Scheme of work
Guided learning hours (GLH): 30
Number of lessons: 15
Duration of lessons: 2 hours
This scheme of work is provided to help you make the most of your planning time. Customise it by adding your own activities/lesson ideas to the ‘Activities’ column.
Lesson / Unit content* / Activities / Links to other units1 / Unit introduction / Teacher/tutor presentation: outline the learning aims for this unit using PowerPoint® or other presentation materials. Include information on the external examination that will be completed at the end of the unit.
Activity (individual):learners to discuss and write a sentence that defines ‘growth’ and a sentencethat defines ‘development’ and feedback ideas to the class.
Teacher/tutor-led discussion:give feedback on learners’ definitions and agree a working definition of the terms ‘growth’ and ‘development’ in relation to the content of this unit.
Learning aim A Understand growth and development in children
1 (cont.) / A.1 Growth:
●Key aspects of children’s growth are changes to physical size, the skeleton, muscles and the brain.
●Children’s height, weight and head circumference are measured to monitor growth, ensuring it is consistent with expected patterns, and to highlight potential issues at an early stage. / Teacher/tutor input: introduce topic using PowerPoint®or other presentation materials.
Activity (paired): learners to discuss the aspects of children’s growth and how these can be measured. Feed back to the group.
Teacher/tutor input: explain that growth is related to physical size, skeleton, muscles and the brain and that children’s height (or length for under twos), weight and head circumference are to be monitored.
Activity (whole group): invite parents with young children to visit the lesson. With the parents’ permission, learners to measure height, weight and head circumference of the children and record results.
2 / A.1 Growth:
●Key aspects of children’s growth are changes to physical size, the skeleton, muscles and the brain.
●Children’s height, weight and head circumference are measured to monitor growth, ensuring it is consistent with expected patterns, and to highlight potential issues at an early stage.
●Children’s growth is plotted on centile charts.
●Growth is determined by heredity, hormones, nutrition, sleep, illness andemotional influences. / Teacher/tutor input:recap growth measurements from week 1 and introduce aims of this session.
Starter activity (whole group): tutor to source appropriate video clips on measuring height and weight from own institution or video-sharing websites and discuss.
Teacher/tutor input: source examples of centile charts online(WHO percentile charts are available from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Explain the purpose of centile charts, using visual references where available.Height/weight/head circumference measurements of children gathered during Lesson 1 activity can be used here for practical illustration.
Activity (paired): learners to note down reasons why children’s growth may be affected. Learners to feed back to the whole group.
Teacher/tutor input: prompt learners to consider any factors that can affect growth (that learners have not thought of). Explain that children’s growth is monitored over time and that if it is outside the normal range it is important for support or treatment to be put in place at an early stage.
Activity (small group): learners to produce posters that show the different factors that determine growth.
Teacher/tutor input: ask learners to bring photographs of themselves at birth–12 months, 12 months–3 years, 3–5 years and 5–8 years to the next session. / Unit 7: Learning aim A, Topic A.2
Unit 4: Learning aim A, Topic A.1
3 / A.1 Development:
Child development is defined as the increasing acquisition of skills and knowledge gained by a child.
●Development should be viewed holistically as children acquire skills at varying rates in different areas of development.
●Developmental norms are sometimes called milestones. They have been determined by looking at data of thousands of children and considering the average or ‘typical’. Using these norms or milestones helps to understand the patterns of development. / Teacher/tutor input: recap the definition of development from week 1 and introduce aims of lesson.
Starter activity (whole group): tutor to source appropriate video clips on child development from birth to 8 years from own institution or video-sharing websites. Ask learners to discuss and identify the main points about child development in the clip(s). Prompt learners to discuss/understand that development varies between children and that development is holistic.
Teacher/tutor input: explain development norms/milestones, how these were developed and how they are used.
Activity (individual): learners to stick photographs of themselves (alternatively teacher/tutor to provide pictures of children at different ages) onto a large sheet of paper and annotate with descriptions of their development at each age. Learners to compare work with a friend and discuss similarities and differences.
Note: if learners bring in their own photos, ensure that consent has been obtained for their display, particularly if other people appear in the images.
Teacher/tutor input:discuss how learners followed the same sequence of development but at different rates (for instance, ask learners when they started to walk and use as an example).
Activity (small group):learners to familiarise themselves with milestones/development charts by researching what a typical 2, 4 and 6 year-old can do.
4 / A.1 Development can be broken down into five areas:
●Gross motor and fine motor physical development is to do with movement – gross or large movement of limbs, developing locomotion, balance and coordination, and fine manipulative movement of fingers developing hand–eye coordination.
●Cognitive development is the way children develop thought processes, perception, memory, imagination and problem-solving, and are able to increase their knowledge and understanding of their environment.
●Communication and language development is the way children communicate and develop speech, including reading and writing.
●Emotional and behavioural development is how children develop feelings and express their emotions through behaviour, and includes the development of self-concept and self-esteem.
●Social development includes how children develop friendships with peers and cooperate with others and become aware of role models. / Teacher/tutor input: recap learning from last session and introduce aims of this session.
Teacher/tutor input: explain that although the different types of development are linked, the milestones are broken down into different ‘areas’ of development.
Starter activity(whole group): learners to give an example of a related milestone for each area of development, including an example of both gross and fine motor skills to cover physical development.
Activity (paired or small group): learners to produce a leaflet for new parents that explains each area of development.
Activity (individual or paired): tutor to provide a suitable case study for learners to work on, describing a child playing. Learners to identify each skill demonstrated by the child in the case study, then identify the related area of development. Finally learners should suggest whether the skill set evidenced by the child in the case study is as expected for their age and feed back to the group.
Activity (small group): learners to take five minutes to discuss ways that social and emotional development may be linked. Ask them to write down three ideas. Ask a representative from each group to share at least one example with the whole group. Explain to learners that they will be looking at links between areas of development in more detail in the next session. / Unit 4: Learning aim A,Topic A.1
5 / A.2 The links between areas of development and how each area may complement each other
Development should be viewed holistically as there are many ways in which areas of development relate to each other. Learners will be expected to explore this concept and the significance of these relationships.
●Language development helps children to understand new concepts and also to play with other children. Children with a language delay may become frustrated and this might affect their behaviour and also their ability to play with others.
●Physical development helps children move to explore their surroundings, learn from new experiences and develop confidence in their abilities.
●Cognitive and language development combine to help children express their thoughts and to develop reading and writing and problem-solving skills.
●Emotional development helps children to develop secure attachments, enabling positive social relationships and friendships to evolve.
●Social development helps children to develop language through playing with others and interacting with adults. / Teacher/tutor input: recap areas of development and introduce aims of session using PowerPoint®or other presentation materials to discuss how areas of development are linked.
Starter activity (paired): introduce learners to the concept that areas of development are interrelated. Learners to discuss how a child’s physical development might support other areas of development.
Activity (individual): tutor to prepare questions for learners to answer in order to consolidate their understanding of the way that areas of development are interrelated. This could be a group question and answer session or used for private study.
Activity (paired): learners to produce development ‘map’ showing potential links between areas of development, with a specific example or explanation of each potential link, and feed back to the whole group.
Teacher/tutor input: lead discussion to explore further links, ensuring that learners have considered each of the links identified in the content for Topic A.2.
Activity (paired):learners to use development map from previous activity and information from the discussion to produce a poster showing ways in which areas of development are related to one another. They should use pictures and illustrations to support their evidence. / Unit 4: Learning aim A,Topic A.1
Learning aimB Understand the characteristics of children’s development from birth up to eightyears
6 / Characteristics of children’s development
Learners must be aware that children can develop at varying rates in different areas of development. They must know the usual sequence and the characteristics of each child development milestone from birth up to eight years.
●Knowledge of the usual sequence in physical (gross and fine motor skills), cognitive, communication and language, emotional and social development.
Birth up to twelve months
(See specification for full unit content for each area of development) / Teacher/tutor input: using PowerPoint®or other presentation materials, introduce Topic B.1 and then introduce aims of session.
Starter activity (small groups):learners to identify when they could first crawl (and how) and walk.
Teacher/tutor input: explain that although children may develop at different rates, they will have gone through the same sequence (e.g. rolling, crawling, walking and running).
Activity (whole group): tutor to source appropriate video clips showing children rolling (aged approximately 6 months), crawling (aged approximately 9 months) and standing (aged approximately 12 months) from own institution or video-sharing websites. Ask learners to watch the clips and suggest what age each child is, giving reasons for their answer.
Activity (small group): tutor to source images of children aged from birth to 12 months, demonstrating different skills; for example, crawling, standing, grasping. Learners to use the pictures, child development books and charts to produce a timeline showing the typical development of a child from birth to 12 months. Learners to feed back to the group.
Activity (small group): organise learners into four groups. Assign each group an area of development: physical (gross and fine motor skills); cognitive; communication and language; emotional and social development. Learners to contribute to the production of a class wall display showing development of children from birth to 12 months. Learners to use information from their timeline. Wall display to include all areas of development.
Activity (individual): learners to capture information about the four areas of development for children aged from birth to 12 months, linking development to specific ages within the age range. This individual record can be added to their course file.
7 / Characteristics of children’s development
Learners must be aware that children can develop at varying rates in different areas of development. They must know the usual sequence and the characteristics of each child development milestone from birth up to eight years.
●Knowledge of the usual sequence in physical (gross and fine motor skills), cognitive, communication and language, emotional and social development.
Twelve months up to three years
(See specification for full unit content for each area of development) / Teacher/tutor input: usingPowerPoint®or other presentation materials, recap development of children from birth to 12 months and introduce aims of session.
Starter activity (individual): learners to note down three skills that a child of 12 months would have developed and feed back to the whole group.
Guest speaker: invite a parent with a child aged 2 to 3 years to come to the class. Ask learners to observe the child as they play. Parent to describe how the child has developed since they were 1 year old. Follow with a question and answer session.
Activity (small group):organise learners into four groups. Assign each group an area of development: physical (gross and fine motor skills); cognitive; communication and language; emotional and social development. Learners toadd information showing development of children from 12 months to 3 years to the class wall display created in the previous session.
Activity (individual): learners to capture information about the four areas of development for children aged from 12 months to 3 years, linking development to specific ages within the age range. This individual record can be added to their course file.
8 / Characteristics of children’s development
Learners must be aware that children can develop at varying rates in different areas of development. They must know the usual sequence and the characteristics of each child development milestone from birth up to eight years.
●Knowledge of the usual sequence in physical (gross and fine motor skills), cognitive, communication and language, emotional and social development.
Three years up to five years
(See specification for full unit content for each area of development) / Teacher/tutor input:usingPowerPoint®or other presentation materials,recap development of children from 12 months to 3 years and introduce aims of this session.
Starter activity (whole group): tutor to source appropriate video clips showing children playing in the foundation years from own institution or video-sharing websites. Learners to identify what is happening with children’s development by the time they are 3 years that enables them to become more inquisitive. Prompt learners to think about their cognitive, language, physical and social and emotional development. (Alternatively learners could discuss the following statement ‘At 3 years, children are becoming more inquisitive and asking questions’.)
Activity (whole group): tutor to source appropriate video clip of a child talking fluently (aged approximately 4 years). Learners to discuss the language development of the child featured. Is (s)he meeting expected milestones? What are the characteristics of his/her language?
Activity (small groups): in the same groups as previous sessions,learners to add information to the class wall display on the development of children between 3 and 5 years.
Activity (individual): learners to capture information about the four areas of development for children aged 3 to 5 years, linking development to specific ages within the age range. This individual record can be added to their course file.
9 / Characteristics of children’s development
Learners must be aware that children can develop at varying rates in different areas of development. They must know the usual sequence and the characteristics of each child development milestone from birth up to eight years.
●Knowledge of the usual sequence in physical (gross and fine motor skills), cognitive, communication and language, emotional and social development.
Five years up to eight years
(See specification for full unit content for each area of development) / Teacher/tutor input:usingPowerPoint®or other presentation materials,recap development of children from 3 years to 5 years and introduce aims of this session.
Starter activity (whole group):learners to take part in group discussion on the skills that children have developed between age 5 and 8 years.
Teacher/tutor input: explain that at this age children have started school (Key stage 1) and are developing many new skills. Give examples, such as:
●gross motor and fine motor movements – riding bicycles and tying laces
●cognitive development – doing simple calculations
●communication and language – asking questions and reading
●emotional and social development – awareness of others’ needs and having close friends.
Activity (paired or small groups): learners to discuss the usual sequence of development of children from 5 to 8 years. Tutor to prepare questions for learners to answer in order to consolidate their understanding of child development (aged 5–8 years). Learners may also benefit from case studies for analysis/comparison.
Activity (small group):in the same groups as previous sessions,learners to complete the class wall display by adding information on the development of children from 5 to 8 years.
Activity (individual): learners to capture information about the four areas of development for children aged 5 to 8 years, linking development to specific ages within the age range. This individual record can be added to their course file.
Learning aimC Understand how adults in early years settings can support children’s development
10 / Learners will be expected to understand that children’s development can be positively influenced by adults in early years settings and that the lack of adult support may lead to delays in development. Learners must be able to recognise why some forms of adult support are age/stage appropriate and be expected to suggest appropriate age/stage support.