Understanding the Elementary School Child (Set of 3 Books)

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About the Book

Book 1: Guiding Children: Role of Teachers and Parents

Book 2: Principles and Factors in Child Development

Book 3: Dimensions of Development

Book 1: Guiding Children: Role of Teachers and Parents

This is the first block in first course of the programme - CERTIFICATE IN GUIDANCE (CIG). Here? an attempt has been made to present the wholistic view of guidance, specifically in relation to the function of education. The block as a whole emphasizes the prominent role of teachers and parents and their interaction in the physical, cognitive, social and. emotional development of children.

This block consists of two units - Introduction to Guidance and Role of Parents and Teachers in Guiding Children.

In the first unit, i.e., Introduction to Guidance, the meaning of guidance and need for guidance at the elementary school have been discussed. A brief explanation is included on the testing techniques of collecting information regarding children. Some of the techniques like sociometric devices, autobiography, rating scales, anecdotal records have been introduced with suitable illustrations as means of gathering information about children. The guidance activities that can be organized without much difficulty have been suggested.

The second unit, i.e., Role of Parents and Teachers in Guiding Children, focuses on' understanding of physical, health, social-emotional needs and problems of elementary' school children. The 'need for co-operation between parents and teachers has been' emphasized for better understanding of the child. The place of home and school in facilitating the all-round development of a child has also been highlighted.

Book 2: Principles and Factors in Child Development

This Block consists of three units: Profile of an Elementary School Child, Principles of Development, and Factors Affecting Development. The first Unit gives a general picture of the elementary school child and the various aspects of development such as cognitive, social, emotional, language, physical and motor development This Unit also gives a brief explanation of the concept of development in relation to the human life. The details of different aspects of development come in later units.

Each aspect of the development deals with the development of the specific characteristic in the child and each of these aspects have their own characteristic features and patterns. Yet, each of these aspects follows a pattern or certain principles which are common to all. These principles are elaborated in the unit oil Principles of Development.

The unit on the Factors Affecting Development tells us of the different factors affecting the child's development in general. The factors are categorised as hereditary factors. pre-natal factors and environmental factors.

These three units together are to be seen as the unifying forerunners required to understand the units to follow in the subsequent Blocks.' The information of the Principles of Development and Factors 'Affecting Development are essential in understanding the specific development of-different aspects of development (cognitive. language, physical. motor. social and so on). The learner will be required to integrate the knowledge of these units in understanding the later units.

Book 3: Dimensions of Development

Block three consists of three units that deal with physical and motor development, cognitive. and language development, and social, emotional and moral development. Unit 6, which : is on Physical and Motor Development, discusses the characteristics of physical ; development, mainly focusing on height, weight, physical proportions, bones, muscles, fat 'and development of teeth. Further, it discusses the factors affecting this development and its influence on personality. The discussion on motor abilities and skills includes the development of prehension and handedness.

An attempt has been made in Unit 7 on Cognitive and Language Development to discuss a few basic ideas related to developmental stages as propounded by Piaget. It emphasizes the first three stages of cognitive development, distinguishing between the factors that characterize early and later stages of cognitive development. It also describes the language development and distinguishes between the early and later stages of language development. It highlights the interrelationship between the· cognition and language. A discussion has also been made on multilingualism and factors affecting language development.

Unit 8 discusses Social, Emotional and Moral Development in children. It highlights interrelationships among them through presentation of cases. An analysis of the case lets presented offers an interesting beginning point in understanding the features of social, emotional and moral development among children. It also discusses in detail the patterns of development in these domains. The discussion is on the role of parents and teachers, and the kind of the role models that they provide to children, which influence these aspects of development. It further discusses, the kind of inputs that they ought to provide in the form of activities, which will help them in promoting a balanced development of these in children.

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