12 principles of child development
In addition, some regression in observed skills is common before new developments are fully achieved.43 For all of these reasons, the notion of “stages” of development has limited utility; a more helpful concept may be to think of waves of development that allow for considerable overlap without rigid boundaries.44. Support access to high-quality early childhood education programs and opportunities and resources for educators. By building knowledge of the world in early childhood, educators are laying the foundation that is critical for all future learning.57 All subject matter can be taught in ways that are meaningful and engaging for each child.58 The notion that young children are not ready for academic subject matter is a misunderstanding of developmentally appropriate practice. Early childhood educators are responsible for fostering children’s development and learning in all these domains as well as in general learning competencies and executive functioning, which include attention, working memory, self-regulation, reasoning, problem solving, and approaches to learning. The early childhood years lay the foundation and create trajectories for all later learning and development. Ultimately, motivation is a personal decision based on the learner’s determination of meaningfulness, interest, and engagement.53 Educators can promote children’s agency and help them feel motivated by engaging them in challenging yet achievable tasks that build on their interests and that they recognize as meaningful and purposeful to their lives. © National Association for the Education of Young Children, Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement, Evidence for the Advancing Equity Position Statement, Principles of Child Development and Learning, The Social-Cultural Context of Child Development and Learning. Develop grassroots efforts advancing early childhood in your community with these tools and resources. Development is considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli, and reinforcement. Explore key early childhood topics such Developmentally Appropriate Practice, play, and math. Studies have found that some children are denied opportunities to exercise agency because they are mistakenly deemed unable to do so.54 For educators, supporting a child’s agency can be especially challenging when they do not speak the same language as the child or are not able to understand a child’s attempts to express solutions or preferences. A pervasive characteristic of development is that children’s functioning, including their play, becomes increasingly complex—in language, cognition, social interaction, physical movement, problem solving, and virtually every other aspect. High-quality early childhood education contributes substantially to children’s resilience and healthy development. Educators recognize the importance of their role in creating a rich, play-based learning environment that encourages the development of knowledge (including vocabulary) and skills across all domains. Join NAEYC’s team and help us advance the education of young children across the country. Stay current on all things related to your professional association, from book releases to policy updates. The findings provide robust evidence supporting the importance of high-quality early learning experiences for young children for promoting children’s lifelong success. The use of media can also provide isolated children (for example, children with health problems that prevent them from participating in group settings or those with less well-developed social skills) with opportunities to engage effectively with peers.67. This requires going beyond superficial connections. Also essential is deep knowledge of each child, based on what the teacher has learned from close observation and from the family about the individual child’s interests, skills, and abilities and about practices of importance to the family. Group projects with documentation, including photos, videos, child artwork and representations, child dictations, and/or children’s writing, are also important tools for encouraging reflection and for revisiting concepts over time.63. Discover practical tips and innovative ideas for preschool teachers in our award-winning magazine. These principles reflect an extensive research base that is only partially referenced here.13 Because these principles are interrelated, this linear list does not fully represent their overall complexity. Likewise, language development influences a child’s ability to participate in social interaction with adults and other children; such interactions, in turn, support further language development as well as further social, emotional, and cognitive development. Throughout the early childhood years, young children continue to construct knowledge and make meaning through their interactions with adults and peers, through active exploration and play, and through their observations of people and things in the world around them. Encouraging children to reflect on their experiences and learning and to revisit concepts over time is also an important strategy for educators. The Principles have obtained recognition well beyond this original group to become a key instrument to inform the development of international norms Search an ECE degree directory, explore professional standards, and join our community of practice. Support our efforts to secure a bright future for young children, educators, and families. It is important for children to see people who look like them across levels of authority, to hear and see their home language in the learning environment, and to have learning experiences that are both culturally and linguistically affirming and responsive.52. Play (especially in intentionally designed environments with carefully selected materials) provides young children with opportunities to engage in this type of practice. Even if not called play, cross-curricular and collaborative approaches such as project-based learning, inquiry learning, or making and tinkering share characteristics of playful learning.37 Giving children autonomy and agency in how they approach problems, make hypotheses, and explore potential solutions with others promotes deeper learning and improves executive functioning.38 In sum, self-directed play, guided play, and playful learning, skillfully supported by early childhood educators, build academic language, deepen conceptual development, and support reflective and intentional approaches to learning—all of which add up to effective strategies for long-term success. Play develops young children’s symbolic and imaginative thinking, peer relationships, language (English and/or additional languages), physical development, and problem-solving skills. Support our mission and reach the NAEYC audience through your advertisement, conference exhibit booth, or sponsorship. This principle is drawn from the influential report How People Learn II and is supported by a growing body of research that affirms principles espoused more than 100 years ago by John Dewey.51 The sense of belonging requires both physical and psychological safety. Educators can also intentionally build bridges between children’s interests and the subject matter knowledge that will serve as the foundation for learning in later grades. All domains of child development—physical development, cognitive development, social and emotional development, and linguistic development (including bilingual or multilingual development), as well as approaches to learning—are important; each domain both supports and is supported by the others. Educators also strategically make comments and suggestions and ask questions to help move children toward a learning goal, even as children continue to lead the activity.32, Guided play gives educators opportunities to use children’s interests and creations to introduce new vocabulary and concepts, model complex language, and provide children with multiple opportunities to use words in context in children’s home languages as well as in English. Enhance your career and improve your knowledge, skills, and practices with our in-person and online training. They are not a set of rules for practicing agile, but a handful of principles … Say Hello and discuss, network, and connect with our interest forums and online communities. Children who experience predictable, responsive relationships and responsive interactions with adults also tend to demonstrate improved general learning competencies and executive functioning.23, Changes in one domain often impact other areas and highlight each area’s importance. These activities will look very different for infants and toddlers than for second- and third-graders and from one community of learners to another, given variations in culture and context. NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association. The interplay of biology and environment, present at birth, continues through the preschool years and primary grades (kindergarten through grade 3). Educators can involve children in choosing or creating learning experiences that are meaningful to them, helping them establish and achieve challenging goals, and reflecting on their experiences and their learning. Join NAEYC’s team and help us advance the education of young children across the country. For example, in some cultures, children are socialized to quietly observe members of the adult community and to learn by pitching in (often through mimicking the adults’ behaviors).47 In other cultures, adults make a point of getting a child’s attention to encourage one-on-one interactions. Kindergartens and grades 1-3 tend to be considered elementary or primary education, and, as such, may have increasingly prioritized cognitive learning at the expense of physical, social, emotional, and linguistic development. Learn about our work with governments and NGOs around the world to support young children and their teachers. They make use of strategies to promote children’s undertaking and mastering of new and progressively more advanced challenges. Search an ECE degree directory, explore professional standards, and join our community of practice. Play is essential for all children, birth through age 8. Atypical Child DevelopmentTypical Development: Child development refers to the biological and psychological changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. Children need to feel successful in new tasks a significant proportion of the time to promote their motivation and persistence.62 Confronted by repeated failure, most children will simply stop trying. Used responsibly and intentionally, technology and interactive media can be valuable tools for supporting children’s development and learning. They must also be aware of the potential for implicit bias that may prejudice their interactions with children of various social identities.49 Educators must also recognize that their nonverbal signals may influence children’s attitudes toward their peers. Read about NAEYC’s leadership, mission, values and beliefs, and strategic governance. Become a leader in your professional association. Children’s motivation to learn is increased when their learning environment fosters their sense of belonging, purpose, and agency. Stay up to date with research-based, teacher-focused articles on birth to age 8 in our award-winning, peer-reviewed journal. Researchers studying the pedagogy of play have identified three key components: choice (the children’s decisions to engage in play, as well as decisions about its direction and its continuation), wonder (children’s continued engagement as they explore, gather information, test hypotheses, and make meaning), and delight (the joy and laughter associated with the pleasure of the activity, making discoveries, and achieving new things).30 Play also typically involves social interaction with peers and/or adults. Read about this initiative focused on equity in early childhood and find other equity-related content. Children learn in an integrated fashion that cuts across academic disciplines or subject areas. Support our mission and reach the NAEYC audience through your advertisement, conference exhibit booth, or sponsorship. For example, sound nutrition, physical activity, and sufficient sleep all promote children’s abilities to engage in social interactions that, in turn, stimulate cognitive growth.