural environment, relationship of an
individual with others, personal conception of wellbeing with others, health, activities of individual,
financial resources available to an individual, the education, economy, governance and skills developed
by an individual.
References:
Michalos, A. C. (2017). Education, happiness and wellbeing. In Connecting the Quality of Life Theory to
Health, Well-being and Education (pp. 277-299). Springer, Cham.
Steptoe, A., Deaton, A., & Stone, A. A. (2015). Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing. The
Lancet, 385(9968), 640-648.
Question 2
Five things to educate children about physical and mental wellbeing—
 Educating the children about personal hygiene to ensure physical wellbeing
 Reinforcing the positive behaviour among children so that they behave in the right way
 Developing skills and competencies among the children so that they can explore new
experiences
 Creating a sense of belonging among the children can be effective to enable them to make
social relationships (Michalos, 2017). Development of social relationship, in turn, is useful for
ensuring mental wellbeing.
 The educators can also encourage the children to help others. Helping others strengthen the
social relationship and improve the mental wellbeing of an individual.
Reference:

Michalos, A. C. (2017). Education, happiness and wellbeing. In Connecting the Quality of Life Theory to
Health, Well-being and Education (pp. 277-299). Springer, Cham.
Question 3
The safety awareness is necessary for the well-being of children due to the following reasons—
 The safety awareness helps the children to identify the hazards. As an impact, the children stay
away from the hazards. It improves their physical safety.
 The safety awareness helps the children to know the risky behaviours and the consequences
(Lawrence et al., 2015). So, they do not get involved into the risky activities and the physical
wellbeing improves.
 The safety awareness also facilitates the children to know the healthy habits and the potential
health issues. It also improves the physical wellbeing of the children.
 The safety awareness provides the children with a sense of security. It improves the emotional
wellbeing of the children.
Reference:
Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost, J., Boterhoven de Haan, K., Sawyer, M., Ainley, J., & Zubrick, S. R.
(2015). The mental health of children and adolescents: report on the second Australian child and
adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing.
Activity 5
Question 1
The five skills and abilities that help children to control own behaviour is –
1. Self –regulation-- The self-regulation helps the children to control own emotions and
behave in appropriate manner (Elovainio et al., 2015).
2. Self-reflection—The ability to reflect on a situation or on an incident can help the
children identify the right and wrong aspects.
3. Decision-making ability-- The decision making ability is effective to make the child able
to evaluate the options available in a situation and make the logical choices.
4. Empathy for others-- The children should learn to show empathy to others.
5. The children should be able to create a sense of belongingness with others. The sense of
belongingness helps children to strengthen their social relationship with others and it
helps them to improve own behaviour.
References:
Elovainio, M., Heponiemi, T., Jokela, M., Hakulinen, C., Presseau, J., Aalto, A. M., & Kivimäki, M. (2015).
Stressful work environment and wellbeing: What comes first?. Journal of occupational health
psychology, 20(3), 289.

Question 2
The sense of morality is different among the toddlers and the preschoolers. The Toddlers realize the
difference between right and wrong. The toddlers also focus on not getting involved into wrong
activities for avoiding the punishment (Jambon & Smetana, 2017). On the contrary, the preschoolers
start realizing the family values. The preschoolers also start developing the realization that their
activities have consequences. The knowledge on consequences shapes the sense of morality among the
children (Jambon & Smetana, 2017). The preschooler children also start feeling connected with their
parents and the morality is influenced by the connection with parents as well.
Reference:
Jambon, M., & Smetana, J. G. (2017). Parenting, morality and social development: new views on old
questions. In New Perspectives on Moral Development (pp. 131-150). Routledge.
Question 3
The educators can teach the children about responsibility in the following manner—
 Setting limits to the activities and access to resources is an effective way to make the children
responsible (Van Manen,2016). When the time to do a task and resources are limited to a child,
he/ she learns to behave responsibly to get use the time and resources in the right way.
 Making the children accountable for an action is another effective technique to promote
responsible behavior among them.
 Setting the expectations for a child helps her to show responsible behaviour .
Reference:
Van Manen, M. (2016). The tact of teaching: The meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness. Routledge.
Question 4
Use of the natural consequences to teach the child discipline is effective as the natural consequence
enables the child to get an actual insight of what would happen if he/ she do not behave in the expected
manner (Walder et al., 2017). Therefore, the child can be taught in a more effective way using the
natural consequences. However, allowing the child to experience the actual consequences of their work
can be harmful for them. This is one disadvantage of the natural consequence based responsibility
teaching system. Moreover, the child may take time to realize the adverse aspects of the natural
consequences and make the necessary behavioral changes. This is another disadvantage of the natural
consequence based teaching.
Reference:
Walder, L. O., Cohen, S. I., Breiter, D. E., Daston, P. G., Hirsch, I. S., & Leibowitz, J. M. (2017). Teaching
behavioral principles to parents of disturbed children. In Behavior Therapy with Children (pp. 382-387).
Routledge.

Activity 6
Question 1
The opportunities that can be created with help of one-to-one interaction with the children are as
follow—
 The educators can gauge the development and progress of children in more effective way (Shire
et al., 2018).
 The children receive constant attention of the educators. Therefore, developing a connection
with the educators becomes easier for them.
 The children feel less stress in one-to- one communication. So, the children can share their
feelings and emotions easily during such communication.
 The strengths and weaknesses of the children are identified in more effective way.
 The one-to-one communication reduces the time constraints for both the educator and the
children. So, the learning becomes more effective.
References:
Shire, S. Y., Shih, W., & Kasari, C. (2018). Brief report: Caregiver strategy implementation—Advancing
spoken communication in children who are minimally verbal. Journal of autism and developmental
disorders, 48(4), 1228-1234.
Question 2
The three techniques that can foster one to one interaction among the children are—
 Questioning the child
 Discussing with the child on an incident
 Playing with the child and getting involved into one-to-one communication
Activity 7
Question 1
The following traits can b demonstrated to the children in the below mentioned way—
 Kindness-- The children can be encouraged to greet others or volunteer the cleaning works at
their rooms to show kindness.
 Protectiveness-- The children should be encouraged to be observant to demonstrate
protectiveness. For example, the children can be encouraged to inform others if they find the
floor is wet or any sharp object is present on it to avoid injury among others.
 Reliability-- The reliability among the children can be promoted by giving them some
responsibility. For example, the children can be made responsible for organizing their toys every
day after the play time.
 Honesty-- Encouraging the children to tell the truth every time can be an effective way to
demonstrate honesty among them.

 Encouraging -- Influencing the children to pursue his/her hobby can be considered as an
effective way of encouraging. For example, if a child loves painting, he/ she can be provided with
constructive feedbacks for demonstrating encouragement.
 Trustworthiness-- The trustworthiness among children can be demonstrated by rewarding them
for being honest such as telling the truth.
 Active Listening-- The active listening can be modeled by asking children questions when
discussing something with them.
 Loyalty-- The children should be encouraged to keep their promises to a friend of family as an
example of loyalty.
Question 2
The linguistic barrier with the new children is a key issue in this case. The communication with the
children in the care center is necessary to meet their needs. The communication with the children is also
important for enhancing their safety. In the current case, all the staffs of the care center should be made
aware of the linguistic barriers faced by the children. Taking help of an interpreter can be effective to
communicate with the two children. Involvement of the interpreter would make the communication
easy with the children and it can keep anxiety of the kids low in the initial days.
Informing the other children about the new kids is an effective idea. The transition would be easier if the
children develop a sense of belongingness with others. Informing the existing children about the new
enrolls and encouraging them to interact with the new members can be effective strengthen the sense
of belongingness. It, in turn, can make the transition easier for the new entrants.
Activity 8
Question 1
The two important play domains are independent play and the associative play. The independent play is
more observed among the toddlers (Glenn et al., 2013). During such type of play, the children get
involved into games without interacting others in the room. During the independent play, children like
to explore the games without intervention of others. The associative play is observed more among the
preschoolers. The preschooler children show interest to interact with others and get involved to the play
activities. In each type of the play, the children can get hurt themselves. The role of educators is
important to enhance the development of children. During the independent play, the educators can
improve the fine and gross motor skills among the children by assisting them with different types of
toys. During the associative play, the children can be assisted to develop the cognitive and social skills by
getting introduced to the new peer groups. Introduction to the new peer groups would encourage the
children to communicate more and create social relationship with others.
Reference:

Glenn, N. M., Knight, C. J., Holt, N. L., & Spence, J. C. (2013). Meanings of play among
children. Childhood, 20(2), 185-199.
Robins, B., Dautenhahn, K., Ferrari, E., Kronreif, G., Prazak-Aram, B., Marti, P., ... & Laudanna, E. (2012).
Scenarios of robot-assisted play for children with cognitive and physical disabilities. Interaction
Studies, 13(2), 189-234.
Question 2
Allowing children to invite the educator at play is important for the below reasons—
1. Playing with the children enables the educators to gauge the development of the children in detail
(Aarts et al., 2012). The educators can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the children easily while
playing with them.
2. Playing with the children also helps the educators to interact with them closely and develop the
connection with them. The strong connection with the educators encourages the children to share their
feelings and emotions. The educators, in turn, get the chance to know unique needs of the children.
Reference:
Aarts, M. J., de Vries, S. I., Van Oers, H. A., & Schuit, A. J. (2012). Outdoor play among children in relation
to neighborhood characteristics: a cross-sectional neighborhood observation study. International journal
of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 9(1), 98.
Question 3
While deciding the communication strategies, the educators should consider the following factors—
1. Age of the children as the communication and interaction with others vary with the age
2. Emotional, cognitive and social development of the children as these factors influence the
communication with others
3. Cultural background as the communication is significantly dependent on it
Activity 9
Question 1
The receptive communication problem indicates that the child is facing difficulties to understand others’
messages (Kasari et al., 2014). Expressive language problem indicates that the child is facing difficulty to
share own thoughts.
Reference:

Kasari, C., Kaiser, A., Goods, K., Nietfeld, J., Mathy, P., Landa, R., ... & Almirall, D. (2014). Communication
interventions for minimally verbal children with autism: A sequential multiple assignment randomized
trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(6), 635-646.
Question 2
The children with receptive communication problems can be supported using the following strategies—
1. Comprehending the question-- The educators can help the children to comprehend the questions so
that understanding those becomes easier for them.
2. Delivering messages with help of objects, gestures and pictures for better understanding
3. providing the children with clear instructions and order the sentences
Question 3
The five verbal communication strategies that can assist the children with receptive communication
problem are—
 Making the children able to understand the order of words in the sentence
 Enabling the children to understand the verb tenses and plural words
 Developing age-appropriate vocabulary among the children
 Enabling the children to take part in co-operative conversations on basis of perspectives and
turns
 Enabling the children to have adequate knowledge on the functions of language
Activity 10
Question 1
The term high quality language indicates use of shared symbols, rituals and the conversational fluency
along with the right use of vocabulary. Interacting with the children with high quality language is
effective to improve the communication skill. The high quality language skills can be developed among
the children in an interactive and responsive environment (Li et al., 2013). Development of high quality
language skill is also dependent on the exposure of children to the new vocabulary. When the children
hear larger number of words, the chance of learning high quality language also increases.
Reference:
Li, W., Farkas, G., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M. R., & Vandell, D. L. (2013). Timing of high-quality child care
and cognitive, language, and preacademic development. Developmental psychology, 49(8), 1440.
Question 2
The three open questions that the educators can ask to encourage children for sharing their ideas are—
 Which colors you want to use in this painting?

 How are you feeling after meeting your friend?
 What do you want to do for making the excursion more exciting?
Question 3
The term assertive language indicates using communication skill to share the ideas and thoughts of an
individual in a positive and calm way (Cervantes et al., 2013). The assertive language helps the
individuals to communicate without being aggressive.
An example of assertive language can be—
 Do you want something?
Reference:
Cervantes, P. E., Matson, J. L., Adams, H. L., Williams, L. W., Goldin, R. L., & Jang, J. (2013). Comparing
social skill profiles of children with autism spectrum disorders versus children with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder: Where the deficits lie. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(9), 1104-1110.
Activity 11
Question 1
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development—
Erikson described 8 stages of psychosocial development. The stages as mentioned by Erikson are as
followed:
1. Trust vs Mistrust-- The stage of trust vs mistrust remains for first 12 months after birth (Cherry, 2017).
During this phase, the children learn that the adults can be trusted. When an adult shows sensitive and
responsive attitude towards a child, development of the trusted relationship becomes easier for the
child.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt-- This phase is observed between the ages of 1-3 years. During this
phase, the children starts to explore the world. The children also learn that they are responsible for their
own actions.
3. Initiative vs Guilt--The stage occurs at the preschool stage (3-6 years). During this stage, the children
learn to initiate the activities and show control over their world through social interactions.
4. Industry vs Inferiority— The stage of industry vs inferiority can be observed during the ages of 6-12
years or at the elementary school stage. At this stage, the children start comparing themselves with
others. If the children find that they have achieved and accomplished more than the peers, a sense of
pride develops. On the contrary, the sense of inferiority develops when the children encounter negative
experiences in comparison with the peers.

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion-- The stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion happens during the adolescence
period (12-18 years) (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). During this phase, the children focuses on searching own
identity. The children who develop strong sense of identity become successful at this stage.
6. Intimacy vs Isolation—This stage is observed during the early adulthood or the ages between 20 to 40.
The people, who have gone through the other stages successfully, become able to maintain successful
relationship with others at this stage.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation—This phase lasts between the mid 40s to mid 60s. During this phase, the
people focus on contributing to the lives of others and the next generation. However, stagnation at this
phase makes people feel that they are not connected to others and contributing to the world.
8. Integrity vs. Despair-- From the late adulthood, the people reach the stage integrity vs despair. During
this phase, either people feel the sense of satisfaction or the failure.
Reference:
Cherry, K. (2017). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Psychology. Psychosocial Theories.
Päivitetty, 14, 2017.
Dunkel, C. S., & Harbke, C. (2017). A review of measures of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial
development: Evidence for a general factor. Journal of Adult Development, 24(1), 58-76.
Question 2
The trust with the children can be built in the following way—
• Listening to the children—Listening to the children helps them to feel valued, understood and
cared. The listening also helps the educators to understand the feelings and ideas of the children deeply.
Listening also helps the educators to respond to the needs of children is also effective to build trust with
them. Finally, the educators can use the verbal and non-verbal cues of children to understand their
needs more and meet those needs.
Activity 12
Question 1
The difference can be used as a positive resource in the following ways—
 Difference helps the children to encounter diverse range and experiences and learn
 Difference is effective to understand the values and beliefs of others
 Difference helps the children to be respectful to others
 The cultural difference is effective to enhance the knowledge of children on own identity
 The difference helps the children to develop cross cultural competence
Question 2
Discussing about each others’ culture can be considered as an effective activity to teach children the
differences. The educators can arrange the discussion sessions where the children get the opportunity

to share the unique cultural attributes of them. Arranging the discussion sessions help the children to
acknowledge and respect the differences (Banks, 2015). The discussion sessions also benefit the children
by facilitating them to know about others’ culture. The more children know about the differences, the
understanding on others becomes easier. The discussion sessions enable the children to know the
unique needs about others and meet those requirements whenever necessary. The children also realize
the benefits of the diversity and develop the competencies to grow in a diverse environment.
Reference:
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Activity 13
Question 1
The children in their early years need to make developments in a number of domains including the
physical development, the cognitive development, emotional development and the social development.
Getting involved into diverse range of activities such as play, study, performing arts, helps the children
to develop different skills in every domain. Therefore, the educators should help the children to take
part in diverse range of activities.
Question 2
The educators can demonstrate the decision of a child for not participating in any particular activity by
showing preference over his/her choice (Vinovskis, 2015). The preference of the children to take part in
a particular activity depends upon the physical, cognitive and emotional development. The personal
traits of a child also play a key role in the decisions. Therefore, the educators need to consider all the
developmental and psychological factors to understand the underlying reasons behind the decision of
the children. The educators can also discuss with the children regarding their feelings and emotions
about the activity to show respect to their ideas.
Reference:
Vinovskis, M. (2015). From A Nation at Risk to No Child Left Behind: National education goals and the
creation of federal education policy. Teachers College Press.
Activity 33
Question 1
In the current case, the children are facing issues with order of the alphabets. The issues with ordering
of the alphabets can be corrected in the following manner—
 By enabling the children to distinguish between the letters—Facilitating the children to know
the words with help of the letters. Knowing the words would improve vocabulary of the child
while enabling him/her to differentiate between the letters.