Foundation of Development
Foundation of Development
Every child requires their basic needs to be met in order for learning and development to occur. Basic needs include having access to healthy food, adequate sleep, exercise and plenty of love and affection from the adults in their lives. When these needs are met young children are more able to flourish into adolescence and adulthood.
In addition to having their basic needs met, young children require opportunities to enhance their growth and development across other developmental areas. These areas include:
- Health and Physical Development
- Social and Emotional Development
- Language and Communication
- Cognitive Development
As learning occurs, through spontaneous play and socialization, you are nurturing their areas of development. Each developmental area interacts in an important way so that achievement in one area results in growth in another area. For example, once a child begins to walk (physical development) and explore their environment, the child is exposed to new experiences that can enhance cognitive (brain) and language development. Likewise, when a child experiences developmental delay in one area, others areas are also impacted.
As parents and caregivers, our goal is to provide positive experiences that will support growth and development in all developmental areas. As a result, we are nurturing the WHOLE CHILD.
The following diagram provides an illustration of how all developmental areas interact to encourage overall development. Click on the blue buttons in the diagram for definitions of each developmental area.
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