Children amaze me daily.

They are curious about their surroundings and can be taught to

have a love of learning. Children are active learners. They learn through hands-on experiences
and play. Every child learns at their own speed, regardless if they are developing typically,
atypically, or have exceptionalities. Children need an environment that encourages exploration of
their surroundings and that supports their development.
There are many factors to consider when supporting their learning. There is no cookiecutter way to teach a child. If we teach this way, we will fail. Every child has their own learning
style. We need to offer concepts in more than one form so that every child can learn it. Teachers
need to encourage learning through the childs interests and things they excel in. Using the
childs interests will help foster development in areas that the child may be having challenges in.
Banduras social learning theory and Skinners operant conditioning are important because
children learn through modeling, imitation, and observational learning that occur in social
settings. Children learn by positive and negative reinforcements. Behaviorism theory has been
used to relieve a wide range of serious developmental problems, such as persistent aggression,
language delays, and extreme fear (Berk, 2012, p. 18). A teachers role is to help guide the child
through positive reinforcements. We need to help the child feel confident in their abilities to
meet the cognitive aspects of a classroom as well as the social aspects. Children will rise to the
expectations set for them if they feel supported and loved. We need to set the classroom
community up the first day of class that way every student learns that they are needed and
wanted. This will help peers to get along, but also help them be able to solve conflicts as they
arise. Teachers need to be nearby so that they can support the developments that are happening
in the classroom.

To help children scaffold their learning, teachers need to use Vygotskys zone of
proximal development. This will help individualize the learning for each student and meet them
where they are developmentally and foster their development to the next level. Understanding
Piagets stages of cognitive development theory help teachers know how children develop
through stages so that we can support their learning. Childrens minds consist of rich structures
of knowledge that are built upon through their experiences and environment (Berk, 2012, p. 20).
Asking open-ended questions is a great way to help children learn how to think deeper and foster
that development. Teachers need to teach the whole child. To be able to do that, we need to look
at the outside environments that effects the childs development. Bronfenbrenners ecological
system ties everything together, all of the environments that impact a childs development and
how they intertwine together. It starts with the closest environments to the child and work its
way out. This is important to consider as an educator because it is the best way that we can teach
the whole child. Where the child spends their days impacts their development and how they will
develop. This system is bio ecological because the childs biology is also impacted by the
environments (Berk, 2012, p. 26).
Children are developing physically, cognitively, and socially. It can be challenging, at
times, but they are so worth the effort because they will surprise us by how much they develop
every time.