"Technology in early childhood education"

Child development refers to the biological and physhological changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy. Because these developmental changes may be strongly influenced by genetic factors and events during prenatal life, genetics and prenatal development are usually included as part of the study of child development. Related terms include, developmental psyshology referring to development throughout the lifespan, and pediatrics, the branch of medicine relating to the care of children. Developmental change may occur as a result of genetically-controlled processes known as maturation, or as a result of environmental factors and learning, but most commonly involves an interaction between the two, it may also occur as a result of human nature and our ability to learn from our environment. Human beings have a keen sense to adapt to their surroundings and this is what child development encompasses.

Social and emotional development is very important for the growth of healthy young children. These skills may even be more important than the development of intellectual skills. When talking about children’s readiness for kindergarten, it was once said, “If a child is mad and sad, they can not add”!

The child’s ability  to control his or her emotions and the ability to socialize and interact appropriately with others is a key developmental stage needed before a child is ready to set in a classroom ready to focus and attend to the task of learning.

There are many things parents can do to help teach social-emotional skills.

• Catch your child doing things that are positive! Be sure to let them know their behavior pleases you. Children need to hear when they are doing things well.

• Take time to play with your child each day. Do activities you both enjoy such as reading books together, playing games, singing, or talking and walking together. Play is child’s work — that is how they learn.

• Find ways for your child to play with others his or her age.

Language development is a process starting early in human life, when a person begins to acquire language by learning it as it is spoken and by mimicry. Children's language development moves from simple to complex. Infants start without language. Yet by four months of age, babies can read lips and discriminate speech sounds. The language that infants speak is called babbling.

Usually, language starts off as recall of simple words without associated meaning, but as children grow, words acquire meaning, with connections between words being formed. As a person gets older, new meanings and new associations are created and vocabulary increases as more words are learned.

Infants use their bodies, vocal cries and other preverbal vocalizations to communicate their wants, needs and dispositions. Even though most children begin to vocalize and eventually verbalize at various ages and at different rates, they learn their first language without conscious instruction from parents or caretakers. In fact research has shown that the earliest learning begins in utero when the fetus can recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mother's voice.

 

Cognitionh and general knowledge: Children nees opportunities to interact with the people and objects in their environment, and to learn from their surrounding. 

Approaches toward learning: Children can be successful learners in many different ways. By understanting the predispositions and learning styles that influence a child's response to learning opportunities, adults can encourage and increase engagemt.

what research says about  technology and child development: There is a substanntial body of research on tecchnology use with young children. A large portion of this research focuses on the use of computers to enhance social, lenguage, and cognitive.