Unit 201 Child and young person development

Unit 201
Outcome 1

1.1
Describe the expected pattern of children and young people's development from birth to 19yrs

Physical Development
Communication & Intellectual development
Social, Emotional & Behavioural development
0-3
New babies have little control over their bodies, their movement depends on a series of reflexes as they get older they start to develop more gross monitor skills such as crawling, sitting, running, rolling. In their second year, children should have a better ability to control their movement. In a child's 3rd year they would start to develop fine motor skills such as painting, scribbling and colouring. The child enjoys looking at and turning pages of books. At this age a child, should be able to use a cup and be able to feed themselves.
A child at this stage will be listening, taking in language and speech from their surroundings. If a child is not given the appropriate attention they will find it hard to speak/communicate with other children. Speech will begin to grow with the child enjoying songs and games and words will start to increase rapidly, with words being pronounced wrong but not without a lack of trying. For example 'I broked it' instead of 'I broke it'.
Children will have firms bonds with their parents/carers/guardians/key workers. They will experience emotional issues such as playing up for their parents, due to wanting to be independent and do things for themselves.
3-7
At this age, children will be improving the skills they have learned so far, they will have more confidence and more control over their fine motor skills such as cutting, writing and drawing.
As children grow they continue to pick up phrases and expressions from the people around them and their surroundings. Their confidence will continue to blossom as they will now be able to talk and communicate in more ways with others around them. Children will still look for praise from the older people and adults around them.
At this age children start to engage more with their friends; ie playing with a ball, dressing up, playing with lego. They will learn disappointment such as not being picked for teams, and know how they should behave within the groups. They will learn to cooperate openly with others and how to respond to responsibility.
7-12
Children would start to have hobbies and interests such as sports, dance, drama. Children will continue to develop and improve many of their skills. Girls will start to show signs of early puberty from age 10-11yrs. Puberty in boys will usually start later.
Speech for a child at this stage will be a lot clearer and understood. They will be fine tuning their written and reading skills which will help them to think about ideas and learning tools which will increase their confidence. Their knowledge and understanding will be used a lot more efficiently.
Children will have developed different groups of friends and feel settled within those groups. Many different skills will have been developed and hobbies will be of great interest. Fine motor skills will be fully developed with more of an interest in their hobbies. For example playing an instrument, sewing and crafts.
12-19
The boys will be starting to go through puberty and many of the girls would be completing their puberty, having regular periods. As a result of the different stages at this age in puberty, boys and girls will vary in height, with girls they are taller and are growing stronger than boys.
A wider understanding of their surroundings and clearer ideas of their favourite activities and subjects at school will be expected at this stage. They will be thinking about future careers as they prepare to leave school.
Young people between this age experience a lot of change and can become very self conscious of their bodily changes. Independence will have grown but will still look for guidance from others. Strength, height and confidence will also have grown.

1.2
Describe with examples how different aspects of development can affect one another

It is always important to remember that different aspects of development can affect another, for example if a child has a new sibling in their family they have to understand that their parent's have to share their attention with both of the children not just one. The child may feel angry and alone which can lead to social, emotional and behavioural problems. If they feel they don't get enough attention from their parents. This can then have an impact on their communication development, due to them playing up or misbehaving. If a child has an illness or disability which prevents them from walking this can affect their physical development as they don't have full gross motor skill development, as well as affecting their social and intellectual development. They may spend a lot more time learning which will be a positive gain on their intellectual development, however they may wonder why they are not with their peers taking part in their daily activities, therefore their emotional, social and behavioural development will be affected as they may feel left out or different from the others.

Outcome 2

2.1
Describe with examples the kinds of influences that affect children and young people's development including:
a) background
b) health
c)environment

Children and young people come from a wide range of different backgrounds, all having an affect on development. For example a child/young person may be neglected and from a poorer family who don't have the amenities to care properly for that child. The behaviour of a parent towards their child can affect how they deal with things emotionally and therefore can have an impact on a child's development. If there are older siblings they my talk above the younger sibling or talk for them, having an affect on a child's communication skills possibly making their speech slower. On a positive note an older sibling may help the younger sibling to develop their skills at a faster pace. For example if they read, write and just sit talking to their older brother or sister it can help the, to develop much needed skills. If a child/young person suffers a bereavement of a family member or close friend, or has an illness or injury, these factors can also have an affect on a child's emotional and social development.
My daughter Hope, was born with a complex heart and lung defect which led to her having major surgery at 4 months old, this has delayed her development in terms of speech, mobility and learning and she has missed school due to various hospital and clinic appointments. Hope has extra reading lessons as her eyesight has been affected by the health issues and therefore struggles to keep up to the same level as her peers. P.E lessons are sometimes a struggle as her physical ability is behind most of her classmates and she struggles to keep up. Hope's hearing has also been affected as well as her growth, making it harder for her to complete normal day to day tasks with her friends.
The environment a child learns in is an important aspect of their school life. If there are distraction such as a noisy road outside or some kind of issue in the classroom for example a disruptive child, this can affect a child's development by taking their attention away from learning. A few day nurseries have found recently that bright, vibrant colours and pictures on walls, are more of a distraction to the children in their early years at nursery, and so no longer have anything on walls at all. They are now plain as to not draw attention from the children, distracting them from their day to day learning and play.

2.2
Describe with examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young people's development

If a child has any issues it is extremely important that these issues are dealt with as soon as possible, as if they go unnoticed this may lead to further problems. For example my daughter Hope, never showed any signs of having a problem with her eyesight, until a routine check at school discovered she was very short sighted in one eye. It wasn't until this was found that recent behaviours slotted into place, like Hope wouldn't look to be interested in class, she would sit and look like she was in a daze, this was due to the fact she couldn't see properly not that she wasn't interested. In Hope's preschool year, her teacher was concerned Hope wasn't progressing as well as the other children in her group, due to her being very quiet and reserved and looking disinterested in what was going on. Hope was referred to a learning development team who found nothing wrong, but it was important that her teacher made me aware of these issues incase there was an underlying issue. No matter how many times an issue is raised it is important to do so until the issue has been resolved, so not to cause any further stress to the child or young person. Hope for weeks, wasn't herself at home or in school, she would be very unsettled, wet the bed, very quiet and wouldn't join in in her class. After constant revisiting of these problems it was finally found that the anxieties Hope was having was due to her health issues. If these issues were not picked up Hope would be a lot worse now, thankfully they were and are being resolved.

Outcome 3

3.1
Identify the transitions experienced by most children and young people

Nursery – preschool
Preschool – primary school
Primary school – high school
Change of classes
Change of timetable
Change of teacher/key worker
Puberty

3.2
Identify transitions that only some children and young people may experience

Move in house—possibly a local move or out of the area
Move in school – due to the above or other personal issues
Bereavement of a close friend or family member
Illness or injury
Parental separation or divorce
Change of carer/guardian/new parent
New sibling

3.3
Describe with examples how transitions may affect children and young people's behaviour and development

Transitions can affect children in a number of way, during this time it is important that the child or young person has positive relationships around them to help them feel secure. Some transitions can be difficult to deal with and can affect a child or young person's behaviour in many different ways. For example a child who has just moved house and school can become very clingy, withdrawn, anxious and uninterested in their new surroundings. This can affect their development as they may not join in as much as they should in class, plus could ply up to their new teachers and have behavioural issues. If this kind of behaviour isn't picked up early on and the child or young person isn't given the support they need, the transitional period can become a very traumatic experience. On a positive note, a change in school may be what the child needs to take off and thrive in a new setting. It may be seen as an exciting time and a chance for the child to excel in their new surroundings. Any change in a child or young persons life can lead to a number of behvioural and developmental issues. Parental separation or a change in partner can lead to a withdrawn behviour, acting up to gain the attention of their parent. They may become aggressive at the remaining parent and blame themselves for the problems. This behaviour may carry on in school and lead to the child being excluded from the class or school depending on the severity of the situation. If a child or young person experiences illness or an injury, dependent on the severity p, they may need to take a lot of time off school for appointments, treatments, etc. Where some children/young people may see it as a great thing being away from school, for others it can be a very worrying, anxious time. Emotionally they may be down about being here, there and everywhere on different appointments, so it is important that they have a good support network around them to give them some kind of stability during this time. There are a lot of negative affects children and young people can experience from certain situations, however sometimes positives can be taken from them. For example, as traumatic as it may be for a child to move in with a new parent and new siblings they can be a positive influence in terms of speech and social skills for the young