Blog Two

This blog is about how 'things' and there significance on children's learning and development

E X P L O R I N G T E C H N O L O G Y

E will be 1 year old at the end of 2010. She has been with us in the infant room from the age of 3 months old. E is definitely one of our more physically active infants and has been from day one. She is always happy when she is on the move and is loving her new found freedom of being able to get to were she wants to go independently and now being able to do this while standing on her two legs "The key skills in learning to walk appear to be stablilizing balance on one leg long enough to swing the other forward and shifting the weight without falling. This is a difficult biomechanical problem to solve, and it takes infants about a year to do it" (Santrock, 2008, p. 154).

I have noticed E paying attention to a piece of 'technology' that we have in our room "Assistive technology can include adapted toys, computer, seating systems, powered mobility equipment, augmentative communication devices, adaptive technology solutions to improve an individual's ability to learn, compete work, and interact with family and friends" (Pierce, n.d, p. 1).

In this picture E is exploring the 'push walker' pushing it forward while she is on her knees. She has seen it before around the room when other infants have used it but this is the first time she has been interested in touching it and finding out how it work's herself "exploration, and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 84).
During this activity E is learning how to construct knowledge cognitive development is often associalted with two concepts. "Children are believed to learn through active personal engagement with and explorations of their environment. Through involvement, children build or construct their knowledge as explanations for what they experience" (Talay-Ongan & Ap, 2005, p. 62).
E tries to stand with her hands on the handle the push walker went forward and hit into the shelf. This made E alittle nervous and she went back down onto the safety of her knees where she would try to push it along while trying to crawl as well she was alittle nervous but you could tell on her face that she loved being in control of the push walker and being able to use this piece of technology to get around the room. I could see E trying to stand up again so I went over to her and demonstrated how to use it and then assisted E in positioning her on the push walker and guiding her along "guidance and support to children moving from one level of competence to another" (McNaughton & Williams, 2004, p. 331).

R E F E R E N C E S

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te whariki he whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand. Learning Media.

McNaughton,. G. Williams. G (2004). Techniques for teaching young children choices in theory and practice. Malaysia: Pearson Prentice-Hall.

Pierce,. P. (n.d). Assitive technology and infants and toddlers. Retrieved 11th September, 2010, From ww2. edc.org/ncip/library/ec/power_1htm

Santrock,. J.W. (2008). Life span development. (11th ed. International). Boston. McGraw-Hill.

Talay -Ongan,. A. Ap,. A.E (Ed.s). (2005). Child development and teaching young children. Victoria, Australia: Thompson Social Science Press.

Blog One

My centre is a daycare that provides care for children from the ages of three months to five years. We have four separate rooms they are infants, toddlers, pre-school 1 and pre-school 2. I work in the infant room where the ages of the children range from three months to two years of age. The majority of infants we have in the room at the moment are under one year old.

I really enjoy being with this age group as it is during these years that their learning and development is very rapid "We know that these first years of life are an exciting and wonderful time for all babies and their caregivers. Everyone should be able to have fun and experience all the joy and hope that these early years can yield" (Peirce, n.d, p. 1).

My blog today is about the significance of people on children's learning and development "Social studies is the exploration of people's interactions in and with their social and physical environments" (Mindes, 2006, p. 1). We (teachers) in the infant room have been spending time forming attachments and relationships with each infant. By having alot of one on one time playing 'peek-a-boo', singing songs, talking, and taking care of their individual needs and providing lots of cuddles "From birth she is engaged in building a relationships with the world and intent on experiencing it so that she develops a complex system of abilities, strategies for learning and ways of organizing relationships. so she is able to make her own perosnal maps for her own development and orientation social, cognitive, emotional and symbolic" (Taylaly -Ongan & Ap, 2004, p. 53). I am spending time with C he is four months old. I am talking to him about the construction happening outside next door to our centre and having a game of 'peek-a-boo' which he loves. Also important to C are his routines such as sleep time, bottles times and play times "All the play we do with our babies contributes to their development" (Liddle & Yorke, 2004, p. 11). It is through these experiences that C is learning oral language "incorporating literacy elements with regular routines of infants such as daily reading, tapes at sleep-time, singing, rhymes and finger plays, as well as talking with infants" (Hamer & Adams, 2006, p. 67). And it is important to understand that "infants are much better equipped with auddition than they are with vision" (Talay-Ongan & Ap, 2005, p. 61). All of these aspects assist in the development of children's social sciences "The social sciences learning area is about how societies work and how people can participate as critical, active, informed, and responsible citizen's (Social sciences online, 2010, p. 1 cited in New Zealand curriculum, 2001).

R E F E R E N C E S

Lidder, T. Yorke. L (2004). Why motor skills matter. New York. McGraw-Hill.

Mindes, G.(2006). Social studies in kindergarten. In D.F. Gullo (Ed.), K today teaching and

learning in the kindergarten year. (pp.107-115). Washington, DC: National

Association for the Education of Young Children.

Hamer, J. Adams, P. (2003). The New Zealand early childhood literacy handbook practical

literacy ideas for early childhood centres. Victoria, Australia: Cengage

Learning Australia.

Pierce, P. (n.d). Assistive technology and infants and toddlers. Retrived 11th September

2010, from www2.edc.org/ncip/library/ec/power_1.htm.

Social sciences online. (2010). Retrieved 18th October, 2010, from http://ssol.tiki.org.nz/

Talay-Ongan, A. Ap, E.A. (2005). Child development and teaching young children. Victoria,

Australia: Thompson Social Press.