Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education

Interacting With Infants

The behavioral state of an infant provides cues to adults as he or she perceives the world. Infants require different kinds of interaction during each of their behavioral states. In the waking activity state, infants tend to be attentive towards the environment and also interact with the caregivers. During this stage, I would interact with the infants with the motive to make them learn about their environment and also the people around them. Moreover; unwrapping the infants, placing them in upright positions and talking to the infants through varied pitch would help his or her learning (Katz & McClellan, 1991).

In a crying state, infants need soothing movements and sounds which can make them relax. I would provide the maximum cuddling and soothing movements to infants in order to make them feel comfortable. In the quiet alert state tends to be the best state of infants. They opt for learning about their environment through their eyes widely opens (McClellan & Katz, 1993). I would provide the maximum opportunity and openness to them in order to explore their new world while making sure about their safety.

Situation with an Infant

Once, I was babysitting my infant niece. She was extremely irritated by something and constantly crying. Her parents were not at home. Eventually after sometime, I became so frustrated that I did not even understand what am I suppose to do in that situation. I was constantly trying to make her calm through various techniques like cuddling her, soothing her and most importantly trying to cheer her up through moving her around the home.

When the parents of my niece came, they immediately took her to the doctor after listening to the whole scenario. She was basically having severe indigestion problem which made her so uncomfortable that she was crying constantly. Now I realize one thing that I could have done differently at that point in time was to examine my niece medically which somehow I did not realized to do.

Peer Relationships

Peer relationships change from infancy through the school years. This change occurs basically due to the exposure children get when they go through their initial school years. At home, infants only interact with their parents, siblings and other immediate caregivers. Moving in the school life provides them an opportunity to interact socially and make new relationships (Leffert, Benson & Roehlkepartain, 1997).

As a child care practitioner, ...