Infancy & Early Childhood Development Paper Essay

Infancy as well as early childhood is the actually the foundation of what we will become as an adult. Children are like sponges and will absorbs a much information that you will provide them being through nature or nurture. Parents and guardians are essential key players in making sure a child is not only psysically healthy, but is given all essential development tools to succeed in life. They way we interact with children when they are young as a family unit is very important and influencial that will affect on how they develop. Therefore, it’s crutial that we as parents realize that there is no right or wrong way of raising a child, however, we need to understand what a vital and important role we play in a childs life. How families affect the development of infants and young children When a child is born into this world is only requirement is being loved, staying clean and healthy. Families play a huge role in a child’s development from the moment it enters into this world. As soon as infants come into this world they experience two categories of developmental changes the two categories are experienced-dependent and experience-expectant. â€Å"Early childhood experience is in two categories; experience-dependent (cultural-bound) and experience-expectant (universal) that aid in brain growth (Berger, 2008)†. Experience-expentact is when you involve the nervous system and the brain will develop a certain way where normal cognition is dependent on environmental exposure. In experience-dependent is when a child’s development and cognition reponse is from new experience that he or she will experience throughout their lifetime. A young child’s brain growth is depenet of both of these two categories in order to develop a healthy cognitive and emotional psychological development. Infants progress and sensorimotor intelligence process is formed by knowledge and experienmentation. All children at a young age depending on their age level love to touch, feel, and explorer everything around them. That is why parents and guardians will assist in teach their child through objects and reflecting what the object may be called or do. This is how family members are influence in a child language development. According to Berger (2008), by one an infant can speak about two words, and by the age of  two languages explodes, and at the toddler ages a child capable of speaking in short sentences. Parenting Sytles Parenting styles differ in every family individualy because of their heritage, religion, environment. However, there are three different styles and used by parents they are authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. The authoritarian parent will control the childs environment and evaluate every behavior the child makes with standard rules. If the child does not abide by the rules of the house they will recived some form of punishment. According to Baumrind (1991), these parents are â€Å"status and obedience oriented, and expect rules to be followed without explanation.† For some may thinks this an unfair way of bringing up a child, but for some individuals this just a normal way of pareting. An authoritative parent will have some form of house hold rules but will be a little more democratic and open minded. They are nurturing and will listen to a childs needs and wants and explore option outside the rules and may make an exception. â€Å"Discipline with the authoritative parent is more supportive than punitive, as the parent wants the child to be assertive, socially responsible, self-regulating, and cooperative (Baumrind, 1991). The final parenting stule is permissive which very flexible way of bring up a child. They will consult with the child and make very little demand on the child. This style of parenting will not impact or alter the child, however is more a psychology control. The ultimate goal for the parent is to manipulate the child in your desire results without showing any power or authority. Early Childhood Education and Cognitive Development A child’s cognitive development is highly dependent on intellectual and social stimulation.Early childhood education is typically the first instance in which a child is exposed to a learningatmosphere that is socially stimulating as well as intellectually stimulating. Whether a child is playing with other classmates during recess or practicing the alphabet, he or she is developing ona cognitive level. Young children often play  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœpretend’ activities such as playing house or cooking Infancy and Childhood Development Paper 5without any real food (mud, grass, etc.) These young children are using symbolism to applytheir ‘pretend’ activities to situations that they have witnessed in real life. This process of usinginference to create symbolic activities is just one example of how early childhood education caninfluence a young child’s cognitive development.Children also become more aware of the reactions of others while in an educationalatmosphere. In an educational atmosphere children work closely together when learning newsubjects in the classroom. Most early childhood education programs are heavily interactive andinvolve the communication and collaboration of all students within the classroom. This aspect of early childhood education helps the child develop social skills and also influences the ability torecognize the emotions and reactions of fellow classmates. As a result, the child should begin toacknowledge socially acceptable behaviors versus socially unacceptable behaviors (Seifert,2004).Another important aspect of early childhood education is the distinct differences thatexist between the child’s home environments versus his or her school environment. A child’s parents may be uninvolved, but when they begin early childhood education, the child is exposedto a completely different environment that he or she may not be accustomed to. The child maynot have had the opportunity to develop properly within his or her home environment, but theeducational environment gives the child a chance to grow and develop cognitively and sociallyConclusionThe development of an infant and young child can be quite complex. Every child is borninto a distinct atmosphere and the child must then learn to adjust and adapt to this atmosphere.Some children may be at a disadvantage because of a lack of involvement and attention from Infancy and Childhood Development Paper 6 parents or caregivers. Every parent has his or her own parenting style, which can have asubstantial and lasting impression on the child’s development. As the child begins pre-school or kindergarten, he or she must once again learn to adapt to a new environment apart from their home lives. Within the educational atmosphere children continue to develop socially andcognitively as they begin to interact with classmates and peers on a regular basis. No twochildren develop in the same way. Varying parenting styles, family values, home environments,and educational environments can  have an influence on how a child grows and develops betweeninfancy and early childhood.