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.
