Title: Plan strategies to enhance children’s physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development.
Course: Child Development and Parenting (19255-18) > Section: Evaluating Parenting Practices that Maximize Human Growth and Development

Planning should include

- listing reasons that play is important to children
- using face-to-face communication
- listing the different types/stages of play (e.g., parallel play)
- identifying and describing developmentally appropriate toys for toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children in terms of their benefits to child development
- explaining the importance of reading to children
- recognizing and supporting emergent literacy skills
- identifying and describing books appropriate to different ages and interests in terms of their benefits to child development
- identifying and describing developmentally appropriate curriculum choices (e.g., Creative Curriculum, High/Scope)
- teaching socially acceptable behaviors
- regulating involvement with electronic technology (e.g., Internet, TV)
- engaging children in activities that stimulate all areas of the brain (frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, cerebellum)
- taking children on enriching educational and/or social outings
- planning ways to include children with special needs.

Process/Skill Questions

Thinking

- What are the purposes of play for children?
- What criteria should be used to evaluate toys?
- What factors determine the appropriateness of books for toddlers, for preschoolers, and for school-age children?
- Why is early childhood considered the most important period for brain development?

Communication

- What is the importance of communication during play?
- When should caregivers or parents join their children at play?
- What can children learn about communication during play?

Leadership

- What does a parent need to believe about play in order to nurture a child's development?
- Why is it important for children to experience variety in the pattern and forms of play?
- How should parents decide what activities are appropriate for their children?

Management

- What is the function of television or other media in terms of children's play? How does television both stimulate and inhibit a child's imagination? How can parents regulate the quality of television and media watched by children?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of screen time for children of different ages? Why should parents limit children's screen time?