Growth and development through the lifespan including physical, social, cognitive and neurological development. This course covers topics in each of these areas and provides an overview on subjects such as day care, education, disabilities, parenting, types of families, gender identity and roles, career decisions, illnesses and treatments, aging, retirement, generativity, and dying.

Over the years researchers have found the necessity to develop theories of behavior that are specific to family settings. These theories have been developed by people with a variety of areas of emphasis, from family therapists to gerontologists to child development specialists. In this chapter we will briefly discuss six such theories: Bioecological Model, Family Systems, Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Psychological Perspectives.

Over the years researchers have found the necessity to develop theories of behavior that are specific to family settings. These theories have been developed by people with a variety of areas of emphasis, from family therapists to gerontologists to child development specialists. In this chapter we will briefly discuss six such theories: Bioecological Model, Family Systems, Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Psychological Perspectives.

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn. We will look at how we change physically over time from conception through adolescence. We examine cognitive change, or how our ability to think and remember changes over the first 20 years or so of life. And we will look at how our emotions, psychological state, and social relationships change throughout childhood and adolescence.

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn. We will look at how we change physically over time from conception through adolescence. We examine cognitive change, or how our ability to think and remember changes over the first 20 years or so of life. And we will look at how our emotions, psychological state, and social relationships change throughout childhood and adolescence.

Welcome to Child Growth and Development. This text is a presentation of how and why children grow, develop, and learn. We will look at how we change physically over time from conception through adolescence. We examine cognitive change, or how our ability to think and remember changes over the first 20 years or so of life. And we will look at how our emotions, psychological state, and social relationships change throughout childhood and adolescence.

As authors, we chose the subject for this book because of what early childhood teacher candidates told us about their confusion between the theory they were taught in college methods classes, and, the teaching practices they often experienced during the Practicum field placement. We became interested in this subject because the teacher candidates were questioning, as good teacher candidates do, a troubling disconnect between early childhood theory and associated practice in classrooms. We were motivated to write this book because we wanted to share our model of professional development, designed to support both pre-service teacher candidates and, in-service educators together, during the Practicum field placement. Our lead author secured a grant to investigate these concerns and to implement a new professional development model designed to overcome them. The substance of this book reminds all of us, that in early childhood education, educators’ change through professional development, for improved practice that benefits children’s learning, is a constant.

From the original OER:

Introduction to Principles and Practices of Teaching Young Children

We are so excited you have decided to join us on your journey into the wonderful world of young children!

If you are reading this, you’re likely interested in learning more about becoming an early childhood professional. Perhaps you’re just curious and want to know a little bit more about young children. Maybe you want to make up your mind after finding out a little bit more about what is involved. In either case, your interest and curiosity are two key characteristics that will make this a positive growth experience for you.

You probably had other options but made coming to this class a priority. You care about children. You have an audacity of kindness and passion for teaching. Adhering to these qualities is the launching pad for successful early childhood professionals.

A web-based textbook/course created by Lumen Learning. Part 1 concerns Educational History and Policy, covering common educational policies from 1770's to the present; Part 2 is Educational Psychology, covering topics such as human brain, language and physical development, Nature v. Nurture, and theories and practices for working with K-12 youth.

Welcome to Human Development across the Lifespan! You have been on a fascinating developmental journey your whole life long, and now you are going to have the opportunity to learn about the study of human development from birth to death. This course provides a bird’s eye view of major milestones and developmental tasks during each age period, starting at conception and ending with old age. As you discover age periods that you would like to learn more about, we invite you take any of the 400-level series of developmental courses covering specific developmental periods in more depth: Infancy, Early Childhood Development, Child Psychology, Adolescent Development, and Adult Development and Aging.

This course is an introduction to cognitive development focusing on children's understanding of objects, agents, and causality. It develops a critical understanding of experimental design. The course discusses how developmental research might address philosophical questions about the origins of knowledge, appearance and reality, and the problem of other minds. It provides instruction and practice in written communication as needed for cognitive science research (including critical reviews of journal papers, a literature review and an original research proposal), as well as instruction and practice in oral communication in the form of a poster presentation of a journal paper.

This course will provide opportunity to use the Massachusetts Early Learning Guidelines to support your work with infants and toddlers. The first three years of life area a time of rapid brain development and learning. This time is critically important for infants and toddlers as they develop foundations for learning. The purpose of the Early Learning Guidelines (ELG) for Infants and Toddlers is to provide a comprehensive view of the development of infants and toddlers while documenting experiences that support this development.

Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address:

Developing curriculum through the planning cycle
Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning
The three components of developmentally appropriate practice
Importance and value of play and intentional teaching
Different models of curriculum
Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children)
Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for children’s learning
Appropriate guidance techniques to support children’s behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature.
Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including
Physical development
Language and literacy
Math
Science
Creative (the visual and performing arts)
Diversity (social science and history)
Health and safety
How curriculum planning for infants and toddlers is different from planning for older children
Supporting school-aged children’s learning and development in out-of-school time through curriculum planning
Making children’s learning visible through documentation and assessment

This guide is designed for instructors and trainers to support current and future early childhood professionals in basic understanding of guidance philosophies and practices. 

This book has been created for students and all individuals who work with children and families (e.g., educators, parents, caregivers, direct support workers, etc.) in diverse contexts. It is imperative to understand how and what factors may influence child outcomes across the lifespan. Therefore, key concepts related to parenting, child-rearing, care-giving, and parenting education are outlined in this textbook to provide historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives across vast settings and developmental domains.

This course is designed to early childhood education professionals with the knowledge and skills to teach each content area according to the preschool learning guidelines, or state standards. This module as part of the course on the preschool learning experiences will explain each part of the standard and give examples of how to teach the standard within an integrated curriculum. Through presentations, online resources, readings, and assignments students will gain knowledge of the components of each area: mathematics, English language arts, science and technology/engineering, the arts, and health education, and history and social science. The last module will cover the content of the Early Childhood Program Standards and how to incorporate those standards into daily practice.

This text is an attempt to compile the latest information available on how to teach and learn motor skills efficiently and effectively by following brain learning principles.

Early childhood is a critical time in development. Many outcomes, both positive and negative, have their beginnings in these years. It is vital that children’s health and safety be protected. High-quality early care and education programs can play a valuable role in improving outcomes
for children.