The site addresses a variety of topics in early childhood development. The site is helpful to parents and professionals working in the field of early childhood.
全世界的儿童都在使用数字技术。澳洲幼儿协会颁布了关于年幼儿童使用数字技术的声明。其主要观点认为家长和教育者需要做到以下内容:
1.帮助孩子和同伴在集体活动中使用数字技术。数字技术的使用不应成为孤立的体验。
2.鼓励孩子在使用数字技术时注意休息，参与活跃的体育活动，放松双眼。
3.帮孩子养成睡眠常规，注意睡眠期间不接触数字技术。
4.帮助孩子形成网络安全意识，并就网络环境中哪些信息可以共享有所认识。
5.当孩子受到陌生人的邀请时，引导孩子学习如何寻求帮助。
6.选择那些儿童年龄适宜和发展适宜的游戏、应用和内容。
7.和孩子一起讨论他们网络活动的本质，并且始终关注自我保护问题。
欲了解更多信息，请查Statement on young children and digital technologies.
3-7岁儿童几乎不懂那些搜索引擎用以吸引用户和推销商品的策略。更重要的是，他们还不能意识到与网络使用或泄露个人信息相关的风险。
家长需要在孩子还很小的时候就为他们建立网络使用规则，从而抵消这些风险。以下建议来自https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents。
1.严格限制数字设备的使用时间。
2.对于儿童发展适宜的电脑应用特点进行自我教育。
3.监控所有家庭成员的网络使用情况，并让孩子知道这一点。
4.监督孩子在上网时可接触到的信息。
5.和孩子一起玩网络游戏。与孩子共享兴趣有助于建立亲子间的信任感，有助于亲子能长久地就网络安全问题进行讨论。
6.熟悉电脑应用的规则，禁止聊天功能和摄像功能。
7.保存对于孩子来说年龄适宜的电脑应用，限制那些年龄不适宜的电脑应用。
8.确保孩子不会因为操作失误而在网上购买产品或服务。
9，越早与孩子讨论可接受的上网行为越好。告诉孩子可以与成人谈论他们在网上的所见所闻，尤其是一些让他们感觉恼怒、烦扰或者不舒服的事情。
10.用餐时间不要使用数字设备，避免牺牲与家庭成员的互动交往。
11.确保睡前不要使用数字设备，确保孩子在夜晚接触不到数字设备。
How could the outdoor environment be safe so children could enjoy it?
Some factors that need to be considered to ensure a safe outdoor environment are the number of adults supervising the space, the availability of open-ended material, the provision of supervised water play, and the safety of the equipment.
The publication “Learning Outdoors. Benefits/Risks” explores the keys to success for learning in an outdoor environment. The link is:
https://natureplaysa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NPSA-Learning-Outdoors-Benefits-Risks-opt.pdf
The main points are:
• Children will experience different seasons and types of weather and, by doing so, they strengthen their immune system.
• Colds spread through viruses. As long as children dress well for the cold weather, they are not at risk of getting sick. Actually, the outdoor environment will bring fresh air.
• The outdoor environment presents diverse opportunities for exploration which could have consequences for emotional wellbeing as all children can get involved with different levels of engagement, complexity, and satisfaction.
• Children walking outside in different seasons will experience the wet and feel of the ground.
• In the warm and hot weathers, it is important to be sun smart and carry out steps for self-protection.
• Children have sensitive skin and need to use sunscreens to reduce UV exposure. One site that could be visited for details is: https://www.sunsmart.com.au/
These are few points that need to be accounted for an enjoyable experience outdoors.
To achieve learning for all children, where each child could develop cognitive, physical, social, and emotional abilities, the early childhood curriculum needs to be designed with the following parameters in mind:
* Presentation of a concept: Any new concept should be introduced with at least three ways, each focusing on a different sense.
* Type of teaching: Intentional or directed teaching should be planned based on the children’s developmental needs. In addition, the educator should extend the child’s learning experiences as they are naturally occurring.
* Diverse ways to monitor learning: Formative and evaluative assessment should be derived from multiple means of representation. One child might be able to verbally show understanding of a concept, a second child might write, a third child might draw, and a fourth child might act the concept.
By carefully targeting the design, the process, and the monitoring so they include open-ended options, educators could engage children in an enjoyable learning journey.
Suggested reference for further reading:
Dinnebeil, L. A., Boat, M., & Bae, Y. (2013). Integrating principles of universal design into the early childhood curriculum. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 41(1), 3-13.
Reference including in-text citations:
Mehana, M. (2018). Moving forward: Early childhood education in Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. In J. L. Roopnarine, J. E. Johnson, S. Quinn, & M. Patte (Eds.), Handbook of international perspectives on early childhood education (pp. 85-100). New York, NY: Routledge.
Three to seven year old children vaguely understand the tactics used by search engines to attract followers and to promote products. More importantly, they are not able to capture the risks associated with using the internet or disclosing personal information.
Parents need to establish guidelines for internet use very early in order to counteract the risks. Below are some of the recommendations from https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents :
– Apply strict rules about time allowed on the digital device.
– Educate yourself on the characteristics of developmentally appropriate computer applications.
– Monitor the internet usage for all the family members and let the children know that this is happening.
– Supervise what the child is accessing online.
– Participate in online games with the children. Sharing in the child’s interest will facilitate the establishment of trust between the parent and the child and the discussion on e-safety in the long term.
– Familiarise yourself with the guides to computer applications and disable chat functions and cameras.
– Save the computer applications that are age appropriate and block the ones that are not.
– Make sure the child cannot purchase a product or service online by mistake.
– Discuss acceptable behaviours online as early as possible. Ask the children to discuss what they see online with adults especially if something is annoying, disturbing, or makes them uncomfortable.
– Disconnect devices at meal times so they are not active at the expense of socialising with the family members.
– Make sure that the devices are not used prior to bedtime and are not accessible to the child during the night.
Many infants and toddlers are attending childcare. It is important not to think of them as passive learners that just need to eat and sleep during the day.
The first two years of life provide the foundation for later development. Educators and parents need to make optimal use of this period.
To plan activities, Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert (2008) recommend the following:
– Educators need to take into account theories on children’s development as well as the progress of individual children.
– The children’s families and background cultures need to be accounted for in the planning. Children bring different home experiences to the childcare and those experiences need to be used as starting points for planning.
– The plan should help children transition from the earlier activity, include a clear indication on how the children will start engaging with the activity, state the needed material, indicate the expectations upon engagement, and finally specify the transition to the next activity.
– Documentation of children’s learning should start prior to the plan, during the implementation, and after the completion of the activity.
By following clear guidelines, we can ensure that learning is taking place in a positive environment.
To read more, refer to:
Greenman, J., Stonehouse, A., & Schweikert, G. (2008). Prime times: A handbook for excellence in infant and toddler programs (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
双语儿童会说两种语言。这可以是因为在家里家长是说自己的母语，也可以是因为其中的语言是孩子教育的一部分。儿童会根据不同情况语码转换。孩子们需要意识到两种语言之间的区别以及巧用单词才能成功的转换语言。
孩子同时学习两种语言时，应该经常听和接触这两种语言。以帮助孩子，成年人可以向孩子指出各种语言的同义词。儿童可能会在日常交流中混合两种语言的单词。在许多文化中，这是一种公认 的做法，有时候是一种炫耀式的练习方式。
在后期向孩子介绍第二种语言时，他们已对第一种语言培养了一定的能力。孩子们将会观察和聆听其他人所说的话并参与课堂活动。他们不一定主动开启一段对话而是会用单词和简单的词句来回应。
和学习任何技能一样，当孩犯错被羞辱或被劝阻带自己的文化遗产到教室时，孩子会失去尝试学习不同语言的自信也会觉得被排挤。学习多种语言会令生活更丰富因此应该受鼓励。
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2019) issued guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep for children under five years old. A summary of the information in a 24-hour day follows.
| Activity | Infants less than 1 year old | Children/toddlers 1 to 2 years of age | Children 3 to 4 years of age |
| Physical activity | – At least 30 minutes on tummy with unrestricted movement
– Interactive floor based play |
– At least 180 minutes throughout the day including moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity | – At least 180 minutes throughout the day.
– At least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. |
| Restrained movement: Unable to move freely | Not more than one hour at a time | – Not more than one hour at a time.
– No sitting for extended periods of time. |
– Not more than one hour at a time.
– No sitting for more than one hour at a time. |
| Screen time: Passively watching screen-based entertainment | Not recommended | – 1 to 2 years: Not recommended
– 2 to 3 years: No more than one hour |
No more than one hour |
| Good quality sleep
(both night and daytime naps) |
– 0 to 3 months: 14-17 hours
– 4 to 11 months: 12-16 hours |
11-14 hours | 10-13 hours |
Reference:
World Health Organization. (2019). WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. Geneva: Author. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/311664/9789241550536-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
According to Thomas and Chess (1977), children’s temperament can be categorised into three types: Easy, slow to warm up, and difficult children.
The easy child smiles frequently and approaches new toys, situations, faces with a willingness to experiment.
The slow to warm up child looks at new people, toys, and events around and instead of approaching immediately hangs on to an adult and observes the full situation prior to engaging in play or in conversation.
The difficult child looks at any change in routines with caution and is wary of strangers. He/she cries easily and is willing to show a lot of resistance or “stubbornness” when faced with new material, adults, settings, or even small changes in the immediate environment.
The same interface applies to food intake and children’s experimentation with new types of food.
Children display those types unconsciously. However, this could become an issue depending on how the adults react to the child. The caregiver needs to be willing to work with children and to give them the space and time needed to become familiar with new situations and new environments.
Even the easy child could have issues with an overly cautious adult. If scolded for being open, the child will learn to doubt himself or herself.
When children grow up in an understanding environment, they will learn to experiment and to trust themselves and the future.
For further reading, refer to:
Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and development. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
Future Global Children 