You will develop an understanding of physical growth and development of the child from birth to 8 years old. In addition you will also look at cognitive development including intellectual understanding and speech development and the factors that will influence this both positively and negatively. Emotional and social development will be studied including theories including ego and attachment theory. Speech, language and communication, both verbal and non-verbal will be studied in depth to help you gain an understanding of how children can be helped to develop language skills in a wide range of situations. This might be looked at in a work based environment. Literacy and numeracy are essential parts of this element of the work and you might study children or develop resources which will help children to gain these skills. Learning through play is an essential part of a child's development; you will learn about different theoretical perspectives of learning, studying advocates such as Piaget and Froebel. You will look at a range of approaches to play such as what Montessori schools have to offer. You will study and evaluate the use of different types of play and the impact that this has on the child
