Question

1. What kinds of behaviours might alert an early childhood educator to the possibility that a child could be developing more slowly than typical? What are some practical things to remember when working with the child?

Answer 1

There will be cognitive delays in the child and he or she will face difficulty in learning new things. Due to such cognitive problems, the child will also have problem in communicating and playing with other people which is usually not seen in children with normal growth. There is slow brain development due to which they may receive and react to a particular information differently as compared to children of their age. These are some of the behaviours that an early educator might see in a child who is growing slowly.

Some practical things to remember when working with the child are:

1. They want complete attention. Children need the entire attention of the caretaker. They need to be pampered and feel loved. This will help them to grow fully and trust people later in life.

2. They should be engaged in different activities. This will allow their creative side to grow.

3. Make sure to repeat the behaviour that you want the child to adopt. Repeatation will help the child to learn.

4. Positive reinforcement can be helpful. Sometimes, when children are rewarded for doing a task successfully, it motivates them to do it again.