ECE 205 CHILD DEVELOPMENT WEEK ONE INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE .docx

ECE 205 CHILD DEVELOPMENT
WEEK ONE INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
Pat Yourself on the Back for starting
this course!
“When dealing with children there is greater need for observing
than of probing.”
-Maria Montessori
Overview of the Learning Week
Welcome to ECE 205: Child Development. In this course you
will become familiar with the influences on child
development by gaining a better understanding of why studying
child development is important. You will be
discussing the major theorists and their theories, as well as
identifying the developmental ages and stages
associated with each. In the Week One guidance, Chapters 1 and
3 will be examined.

Think about your chosen profession.
he ages, stages, and milestones of
child development?
stages?
relation to a child’s age and
developmental stage?
http://www.dailymontessori.com/montessori-theory/
In your profession, you will help children, families, and
colleagues better understand child development by
empowering them with ways to reach children at their
developmental stage that will help with motor,
cognitive, communication, social-emotional, and self-help
skills.
This week you will begin by examining your own personal
beliefs about child development. You will be asked
to think back to when you were a child and remember things
that contributed to your development. You will
also decide why understanding child development and the study
of child development is important in your

chosen profession. Developmental theories will also be
examined.
Instructor Expertise
You may be asking why the study of child development is so
important. You, as someone working with
children, play a huge role and have a great impact on each child
by providing appropriate experiences,
support, and direction child so they reach their optimum
developmental level.
What is Child Development and Why Study It?
In 1976, Gene R. Medinnus determined in his Child Study and
Observation Guide that there are four principal
reasons for studying children. They are:
1. Having a natural curiosity about human development
2. Needing assistance in guiding children’s development
3. Wanting to better predict behavior
4. Pursuing an interest in understanding one’s own actions.
(Groark, McCarthy, & Kirk, 2014).
Because so many children each day are in some type of
childcare center, early childhood classroom, or clinic, it

is vital that caregivers provide appropriate support.
Professionals working with young children have the
opportunity to impact all aspects of child development while
they are in contact with these children.
According to our course text, “it is essential to understand
typical human development because that
understanding assists child caregivers in predicting how a child
will learn and progress in developmental
domains” (Groark et al., pg. 3).
Entering my classroom for the first time, as a teacher, I knew
how important it was to get to know my
students, to get to know the families, and to reach each child at
their own level of development. But I
wondered, how was I going to do this? I started by getting to
know my students. I had a bulletin board that
showcased each student for one week. I had them do an “All
About Me Bag” where the families filled out
questionnaires. The greatest thing I did was simply talk to my
students. This takes only a few days, and I could
tell which students were on typical developing levels and which
students would need more help. I could then

begin differentiating my instruction for each child to take them
from where they were to where they needed
to be.
"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to
imitate." ----Anonymous
There are five spheres of development that researchers look at
as children develop.
Five spheres of development (click on each for more
information)
Progress in each of these domains is not isolated; rather, these
domains are interdependent on one another
(Groark et al., 2014). You must remember that all children
develop at different rates that are unpredictable,
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Motor%20Dev/s
tages.htm
http://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect2.html
http://www.parentingcounts.org/research/language-
communication
http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-

development/social-emotional-development.html
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_vie
w.aspx?ArticleID=676
can stagger, and even regress with no long term effects. Many
things can influence a child’s development. For
example, the environment, genetics, birth, etc. play major roles
in a child’s development. This brings us to the
nature vs. nurture debate. The argument comes down to which
influence is more predominate in a child’s
development. Each of you has probably had an experience or
background that leads you to believe one
contributes more than the other.
Nature vs. Nurture is:
A major issue in many disciplines including politics and is
concerned with the influence that biology,
genetics, and overall heredity has along with environmental
influences. The questions are: which traits
are children born with and which traits are results of
experiences? Are some of these innate
characteristics changeable or are they fixed? Does our
environment have a strong enough influence so
that it can change some of the impact of nature’s influences?
Can we change our life course trajectory
through nurturing, relationships, learning, and experiencing? So
the issue is how much does each
contribute to an individual and what happens when they
combine (Groark et al., p. 12).
There are six developmental stages that child development
experts and researchers look at as children
develop.

Six Developmental Stages (click on each to find out more).
Oftentimes, assessments must be performed to determine if a
child is developing at a typical rate during each
of these stages. In child development a child’s actual age is
measured by the time in days, months, and years
the child has been on earth—this is called the chronological
age.
A child is said to have typical development in the above
developmental stages if they attain the predicted
milestones that are anticipated for their chronological age
(Groark et al., 2014 ). Early identification of a child
that may not be developing typically is important as early
intervention can intervene to delay further
Infancy
First year
after birth
12 months
Pre-Nata
Prenatal
Conception
to birth
Toddlerhood
Ages 1-3

Early
Childhood
1-5
Preschool
Age
Adolesence
13-18 years
old
Middle
Childhood
6-12 years
old
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-
stages/baby/pages/Parenting-Your-Infant.aspx
http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-
sheet/prenatal-care.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002010.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting
/preschoolers.html
http://www.northshore.org/pediatrics/ages-and-
milestones/teenager-13-18-years/
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overvi
ew.aspx?topicid=10
developmental delays. There are many different kinds of
assessments mentioned in Chapter 1 of your text
that can be used to assess children for developmental delays.

Table 1.1 NAEYC’s Principles of Child Development and
Learning
1. All areas of development and learning are important.
2. Learning and development follow sequences.
3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates.
4. Development and learning result from an interaction of
maturation and experience.
5. Early experiences have profound effects on development and
learning.
6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-
regulation, and symbolic or representational
capacities.
7. Children develop best when they have secure relationships.
8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by
multiple social and cultural contexts.
9. Children learn in a variety of ways.
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation
and promoting language, cognition, and
social competence.
11. Development and learning advance when children are
challenged.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and
approaches to learning.
(Groark et al., 2014)
As you begin working with young children, you will be able to
identify characteristics and behaviors that
children display that might be different than other children.
Many of these issues need to be observed and
even fostered in your care, and most will develop normally on
their own. For example, a typically developing
four year old may speak in complete sentences while another

child may have delayed speech due to constant
ear infections. When you mention concerns to parents,
oftentimes they already know and understand the
problem, but others want a professional to “see what they see”.
When approaching the situation with
parents, make sure you are respectful, caring, and well
intentioned so that the parents trust you and want to
build a relationship with you. It is important that you gather as
much historical information from the families
before you begin working with a child, as they can give genetic,
birth, and other illness related experiences the
child may have had that can affect development.
Developmental theories provide perspectives for understanding
children's development (Groark et al., 2014).
These theories provide early childhood professionals with
background research that has been observed by
researchers and theorists.
Summary of Developmental Theories
Theory Associated
Theorist(s)
Key Concept(s)
Psychoanalytic
Theory
Sigmund Freud • The mind has conscious and unconscious
components, with parts interacting to produce
the personality.
• Stages of development emphasize sexuality

and gratification.
Psychosocial
Theory
Erik Erikson • An individual needs to resolve a crisis in each
of the eight stages of psychosocial
development in order to progress to the next
stage, with outcomes based on how the each
crisis is resolved.
Behaviorist
Theory
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
• Behavior is the result of associations formed
between behavior and positive and negative
consequences, or the associations formed
between a stimulus and response.
• Behaviorism is based on objective and
concrete observations of behavior.
Theory of
Cognitive
Development
Jean Piaget • Children are naturally motivated to learn, and
learning occurs by building on a previous
understanding of the environment.

• The four stages of cognitive development, the
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete
operational, and formal operational stages,
are based on the type of learning that takes
place, from the relatively basic to the complex.
Sociocultural
Theory
Lev Vygotsky • Social interaction and participation in cultural
activities are necessary for healthy
development, and children learn through
relationships with adults by communicating,
playing, and socializing.
• Children learn by going a step further than
what their competence is at the time, with a
caregiver providing maximum help when they
are initially learning, and reducing help as
children gain more independence (i.e.,
scaffolding).
Social
Learning
Theory
Albert Bandura • Children learn vicariously through others in
social situations, based on the consequences
that others receive.
• A new skill must be performed before learning
is complete (i.e., modeling)
Maturational
Theory

Arnold Gesell • Genetic and biological systems are the basis
for the development of skills according to a
normal schedule.
• Genetics determines the timing of a child’s
maturation and little can be done to change the
pattern of milestone achievement.
Attachment
Theory
John Bowlby
• Attachment is a close and enduring bond
between a child and a caregiver.
• Based on sensitive and responsive care, a child
knows that his or her needs will be met and
uses the caregiver as a safe base from which to
explore the environment.
• A concept in association with attachment
theory, Mary Ainsworth discussed that
children can be characterized as having
different types of attachment based on
interactions with the primary attachment
figure.
Ecological
Systems
Theory

Urie Bronfenbrenner • All contexts in which a child participates
(either directly or indirectly), have a unique
influence on that child’s development.
• Different contexts, from the closest influences
to the most distant influences interact to
uniquely affect a child’s development.
Information
Processing
Theory
Robert Siegler • A theory that deals with brain
structures, neural connectors and the
processing, storage, organization, and retrieval
of information in memory and attention.
• Computer systems and technology contribute
to the terminology used in this theory.
Multiple
Intelligences
Theory
Howard Gardner • There exist different types of intelligence,
with
a fundamental set of intelligences for all
people.
• Each individual has a unique combination of
the intelligence types.
(Groark, McCarthy, & Kirk, 2014).
As professionals we use theories to support the way we interact
with children. Each of these

theories and theorists give great insight and background to child
development and learning.
Developmental theories are an important guide when working
with young children (Groark et
al., 2014).
_____________________________________________________
________________________
Critical Reflections/Application Opportunities
What theorist do you must closely relate to with your
philosophy of
working with young children?
Do you believe that understanding child development and how
children develop is important to understand?
Start a pin board with different child development activities and
or
teaching strategies for this course. Find and use whatever fits
your
chosen profession. You will then have all of them in one place
for you to reference back to.
Spend some time at a local park or classroom and observe
children. Do you see differentiation going on?
Do you see children who are developing typically, and those
that may be at a higher or lower developing
rate? How can you tell? What do you see?

Weekly Learning Activities
Take a Closer look at what you need to do!
Week One – Child Development Theory
There will be two discussions this week and an assignment.
Introductory Post – You will need to post your introduction in
the Introduction Forum on the first day of class.
You will need to respond to at least three of your classmates by
Day 7.
This is the time to introduce yourself and share your
background (personal and professional) with us. Make
sure to tell us where you are from, what your degree is, what
experience you have with child development
and working with children, and any classes you have taken. You
can add a picture of yourself if you want us to
put a face with a name. Also, add what you hope to learn in this
course and future aspirations you have after
graduation. You may write a response to this prompt and/or
create a web-based poster using images, audio,
video, and/or text. Use the poster creation program of your
choice. Recommended web-based programs
include Glogster and Smore.
Guided Response – Please respond to at least three peers. In
your response, connect with your peers about
similar or different professional aspirations, commonalities in
your coursework, and/or experiences working

with children.
Discussion
Week 1 discussion is due in the forum on day 3. You will need
to respond to at least two of your classmates by
Day 7.
For this discussion, read Chapters 1 and 3 from your textbook,
in addition to the Week One Instructor
Guidance. Chapter 3 in Groark, McCarthy, and Kirk (2014, p.
23-24) provides an overview of the main theories
relevant to child development.
Remember that the topic of child development will help you in
your future professional position. Theorists
such as Freud, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson studied child
development for decades. Understanding the basic
theoretical differences in each theory will deepen your
professional knowledge of how young children develop
and how that relates to your work with children.
To answer the following prompts, please use three sources:
Your text and two scholarly sources of your
choice.
1. Describe how understanding theories of child development
can assist you in your chosen profession.
Use specific examples and evidence from the textbook and
additional research.
children, what do you need to know
about children? What do you need to know about a child’s
development? Why do you need to
know this? How will knowing this help?

2. Explain the theories that most closely align with your
personal philosophy or approach to child
development. Use specific examples to illustrate your
perspective.
with your personal
philosophy. For example, what do you agree
with, what do you like in terms of the philosophy, and why is it
the best in your opinion?
3. In a graphic organizer of your choice, describe the major
differences and similarities of each of the
leading child development theories discussed in the textbook.
Attach your organizer to your initial
discussion post. You could use an MS Word table, a graphic
organizer from Holt Interactive Graphic
Organizers, a mind map (e.g., using Bubble.Us or Coggle), or
any other creative software choice that
suits your needs for illustrating the comparison.
Guided Response – Please respond to at least two peers. Select
peers that have who have chosen a theory
that is different than the theory you have chosen. Determine
how their chosen theory would relate to your
chosen profession. For example: If your peer selected Freud and
you selected Erickson, how would
psychoanalytic theory relate to your work with children?
Respectfully suggest what you believe to be the most
important ideas that they will need to know about a child before

they can begin working with them and why.
Were you surprised by any of the similarities or differences in
the theories? If so, why? If not, why not? What
were the concepts or ideas that resonated most with you?
Assignment: Nature and Nurture Influences on Child
Development
Your assignment will be due on Monday Day 7.
For this written assignment, please read Chapter 1 of your
textbook and watch the videos from McDowell
(n.d.) and Pollack (n.d.).
The debate regarding nature vs. nurture and how it impacts
child development has been ongoing for
centuries. This debate is concerned with the extent to which
particular aspects of behavior are a product of
either inherited (i.e. nature) or environmental (i.e. nurture)
characteristics. Throughout history, researchers
have often envisioned nature and nurture as separate and
opposing influences. Today, developmental
theorists increasingly agree that nature and nurture are
interdependent, working dynamically together, in
child development (McDevitt, 2010).
You may have your own theories and background that
contributes to your thoughts on nature vs. nurture.
Your own theories and thoughts will help you formulate your
next assignment.
Instructions
You will write a well-organized paper using the APA 6th
edition guidelines. You will provide an overview of the

content and a thesis statement. Your paragraphs will come from
the following prompts.
urture: Describe the relationship between nature
vs. nurture. What do you believe, why do
you believe this? You can provide any background or
experience you have on this topic.
http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm
http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm
https://bubbl.us/
http://coggle.it/
environmental, societal, and cultural influences on
child development in relation to nature vs. nurture. Give
examples in your explanation that will enhance
what you know and understand about each influence.
more influential than the other. Use at least
two scholarly research articles as well as the textbook to
support your position. When you take your
stance on nature or nurture give an in-depth explanation of
which one you believe is more influential and
why, and provide resources that agree with your opinion.
Make sure to include in-text citations and a reference page.
Week One Required Resources

Groark, C., McCarthy, S. & Kirk, A. (2014). Early Child
Development: From Theory to Practice. Bridgepoint
Education: San Diego, CA.
• Read Chapters 1 and 3 for Week One.
McDowell, M. (n.d.). What is nature vs. nurture? [Video file].
Retrieved from
http://video.about.com/genealogy/What-Is-Nature-Vs--Nurture-
.htm
-minute video explores the question
of nature vs. nurture through the lens
of Jungian psychologist and molecular biologist Max
McDowell. View this video and/or read its
transcript for support in completion of the Nature and Nurture
Influences on Child Development
assignment.
Pollack, S. (n.d.). Nature vs. nurture in child development
[Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.howcast.com/videos/513307-Nature-vs-Nurture-
Child-Development
founder of Watch Me Grow, explains what
part of nature and nurture influences child development. View
this video for support in completion
of the Nature and Nurture Influences on Child Development
assignment.

Week 1 Recommended Resources
Bubble.US (https://bubbl.us/)
-based program for creating mind
maps or “relationship” maps. Bubble.US
is an option to consider when you are asked to or recommended
to create a mind-map, such as in
the Theoretical Knowledge and Professional Practice
discussion.
Coggle. (http://coggle.it/)
-based program for creating mind maps
or “relationship” maps. Coggle is an
option to consider when you are asked to or recommended to
create a mind-map, such as in the
Theoretical Knowledge and Professional Practice discussion.
Glogster. (http://www.glogster.com/)
eb-based program for creating online
posters or flyers using text and other
multimedia. Glogster is an option to consider when you are
asked to or recommended to create a
web-based poster, such as in the Post Your Introduction
discussion from Week One.
.htm

.htm%23vdTrn
http://www.howcast.com/videos/513307-Nature-vs-Nurture-
Child-Development
https://bubbl.us/
http://coggle.it/
http://www.glogster.com/
Smore (https://www.smore.com/)
-based program for creating online
posters and flyers using text and other
multimedia. Smore is an option to consider when you are asked
to or recommended to create a
web-based poster, such as in our Post Your Introduction
discussion from Week One.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2014). Parenting your infant.
Retrieved from
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Toddlers (1-
2 years of age). Retrieved
from
/toddlers.html
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Preschoolers
(3-5 years of age).
Retrieved from

/preschoolers.html
Cherry, Kendra. (2014). Stages of prenatal development.
Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/pre
nataldevelop.htm
Groark, C., McCarthy, S. & Kirk, A. (2014). Early Child
Development: From Theory to
Practice. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA.
Lynch, S. and Simpson, C. (2008). Those important self-help
skills. Early Childhood News
Retrieved from
Medline Plus (2014). Toddler development. Retrieved
from
Motor Development. (n.d). Motor development stages.
Retrieved from
tages.htm
Office of Women’s Health, U.S Department of Health and
Human Services. (n.d).
Prenatal care factsheet. Retrieved from
Parenting Counts. (2014). Communication and language

development- How children communicate: research
articles. Retrieved from
communication
The White House. (n.d). Good start, grow smart: The bush
administration's early childhood initiative- The
importance of early childhood cognitive development. Retrieved
from
http://georgewbush-
https://www.smore.com/
ttp://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-
stages/baby/pages/Parenting-Your-I
/toddlers.html
/toddlers.html
/preschoolers.html
/preschoolers.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/pre
nataldevelop.htm
tages.htm
ttp://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-p

communication
communication
http://georgewbush-
http://georgewbush-
http://georgewbush-
Zero to Three. (2012). Development of social-emotional skills.
Retrieved from
development/social-emotional-
development.html
Additional Materials
Understanding Development
5 Gross Motor Activities for Children
Early Childhood Fine Motor
Your Child’s Self-Help Skills
ABC’s Of Child Development

development/social-emotional-development.html
ttp://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-
development/social-e
http://www3.bucksiu.org/page/1184
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMnbgS6Xp6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBFcH2UyhQ
http://www.fisher-
price.com/en_US/playtime/parenting/articlesandadvice/articlede
tail.html?article=tcm:169-25216
http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/ECE 205 Child
DevelopmentWeek One Instructor GuidancePat Yourself on the
Back for starting this course!“When dealing with children there
is greater need for observing than of probing.”-Maria
MontessoriOverview of the Learning WeekProgress in each of
these domains is not isolated; rather, these domains are
interdependent on one another (Groark et al., 2014). You must
remember that all children develop at different rates that are
unpredictable, can stagger, and even regress with...Nature vs.
Nurture is:A major issue in many disciplines including politics
and is concerned with the influence that biology, genetics, and
overall heredity has along with environmental influences. The
questions are: which traits are children born with and which
traits are ...There are six developmental stages that child
development experts and researchers look at as children
develop.Six Developmental Stages (click on each to find out
more).Oftentimes, assessments must be performed to determine
if a child is developing at a typical rate during each of these
stages. In child development a child’s actual age is measured by
the time in days, months, and years the child has been on
earth—thi...A child is said to have typical development in the
above developmental stages if they attain the predicted
milestones that are anticipated for their chronological age
(Groark et al., 2014 ). Early identification of a child that may
not be developing t...Table 1.1 NAEYC’s Principles of Child
Development and Learning(Groark, McCarthy, & Kirk,

2014).As professionals we use theories to support the way we
interact with children. Each of these theories and theorists give
great insight and background to child development and learning.
Developmental theories are an important guide when working
with
yo..._________________________________________________
____________________________Weekly Learning
ActivitiesTake a Closer look at what you need to do!Week One
– Child Development TheoryReferencesAmerican Academy of
Pediatrics. (2014). Parenting your infant. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-
stages/baby/pages/Parenting-Your-Infant.aspxCenter for
Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Toddlers (1-2 years of
age). Retrievedfrom
/toddlers.htmlCenter for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2014). Preschoolers (3-5 years of age).Retrieved from
/preschoolers.htmlCherry, Kendra. (2014). Stages of prenatal
development. Retrieved
fromhttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/
a/prenataldevelop.htmGroark, C., McCarthy, S. & Kirk, A.
(2014). Early Child Development: From Theory toPractice.
Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA.Lynch, S. and Simpson,
C. (2008). Those important self-help skills. Early Childhood
NewsRetrieved from
w.aspx?ArticleID=676Medline Plus (2014). Toddler
development. Retrievedfrom
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002010.htmM
otor Development. (n.d). Motor development stages. Retrieved
fromhttp://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Motor%20
Dev/stages.htmOffice of Women’s Health, U.S Department of
Health and Human Services. (n.d).Prenatal care factsheet.
Retrieved from http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-
publications/fact-sheet/prenatal-care.htmlParenting Counts.

(2014). Communication and language development- How
children communicate: research articles. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.parentingcounts.org/research/language-
communicationThe White House. (n.d). Good start, grow smart:
The bush administration's early childhood initiative- The
importance of early childhood cognitive development. Retrieved
fromhttp://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect2.htmlZero
to Three. (2012). Development of social-emotional skills.
Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/child-
development/social-emotional-development/social-emotional-
development.htmlAdditional MaterialsUnderstanding
Development

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