Early child care and education encompass more than preparing a child for primary education. It involves handling a child's holistic development in cognitive, emotional, social, and physical needs. The purpose of all-rounded development is to help a child build a solid and comprehensive foundation for the child's lifelong learning and well-being. Understanding how young children learn is vital as it enables the parents and educators to create a learning environment for the children. Thus, this paper discusses how children learn and the essential responsibility of programs and early care education.
Young children learn differently, but most commonly, children learn best by doing, which is known as active learning. As a child engages their hands and mind in doing something actively, they eventually realize it. Additionally, children are known to learn through live videos (Roseberry et al., 2009). Notably, when a child is presented with a diverse range of activities to do, then they get a chance to practice it and master the moves. Further, children learn from the relationships in their environment.
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A family plays a vital role in the development of a young child. To elaborate, a child first learns the essential things from their homes like walking and talking. But most importantly, children begin to learn about love and their self-worth from their parents or guardians. Eventually, the child begins to understand their feelings, needs, likes, and also dislikes. They also learn how to treat other people and to respect their elders. Also, children learn through language and communication.
Children quickly learn through communication with others or when observing two people who are speaking. When someone talks to a child or sings with them, they learn communication and language (Vukelich et al., 2019). Additionally, children are brilliant observers, and they know to copy from adults just by observing. Thus, when a child sees two people conversing, they learn communication skills, the act of speaking and listening while the other party is talking. Fundamentally, a child's most crucial stage of learning is during their young age. Thus, programs and early care education's most vital responsibility is to ensure a child thrives in a safe and comfortable environment.
At a young age, children become easily affected and vulnerable to any threats. Thus, for a child to maximize their potential during the learning process, they need to feel safe, free from danger, and comfortable. Consequently, it is the duty and the responsibility of the parent or educator and parent to inspect the children's environment (Richter et al., 2017). The inspection will ensure that any harmful materials or equipment are not in the way of the child. Another vital responsibility bestowed upon the educator is to ensure that they address any children's unique and cultural needs.
Special and cultural needs play an essential role in how a child learns things. Therefore, an educator should address cultural and special needs in physical, emotional, and educational concepts (Richter et al., 2017). For instance, for a child who is not supposed to take specific meals due to her cultural practices, the teacher should ensure that the child is not served.
Conclusively, young children learn in different and essential ways. A child can learn by doing things that are actively learning. Another way of a child to learn is through their relationships and families. Additionally, a child learns through communicating and observing. Notably, there are vital responsibilities that should be followed by programs and early child care and education to ensure that the young children learn effectively. That is, they should incorporate a safe and comfortable environment for the children. Additionally, they should observe the unique and cultural needs of every child.
References
Richter, L. M., Daelmans, B., Lombardi, J., Heymann, J., Boo, F. L., Behrman, J. R., ... & Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. (2017). Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development. The lancet , 389 (10064), 103-118.
Roseberry, S., Hirsh‐Pasek, K., Parish‐Morris, J., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2009). Live action: Can young children learn verbs from video. Child development , 80 (5), 1360-1375.
Vukelich, C., Enz, B., Roskos, K. A., & Kristie, J. (2019). Helping young children learn language and literacy: Birth through kindergarten.
