Community Child Development Center Proposal

Community Child Development Center Proposal

PSY 104

Community Child Development Center Proposal

There are 5 phases of development; infant, toddler, early childhood, middle/late childhood, and adolescence. At each stage, the child develops and cultivates cognitive and socioemotional skills beginning with necessary reflexes and advancing to complex sensory and motor skills in the infant stage of development from birth to 2 years old. Large motor skills and muscle groups begin to develop during the toddler stage from 3 to 5 years of age. With early childhood at ages 6 thru 7, children continue to refine and improve their gross motor skills and are can now run without falling and can begin playing team sports. Both boys and girls have growth spurts in middle/late childhood and experience puberty between ages 8 to 14. During the adolescence ages of 13 to 18, reproductive organs mature and develop preparing their young bodies to reproduce. How the brain is cultivated by nutritional and experiential stimulation is highly influential on the physical and cognitive development during this crucial time of maturation. Each room of the Community Child Development Center will have a specific intention of enhancing children’s development at each stage of growth.

ROOM #1 – Infant Room

Infants need space where they can be laid on their stomachs and backs unrestricted and room to roll around and play which promotes muscle development. They also require safe and brightly colored objects to grasp, squeeze, and stretch for attentive and interacting caregivers who understand the importance of physical activity at this stage of development to help stimulate cognitive and psychosocial growth in the class. The first activity would be mat time, an exercise that incorporates gross motor skills, muscle development, and their personality.

• During Mat time the child will be placed on a comfortable and clean mat where the caregiver will put items just out of the child’s reach and encourage the child to reach for them. During this one on one session, the caregiver will play peek-a-boo and hide and seek, allow the baby to crawl around on its mat, and foster head movements. Hide and seek is another game that we will use to teach the concept of object permanence. We will teach your child about the concept of object permanence by playing with their favorite toy and hiding it behind our back or under a blanket.

• Peek-a-boo is an example of the cephalocaudal principle in action. According to Mossler, R. (2014), “a child gain controls over their head and neck before mastering their extremities. A child can hear and see well before walking or waving goodbye.” (5.1) Helping the child gain control of his head, allows the child to advance to the arms and legs and speeds up their development.

• Peek-a-boo and hide and seek helps the baby to understand that when something goes away, it still exists and will come back. The baby to crawling and reaching for objects develops motor development skills and encourage physical development in infants by giving them room to stretch, squirm, and kick.

Following mat time will be audio and visual stimulation time, which will stimulate the child’s hearing and strengthen their eyes.

Object permanence is an important achievement in an infant’s cognitive development. Mosser 2018, defines it as “an infant’s ability to understand that people and objects continue to exist when they aren’t visible.” (Sensorimotor Stage) Hide and seek is one game that we use to teach the concept of object permanence. We will teach your child about the concept of object permanence by playing with their favorite toy and hiding it behind our back or under a blanket. The child’s natural response is to cry out for the toy that has vanished before their eyes. Once the child has acknowledged that the object is gone, by crying in most cases, bring the item back into his sight and they will begin to understand the idea.

• Brightly colored pictures and objects will be moved back and forth I front of the baby and moved out of site. This exercise will force them to track the object with their eyes and force them to focus at different distances. Caregivers will also sing lullabies and play diverse types of music for the baby as well as provide rattles and toys that make noise to allow the child to make their own music along with the music being played.

• The Audio and visual station is an example of the cephalocaudal principle in action. It still puts strengthening the head before the extremities. Piaget’s formal operations are also in play as children gain perceptive at this age, through sensory impressions and motor activities. Infants start by exploring their own bodies and senses.

• This activity enhances physical and cognitive abilities by forcing them to track the object with their eyes and to focus at different distances. It also gives the child an opportunity to use their imagination and develop problem solving skills.

Tummy time mats will be available for each child.

• Tummy time mats will be clean, soft, and large enough for the baby to crawl, kick, and rollover. It will also have a canopy that makes it possible to hang items just out of the reach of the child and encourage reaching for the hanging items.

• Allowing the baby to strain and stretch for the dangling articles is an example of the Proximodistal Theory. Mossler (2014), explains that “children grow from the inside out, they will use their arms to balance themselves and to reach for the items hanging from the mats before they can use their hands and fingers to manipulate the toy.” (5.1) The infant’s first motor movements are very undefined, purposeless, knee-jerk reactions, and spontaneous. This activity fine tunes those large muscle movements like flapping their arms and kicking to refined muscle movements, being able to reach for and grasp an object.

Infants are entirely dependent on those that care for them. Having competent caregivers that understand the importance of physical activity for the baby is very important at this stage of development. Babies bodies are ever changing, and sensory and perceptual skills develop rapidly. To that point, having the necessary equipment in place to provide an environment that promotes the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of our children. Incorporating health and well-being into the infant room will give our children a decided advantage, and a head start on becoming healthy, active, and functional adults.

ROOM #2 – Toddler Room

The toddler room would be filled with toys and games that model life (cooking, puppets, and working with tools), encourage object manipulation and be a fall-friendly obstacle course for climbing, running, and jumping. Toddlers have a never-ending supply of energy, and that’s perfect for continuous and repetitive movement of developing muscle groups. The mind of a toddler is a blank canvas and has a short attention span, games like red light, green light and duck, duck, goose help kids to master movement patterns and physical skills relative to their environment.

• The first activity is ‘Free Play’. It will give kids free range to explore, run, jump, on the obstacle course. Move from station to station engaging in a variety of gross and fine motor skill refining activities while being supervised by caregivers that allow independence and self-exploration. The child choosing what activity interests them the most ensures engagement and maximizes effectiveness.

• Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial development, he believed “humans are both formed and challenged by the environment, and the goal of each stage of development was to prepare you to deal with the conflict of the next stage,” Mosser, R. 2014.

• Children will be able to play with small ovens and pretend to make and eat their favorite foods. Workbenches that allow them to bang with hammers and twist with screwdrivers enhancing fine motor skills.

The second activity will allow the kids to move from station to station engaging in a variety of gross and fine motor skill refining activities while being supervised by caregivers that allow independence and self-realization.

• There will be a puppet station, a cooking station, a building station, and a game station.

• The Independence of systems theory states that “everyone’s body system is different and will mature and grow at different rates. Physical development is dependent on an individual’s level of maturation but is also governed by their environment.” Mossler, R. (2014).

• These activities enhance the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development of the child at their pace, giving ample stimulation without overwhelming the child.

The room will have no sharp objects, and padded everything, from the floors to the walls will be cushioned and child safe. This will remove the fear of falling and injury and allow the child to explore and be aloof as they gain better control of their extremities. Padded steps for climbing, ropes for swinging and jumping, and running will be modeled, displayed, and encouraged for all no matter their level of physical development. All supervised by attentive and positive caregivers that understand the importance of fostering an environment that promotes the child fine tuning gross and fine motor skills.

The Play Room

• The room will be open, colorful, and totally child safe environment with all varieties of music being pumped in thru the rooms audio system.

• The theory of the independence of systems is used to develop at his pace with no judgment or competition.

A child’s development is a continuous process. Providing chances to practice new skills during this early and crucial stage of development can foster healthy growth and accelerated development of gross and fine motor skills. It also gives the child an active foundation does build from going forward in their progression thru childhood. Obesity is an issue that is common in children and is a problem that affects them thru adulthood. Instilling good workout habits and eating habits at this early age translates into making better choices and a healthier lifestyle as an adult.

ROOM #3 – Early Childhood Room

The early childhood stage of development is a point in a child’s life where nutrition is extremely important to their development. The child’s muscles and bones need proper nourishment, exercise, and stimulation in this growing stage to develop appropriately. At this stage, the child’s arms and body become more proportionate to their head. The brain experiences tremendous growth as it increases to 90% of its full adult size, and motor skills continue to develop increasing their precision, accuracy and concentration.

• This room will have open space where team sports can be learned and played. (basketball, football, soccer, gym hockey)

• Team sports incorporates the independence of systems theory and allow children to physically and emotionally develop at their pace.

• Team sports teach honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect for themselves and others, adherence to rules, and how to handle competition and how to manage winning and losing.

According to the CDC 2018, “the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has tripled since the 70’s and 1 in 5 children age 6 to 19 Body Mass Index at or above the 95th percentile.” (Childhood Obesity Facts) Addressing nutrition and physical activity in schools doesn’t single anyone out and helps children get and stay at a healthy weight and promotes and advocates for better attitude about their weight and overall health. Involving parents, caregivers, and other community members not only makes everyone aware of standards and goals but promotes and supports health-enhancing behaviors for students of all ages.

Building Zones

The second activity will include Behavior Building Zones or stages, where kids will able to observe the behavior others form a clear picture of and model what response is expected. Then the child will be given the opportunity to imitate or demonstrate the behavior before being motivated to repeat the action and finally rewarded for exhibiting the behaviors.

• Sharing and healthy eating stations, 3D building blocks stations, finger puppets, and dolls and action figure will be used in this room. We will allow our older “early childhood stage kids, those just entering this stage of development to be paired with an accomplished mentor who is familiar with and understand the principles and behaviors being displayed. This practice will allow the experienced child to model the expected actions of the newcomer.

• These activities are based off Albert Bandura’s theory of observational learning incorporating observation, imitation, and modeling to how children learn and Piaget’s Cognitive Theory adapting previously learned schemes to new situations to enhance child development.

• Healthy growth and proper development of children depends on a healthy lifestyle. Children need exercise to strengthen their body and stimulate their mind. It is very important for children to get proper nutrition and a balanced diet during their growing years, for proper muscle and bone development.

ROOM #4 – Middle/Late Childhood Room

As children continue to learn new things, their abilities, skill levels, and focus improve. Attention span, concentration, and memory capacity increase as well and allow quicker processing of information and stimulants. Children are also able to understand concepts from different points of view and being rewarded for completing goals and activities. Offering praise and encouragement can reinforce desired behaviors and instill intrinsically motivated behaviors in kids creating positive emotions within the child and fostering repetition of the desired responses. Exposure to diverse types of interests in learning and cultivating a variety of personal motives, enhance the interactions between motivation and cognitive constructs for their benefit.

• Hand-held technology, puzzles, games, and a non-fear-based environment will be used to assign students challenging but attainable goals designed to increase self-confidence, independence, promote self-motivation, self-direction, and self-discipline. Stations will have reward-based incentives and helping peers will be encouraged. While working with other is its motivation, when a child can teach another a new skill or concept, he has indeed mastered it.

• These activities based off B. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning learning theory, state that, “whenever a behavior is reinforced it is likely to be repeated; whenever a behavior is not reinforced (or ignored) it is likely to die out,” (Mossler, 2014).

• This activity enhances physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development by shaping behavior by rewarding each step made toward reaching the final goal.

The Fitness Challenge

The second activity will be the fitness challenge. All results will be recorded, documented, and saved to show the individual progression of each child. At each new level achieved they will be rewarded and presented their progress. The fitness challenge will be mostly callisthenic exercise with foreign language and reading challenges used as breaks between events. Each child will be assigned a number that will conceal their identity and eliminate pressure and insecurity.

• Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, burpees, timed sprints, video games, and broad jump.

• Skinners theory that reward and praise of an action foster repetition of the action are used to instill in intrinsic motivation for healthy and active lives.

• Rewarding the kid’s effort and hard work enhances physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development by reinforcing their self-gratification and emphasizing their progression.

The Blackboard

There will be a massive chalkboard where results and progress are posted for review. It will have space for times, results, and motivational comment from instructors. It will show your progress towards your next incentive(prize) to level up by completing the necessary tasks.

• Sizeable blackboard with excel sheet like rows and columns for results.

References:

CDC, Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Childhood Obesity Facts https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

Mossler, R. (2014). Child and adolescent development (2nd ed.). [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/