Child Development

It is vital that childcare professionals have some background knowledge of how children develop at certain ages and why. There are many theories on how children develop intellectually, socially and emotionally. Most children's services professionals base their work with children on a few different theories. The link below gives an overview of many theories on child development.

http://www.funderstanding.com/about_learning.cfm

The above website also provides these direct links to information on 12 different theories on how people learn:

• Constructivism
• Behaviorism
• Piaget's Developmental Theory
• Neuroscience
• Brain-Based Learning
• Learning Styles
• Multiple Intelligences
• Right Brain/Left Brain Thinking
• Communities of Practice
• Control Theory
• Observational Learning
• Vygotsky and Social Cognition

Emergent Curriculum

http://ccccnsw.org.au/resource/rattl062/story10/story10.html

A detailed and informative article interviewing a Director about emergent curriculum used in a Long Day Care setting and the benefits that it provides for children.

http://www.expectastar.com.au/group/pdf/Shauna_Woo.pdf

This article provides a basic overview of what emergent curriculum entails, including journals and diaries used in collaboration with the curriculum framework.

http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/cccf/00000091.htm

An article on programming for children's real interests, with some interesting information on using a video recorder for observations and webbing.

Reggio Emilia Approach

http://www.boulderjourneyschool.com/

A great website with a virtual tour of the Boulder Journey School which has studied and implements the Reggio Emilia approach closely and thoughtfully. Some really inspiring photos on this site.

http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n1/hertzog.html

This article discusses an early childhood program administrator's reflections on her visit to the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The following six themes are discussed: (1) teachers' respect for each child; (2) teachers' emphasis on relationships; (3) the importance of art as the medium chosen to represent children's thinking; (4) the critical role of communication; (5) the relaxed pace in the schools; and (6) the teachers' different roles. The article concludes with ideas and questions inspired by the visit that the administrator would like to share with colleagues in a gifted education environment.

http://zerosei.comune.re.it/inter/reggiochildren.htm

The home Page of Reggio Children in Italy.

The Importance of Play

National Network for Childcare article

http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum/better.play.html

Play takes on a very different meaning. Play to a child IS learning! They learn to play and play to learn. Play is terribly important to a child. It is not a distraction. It's not something they do to take up time. It's the child's life.