NCERT Book Class 11 Home Science Care and education

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter the learner is able to.

. state the significance of the periods of infancy and early childhood from the perspective of development.

. explain the need for providing ‘care’ and ‘education’ and the meaning of these terms with reference to early childhood and middle childhood years.

. discuss the nature of education in the early childhood and middle childhood years.

. analyse the factors that interfere in universalising elementary education.

Introduction

All living species take care of their young ones. But did you know that the human infant has the longest period of dependency on adults? There is a correlation between the period of dependency on adult care and the size and complexity of  the brain. The human brain is the most complex and represents the highest end of the spectrum of biological evolution.

In this section we will study why care and education are important during childhood years. We will also reflect upon what is meant by ‘care’ and ‘education.’ You know that the period of childhood is divided into infancy (birth.2 years), ‘early childhood years’ (2.6) years and ‘middle childhood years’ (7.11) years. For the purpose of discussion in this section, we shall consider the period of infancy and early childhood together. The discussion on care and education in middle childhood years is given separately.

Infancy and Early Childhood Years

The significance of the first six years On the basis of research evidence from across the world, we now know that the periods of infancy and early childhood are in many ways the most significant and critical in the life of an individual. Would you like to reflect why this is so, before you read further? Note your  comments in the box and compare them with the discussion which follows.

Box for your comments

Firstly, the rate of development in all areas is the most rapid during these years.

List the various areas of development which you have read about earlier.

You know that the brain controls development in all areas and the rate of brain growth is the fastest in the first two years of life. Research on brain development has shown that while we have all the cells that our brain will ever have at the time of birth, the synaptic connections between these brain cells form rapidly during the first two years. It has been found in research, that the more the synaptic connections, the better the functioning of the individual. Because of the rapid rate of brain development the first six years of life are critical for various areas of development. By ‘critical’ period we mean a time period during which development in a specific area is particularly sensitive to favourable and unfavourable experiences.

Unfavourable experiences such as lack of adequate food, unhealthy living conditions, lack of proper health care, illness, lack of love and nurturance, lack of interaction with adults and stimulating experiences can hinder development to a considerable extent. On the other hand, favourable experiences can foster and enhance development. Can you state what we mean by favourable experiences? An environment where the child gets favourable experiences is also.