Standard 1-Promoting Child Development and Learning

The first NAEYC standard is about the importance of knowing the whole
child and understanding the different developmental stages of a child. You
cant teach what you dont know! Child development is a solid foundation of
early childhood education. Individuality, characteristics, culture, and socioeconomic background are essential to understanding a childs development.
This information enables a professional educator to promote learning, create
a meaningful and challenging learning environment.
The artifact that I chose for standard 1 is from EDU 235: Health,
Safety and Nutrition. I chose the topic Oral Hygiene and I wrote about the
importance, influences, and benefits of oral hygiene in children. The safety
and health of children is of utmost importance and supersedes everything.
As an educator it is my responsibility to make sure the child is safe and
healthy. Observing and documenting comes into play here as well. The more
I know the whole child, in all areas, the more I will be able to facilitate his or
her development and promote learning; the overall health of children in case
of this assignment.
Children are on a constant journey of growing and developing.
Knowledge is power! With the knowledge that I obtained of the
developmental stages will allow me to create a meaningful and challenging
learning environment. I learned from this standard the importance and focal
point is knowing the whole child. Moving forward I will be a better advocate

and supporter for the children and encourage development. I will prove to be
an effective and high quality professional; keeping in prospective the
multiple influencing factors that impact a childs development and learning
experience