本文是教育专业的留学生Essay范例，题目是“Biological Factors that Affect a Child's Development（影响儿童发展的生物因素）”。在产前期间，有许多生物因素会影响孩子的发育。 有许多环境因素会损害胎儿并干扰健康发育。 在早期，发展侧重于涉及身体成长的快速和持续的变化。 良好的营养成为这一发展领域的关键组成部分，我们还发现个人需要达到的许多运动里程碑。 认知和社会发展也将在这一时期发挥基础性作用，像皮亚杰这样的理论家就这些领域提出了某些阶段的建议。
During the prenatal period there are many biological factors that can affect the child’s development. There are many environmental factors that can damage the fetus and interfere with a healthy development. In the early years, development focuses on fast and constant changes involving physical growth. Good nutrition becomes a key component in this area of development and we also find many motor milestones that the individual will need to achieve. Cognitive and social development will also play a fundamental role in this period and theorists like Piaget have suggested certain stages in regards to these areas.
There are several areas of development that will affect the child’s overall growth and progress. We will notice that there are specific ages defined for a specific milestone to be reached. However, we must understand that every child is different and may acquire different developmental successes in different times compared to other children.
有几个发展领域会影响孩子的整体成长和进步。 我们会注意到，为要达到的特定里程碑定义了特定的年龄。 然而，我们必须明白，每个孩子都是不同的，与其他孩子相比，在不同时期可能获得不同的发展成功。
The motor, sensory and perceptual skills of infants are developed as they are exposed to a wide range of experiences, with plenty of opportunity to explore and understand the world around them. Providing them with physical play where they can be laying flat on tummies or back will help them develop stronger muscles and more coordination. Sensory stimulation through touch, taste, hearing, seeing and smelling will be key in their development. Helping the infant explore and stimulate his senses will create the beginning of understanding of the world around him. Perception is gained through the sensory information the infant receives. Stimulation and a rich caring environment will help provide the necessary background and support for the infant’s motor, sensory and perceptual development.
Cognitive development in the new born infant can be observed as the child becomes aware of physical sensation. He will explore with mouth, hands, and feet and begin to understand cause and effect and will begin to problem solve around the 7th month. One important fact to remember is that children are thinkers and they will learn by exploring and trying to understand the world around them.
当孩子开始意识到身体感觉时，可以观察到新生婴儿的认知发展。 他会用嘴、手和脚来探索，开始了解因果关系，并在第 7 个月左右开始解决问题。 要记住的一个重要事实是，孩子们是思想家，他们将通过探索和尝试理解他们周围的世界来学习。
In the middle childhood we may find that there are many physical and neurophysiologic changes that include refining motor and perceptual skills. They are beginning to improve coordination, control, manipulation and movement. Their fine motor skills are getting much more refined and we may observe them tying their shoes, lacing and threading, writing and drawing (San Ramon, R.G.2010). All of these tremendous changes constantly occurring generate specific milestones which are a product of growth in sensory -motor, memory, skeletal and muscular maturation. Of course neurological development is supported by the environmental stimulus that they are exposed to. We will also notice that during this time period children are very active exploring their environment and learning how to control their bodies in order to achieve success in certain games, sports or skills. We must provide them with many opportunities to practice and master all of the skills and abilities that they are know learning. The more enriching and challenging the environment the greater the chances for learning and improving (Zembar,M.J, Blume,L.B.(2009).
At this stage in life they make tremendous leaps on how they store, process and use information from their environment. Cognitive development theory originates on the principle that mental processes become more sophisticated and complex through progressive and sequential changes. The theory is based on the idea that individuals cognition develops as he reaches certain levels of competence in several cognitive skills. As the person gains cognitive abilities they are integrated into a general cognitive ability (Fogiel,1999). Piaget was trained in biology and philosophy and was very interested in understanding how humans come to know what they know. Piaget believes that before there can be learning there has to be development. Another important premise that he held strong to was the assumption that we move through several stages as we slowly acquire different abilities. In childhood children find that peer relationships are of great importance to them. Play is crucial to their development of social emotional development. It is key for them to build a sense of self and moral values. As they engage in play they begin to explore different ways for problem solving, viewing other perspectives, they may take emotional or social risks (Child Development 2010).
Piaget’s assumption in regards to cognitive development was that children do not reason or think like adults. He emphasized individualistic development as a way for learning during early, middle, and late childhood. Piaget proposed a constructivist theory of cognitive development that suggested that all individuals pass through an orderly and predictable series of changes.
皮亚杰关于认知发展的假设是儿童不像成年人那样推理或思考。 他强调个人主义发展是儿童早期、中期和晚期学习的一种方式。 皮亚杰提出了认知发展的建构主义理论，认为所有个体都会经历一系列有序且可预测的变化。
There are four stages of development according to Piaget:
Sensorimotor: From birth and the first 24 months. The infant learns relationship between their actions and the external world acquire concept of cause and effect.
Preoperational: 18 or 24 months – 7yrs. growth of symbolic activities. Begin to form mental images of objects and events symbolic play (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. 2003).
Concrete operations : 7 -11 yrs. Begin to understand seriation, relational terms, and reversibility.
Formal operations: 12 – adulthood. Their logical thinking process begins to transit from concrete to more abstract.
A child that has been provided with a stimulating and supportive environment will be able to develop to the best of his abilities. Having a strong socio-emotional development will impact all areas of development because it is our inner drive, self concept and self esteem that will provide us with the energy and desire to learn and grow. When we provide children with a solid socio-emotional foundation then we allow for them to gain strong relationship skills such as being able to express and regulate their emotions, take risks to explore new situations and environments and be able to build healthy relationships with those around them.
一个获得激励和支持的环境的孩子将能够发挥他最大的能力。 拥有强大的社会情感发展将影响所有发展领域，因为我们的内在动力、自我概念和自尊将为我们提供学习和成长的能量和愿望。 当我们为孩子们提供坚实的社会情感基础时，我们就可以让他们获得强大的人际关系技巧，例如能够表达和调节自己的情绪，冒险探索新的情况和环境，并能够与周围的人建立健康的关系 他们。
There are many studies that suggest that family structure does affect a child’s cognitive and emotional development. There have been some correlations between parent’s education and children’s IQ. The same holds true for the birth order and the size of the family they belong to stating that it can impact academic performance. However, there is one important factor that we must place special attention to which is based on how safe and secure the child feels with their immediate family. Having a family that provides an environment of warmth, consistency, maturity and good communication will definitely provide a solid foundation for his or her development.
We must also look at another factor that may influence the child’s development and it has to do with parenting styles. There is evidence that certain parenting styles may not be as supportive of a child’s cognitive and social emotional development. I believe that one that best provides the necessary grounds for growth is the authoritative parenting style as it is high in nurturance, maturity demands, control, and communication. While the worst scenario would be the non involved parenting style which is low in control, maturity demands, nurturance and communication (Fogiel, M. 1996).
Diana Baumrind studied preschool aged children and discovered that there were four important dimensions of parenting: disciplinary strategies, warmth and nurturance, communication styles, and expectations of maturity and control (Cherry,K. 2005). From these dimensions she suggested that there were four parenting styles that we could observe and that would influence child development.
Diana Baumrind 研究了学龄前儿童，发现育儿有四个重要方面：管教策略、温暖和养育、沟通方式以及对成熟和控制的期望（Cherry,K. 2005）。 从这些方面，她建议我们可以观察到四种育儿方式，这些方式会影响儿童的发展。
Authoritarian Parenting: These are based on strict rules established by parents whom children should obey. Parents do not give explanations of these rules. The parents have high demands but are not responsive to the child.
Authoritative Parenting: These parents establish rules that children should follow but their style is more democratic as they are more responsive and willing to listen to questions. The parents are more nurturing and forgiving. They are assertive but not intrusive. They want children to be socially responsible and assertive.
Permissive Parenting: These parents are very indulgent and have few demands for their children. They hardly reprimand because they has very low expectations of maturity and self control. They are very nurturing and communicative as they act more as a friend than a parent.
Uninvolved Parenting: These parents have few demands low responsiveness and communication since they are very detached from their child although they supply their basic needs. Sometimes these parents tend to neglect their children.
When analyzing these parenting styles there are some interesting conclusion in regards to how they affect children.
Authoritarian parents foster obedient children that are low in self esteem and happiness.
Authoritative parents foster children who are happy and successful.
Permissive parenting foster children who are low in self regulation and happiness.
Uninvolved parenting fosters children with lack of self esteem and self control.
The different parenting styles do happen to influence a child’s development and many times we must look into the reasons that parents behave the way they do. It is a complex scenario since many factors come into play that may produce significant differences such as family size, socio economic status, culture, religion and educational level.
The childhood years are important to build the foundation because they will pretty much set the stage for the individual to prolong the development of important life skills. Those who learn better are usually those who have a secure family system and a very encouraging environment. An environment where they are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them without judgment. An environment where they feel free to explore and create.
In the life and the development of an individual we will find that there are several factors that will be of great influence to their progress. However, environmental factors such as lack of stimulation, nourishment, encouraging families may be some of the factors that will play a basic role in developing confident individuals with strong cognitive and socio emotional skills.
在一个人的生活和发展中，我们会发现有几个因素会对他们的进步产生很大的影响。 然而，缺乏刺激、营养、鼓励家庭等环境因素可能是一些因素，这些因素将在培养具有强大认知和社会情感技能的自信个体方面发挥基本作用。
留学生Essay相关专业范文素材资料，尽在本网，可以随时查阅参考。本站也提供多国留学生课程作业写作指导服务，如有需要可咨询本平台。