Analyze child development theories and best practices in early childhood education.

Analysis may include

• theorists (e.g., Margarethe Schurz, Friedrich Froebel, Patty Smith Hill, Elizabeth Peabody, Margaret McMillan, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, Jean Piaget, Abraham Maslow, Lev Vygotsky, Arnold Gesell, Sigmund Freud, Maria Montessori, Erik Erikson, Lawrence Kohlberg)
• theories on instructional methods
• implications of various theories for child development and child care practices.

Process/Skill Questions:

Thinking

• What is a theory, and how is it validated?
• What are developmental milestones, and how can they help adults understand and support children’s development?
• How do children learn?
• How can play benefit children?

Communication

• When do children form a sense of self, and how do they express it?
• How can an early childhood professional communicate with children with different developmental needs?

Leadership

• What activities promote cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development in in children?

Management

• Why is it important to encourage the use of developmentally appropriate practices when planning instruction?
• How do developmental theories help us understand children?