STUDY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW CHILDREN THINK AND WHY THEY BEHAVE THE WAY THEY DO
- A 60
0 hour course internationally recognized through I.A.R.C.
- This certificate is focused for parents and carers and people wanting to or already are working with children as well as anyone wanting to develop skills for a career in childcare.
- This certificate is comprised of SIX 100 hour modules: Play Leadership, Introduction to Psychology, Child Psychology, Children's Writing, Children's Nutrition, Park and Playground Design I.
Duration: 600 hours
Module Descriptions:
Module 1: Play Leadership
There are ten lessons in this course, plus one special project, covering the following:
- Understanding Play
To explain the purpose of play in the cognitive, physical and social development of a child.
- Leadership Skills
To determine the skills required to carry out a play leadership role in different situations.
- Planning Play Programs
To develop a plan for a supervised children's play program.
- Child Development through Play
To develop a basic understanding of the impact of play upon the psychological development of a child.
- Play Safety
To determine appropriate measures to take to protect a child's safety when at play, while minimising any interference which might diminish the quality of the play experience.
- Physical Play
To develop an understanding of options for physical play activities, including games and sports, in a supervised play program.
- Social Play
To develop an understanding of options for social play activities, in a supervised play program.
- Adventure Play
To develop a basic ability to plan, establish and manage a supervised adventure playground.
- Play Apparatus
To develop an ability to evaluate a range of different play apparatus, including playground structures, toys, sports equipment, commenting on quality, safety features, appropriate applications and cost benefit.
- Activities
To broaden your scope of opportunities that can be offered for children to play, appropriate to a wide range of different situations.
Special Project
Module 2: Introduction to Psychology
There are seven lessons in this course, as follows:
- The Nature & Scope of Psychology
- Neurological Basis of Behaviour
- Environmental Effects on Behaviour
- Consciousness And Perception
- Personality
- Psychological Development
- Needs, Drives And Motivation
Aims
- Explain the nature and scope of psychology.
- Explain characteristics of the neurological basis of behaviour.
- Explain environmental effects on behaviour.
- Explain the differences between consciousness and perception.
- Explain the effect of personality on behaviour.
- Explain psychological development.
- Apply different techniques to motivate people.
Module 3. Child Psychology
There are 12 lessons in this module, as follows:
1. Introduction to Child Psychology
2. The Newborn Infant
3. States & Senses of the Infant
4. Learning
5. Emotions and Socialisation
6. Cognitive Development
7. Language Development
8. Intelligence
9. Socialisation – Part A
10. Morality
11. Sexuality
12. Socialisation – Part B
Module 4. Children’s Writing
There are ten lessons as follows:
Introduction: Understanding Children, their thoughts, needs, development.
Overview of Children's Writing: Categories (fiction & non fiction), understanding the market place; analyse & understand what is needed for the different categories, etc.
Conceptualisation: Conceiving a concept…where & how to find inspiration/influence. Developing a concept … how to plan.
Children's Writing for Periodicals: Children's pages in magazines, newspapers, etc.
Short Stories
Non-Fiction: Texts (writing to satisfy curriculum. Other (eg. nature, history, biography, hobbies).
Fiction: settings, characterisation, fantasy, science fiction, adventure.
Picture Books and Story Books
Editing your work: Grammar, spelling & punctuation. Improving clarity. Cleaning out clutter; expansions.
Project - write a short story, picture book or kids' page for a (hypothetical) periodical.
Module 5. Children's Nutrition
There are 10 lessons in this module as follows:
1. Introduction to Child Nutrition
2. Nutrition for Pre-Pregnancy
3. Nutrition in Pregnancy
4. Nutrition in Infants
5. Nutrition in Childhood
6. Nutritional Concerns
7. Healthy Eating Behaviours
8. Issues in Child Nutrition
9. Childhood Obesity
10. Diet Plans
Aims
- Discuss the nature and scope of developing nutrition for children according to their backgrounds and needs.
- Explain the various nutritional needs of the mother and father before pregnancy .
- Explain the various nutritional needs of the mother and child during pregnancy.
- Explain various nutritional needs of infants from birth to age two.
- Explain various nutritional aspects of growing children addressing various issues and concerns.
- Identify concerns in the diets of children and adolescents and overcoming them.
- Lists ways to encourage healthy eating behaviour in children.
- Explain some of the common issues such as food sensitivities in childhood nutrition.
- Explain causes and guidelines to overcoming childhood obesity.
- Develop a list diet outlines for healthy children and special diet plans for children with special nutritional needs.
Module 6. Playground Design
There are 8 lessons as follows:
- Overview of Parks & Playgrounds
- Playground Philosophy
- Preparing a Concept Plan
- Materials
- Park & Playground Structures and Materials
- Local and Neighbourhood Parks
- Community Participation In Park Development
- Special Assignment
Aims
- Determine the procedure to plan a park development, including a playground and other facilities.
- Prepare a concept plan for a park or playground.
- Assess the design of park components, including materials and equipment used in parks and playgrounds.
- Determine appropriate design characteristics for a local or neighbourhood parks.
- Determine legal implications involved in the design of a playground.
- Design facilities to cater for movement throughout a park or playground.
- Manage appropriate community participation in development of a park or playground.
What you may do this course
- Explain how an understanding of play theory can be applied to the design of a playground.
- Explain how the concept of recreational planning may influence the design of a specified park.
- Determine factors which distinguish park design from home garden design.
- Compare different planning processes used for developing designs for public landscapes, including: advocacy planning, strategic planning and community participation.
- Evaluate the functional depreciation of a specified playground over a period of at least ten years.
- Explain the significance of demographic considerations on park design, in a specific locality.
- Evaluate the designs of two different established parks, and two established playgrounds, visited by you.
- Develop a brief for a park plan, through an interview with management of a specific site.
- Collect preplanning information for a proposed park design; through surveying the site and interviewing both managers of the site, and intended users of the site.
- Develop three alternative concept plans for a proposed park development; in accordance with a real design brief, either prepared by you with a client, or obtained as a brief for a job being put to tender.
- Compare three alternative concept plans in an interview with a client, or prospective client, for a proposed park development; recording the interview session on audio tape.
- Describe the design features of four different items of outdoor furniture intended for use in parks and playgrounds.
- Compare the suitability of different barriers, including bollards, fences, plantings and walls, used in three different parks and/or playgrounds; visited and inspected by you.
- Assess the design of garden constructions inspected by you in a childrens playground.
- Compare various ground surfacing materials in terms of their application in park or playground design.
- Explain design considerations for earth forming, in a specific park and playground.
- Design a park plan for a specified site of 1,000 to 10,000 square metres, incorporating a themed play area.
- Prepare a costing for the construction of a themed play area, designed by you.
- Determine appropriate design criteria for the use of water in playgrounds.
- Determine appropriate functions for neighbourhood parks.
- Determine inappropriate functions for a neighbourhood park.
- Analyse two neighbourhood parks by both; surveying users and observing users.
- Recommend design modifications for a surveyed neighbourhood park.
- Explain the significance of danger to the childrens learning experience.
- Determine how two different specific playground designs have been influenced by concerns about legal liability.
- Conduct a legal risk analysis of a playground which has been established for more than ten years.
- Develop guidelines for minimising legal liability in playground design, for an authority responsible for a specific playground.
- Prepare a concept plan for a "specialist trail" in a park, such as; a fun and fitness trail, a cycle path or an environmental interpretation trail, following design standards in the industry.
- Determine factors which impact on the success of a park/playground development which involves community participation.
- Analyse community attitudes to a park or playground development, which has used community participation, by either: * survey * discussion with local Parks Department management.
- Explain how to promote community involvement in park development in a way which will optimise the chance of success.
- Determine a procedure to involve a community in the development of a park/playground facility, on a site visited by you.
Want to find out more about child development?
Do you want to improve your job and career prospects?
Do you want to study while you work or care for children?
Then this distance learning Child Care Certificate could be the one for you.
Enrol now and start learning more about children and how they think!
