Week Six Overview

There is a wonderful quote from Pablo Casals "In all the world there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed, there has never been a child like you." 

This week you will learn about the field of child development. We study how children grow and develop so that when we are making choices about how to teach them, we are using research to base our decision on. Our memories of early childhood are cloudy at best. Studies of memory and cognition have shown us that most of what we think we remember about our childhood prior to age 6 is actually constructed by what we hear. Parents will reminisce about what children did when they were young and we construct a memory to fit that narrative that parents have shared. 

Every child is unique, but within that unique being there are certain universal milestones that all children go through. By studying those milestones and understanding them, we will be better teachers. It is important to know why teaching reading to preschool children is inappropriate and how to foster a love of language and books so that when they are ready to learn to read (about age 6 or 7), learning to read is easy. If you don't understand the developmental science behind appropriate practices for each age range, you will fall prey to the push down of academic skills under the guise of "getting them ready early". If you remember little else that I tell you in this class, remember this Earlier is NOT Better! The child who reads at 5 does not read better than the child who learns to read at 7. Children spend the first three years of school (grades 1-3) learning to read, after 3rd grade, they read to learn. Pushing academics early does not improve children's school work later, it only causes resentment and children lose interest in academics when they should be just getting excited about school. 

This week you will learn a little bit about how to help children develop by understanding the sequence of development.