Promote Child and Young Person Development

Unit 2: Promote child and young person development

      1.1 When assessing a child’s development many factors need to be taken into account. First of all you should account for circumstantial factors such as if the child is tired, ill or what their friends are doing at the time, they may not try as hard, therefore, it could be marked that they are not developing in a certain area when really they just didn’t want to take part that day. Also, home problems should be taken into account when assessing a child. If the family are having problems, there has been bereavement or there’s been a birth of a sibling, this can affect a child’s behaviour and often can make a child regress.
Another thing to think about when assessing development is the phrase, “stages not ages”. It is more important to assess if a child is following the expected pattern of development rather than where they should be at their age because the ages are just guidelines so unless a child is very far over the age there is no need to worry. It is important to consider a child’s ethnicity and culture as a child living in an area different to their own ethnicity and culture may be discriminated against or may feel different to others and feel like they do not fit in. If a child feels like this they will have low self-esteem which will keep them back from joining in and developing the same as others. Also, if a child’s family life is different to that of a ‘normal family’ they may be discriminated against and may not be provided the same opportunities as others, such as if they live in poverty or are travellers. These children may feel under-valued which will affect their attitude to learning. Also disability and additional needs need to be taken into account and when assessing a child with a disability it is important to assess their development and progress rather than compare the child to others who do not have a disability and may find the task easier. Having a disability could also give a child...