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1.3 Communication: Development in Early Elementary

How Development in the Early Childhood Years Affects Development in the Elementary School

Communication Development: How Development in the Early Childhood Years Affects Development in the Elementary School1

Children will need to use oral language and make themselves understood by others by the time they start elementary school. They will need language in order to communicate their needs and wants with others―both peers and adults. They also need to understand what others want or expect from them. This also refers to non-verbal language, like understanding gestures. These are known as  non-verbal communication cues because communication happens without any words. Developing these skills will help children to be effective communicators, and will give them the tools to learn how to read and write. It’s important to note that language skills are needed for all areas of the elementary curriculum, not just reading and writing.

Children need language skills that are well-developed so that they can learn the subjects taught at school, for example, math, science, language arts, home economics and even physical education. This is because children will need to follow the directions of their teachers in all areas of the curriculum. The need to develop language and communication skills extends beyond the early childhood years. In fact, as children grow older, the communication and language demands that are placed on them will be higher. A solid language and communication foundation in the early years will provide children with the tools they need to understand and be understood by others.

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1.3 What is Development: Communication

Communication Development: A Brief Overview

Language/ Communication1

Language and communication refer to the ways children get their message across to others and understand what others are saying to them. Communication takes place  either verbally, by using words, or non-verbally, through the use of gestures. Verbal communication includes oral and written language, such as reading and writing. Non-verbal communication includes waving bye-bye and smiling.

Language is one way of communicating with others. It can be oral, written or signed (for example, American Sign Language).

Young children usually learn to communicate with others long before they learn how to talk. When young infants cry, they are trying to tell their caregiver that something is wrong. At this early stage, the only way they know how to express this is through crying. Babies who smile at their caregiver are telling the caregiver that they are glad to see them!

Children will continue to use non-verbal language, long after they have learned how to talk. Adults do the same thing. A two year-old who is speaking in two and three word phrases will still stomp his/her foot on the floor, when protesting something, even though he/she can talk. Children and adults alike use verbal and non-verbal language to communicate with others and get their points across all the time.

Language usually has four components: Expressive language, receptive language, pragmatics and articulation (see full Glossary).

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1.2 What is EI: Effects of Culture and Family

Culture and Family

We know children with disabilities living in Canada come from a variety of cultural, ethnic and faith backgrounds.

But we do not know specific numbers on disability and race or cultural origin in Canada.

  • In this course, the term culture includes oral or written traditions (see full Glossary), the language, and the religious beliefs (see full Glossary) and practices (see full Glossary) in each family.
  • Cultural differences include values about independence or interdependence; how adults and children interact ; what the family expects in terms of their child’s development; and, the cultural values (see full Glossary) and beliefs about disability.

It’s important to be sensitive to cultural differences for families and children with disabilities.

Family culture

Some family cultures view disability as a reflection of their family status. They may place a high value on keeping their reputation intact within their community and they may not access services or information. Providing services that are culturally sensitive is one way to reach these families. Culturally sensitive practices include listening to –and finding out and learning about– family values, beliefs, their language and cultural traditions.

Other family cultures may value interdependence, and live within a large extended family network. This means that any decisions about the child’s care must be made with grandparents or other family members as well as the child’s parents.  There are many hands to help take care of the child.

Language:

In some cultures, the words for some disabilities or medical procedures may be very difficult to translate.

Canada is a culturally diverse country and there are more services  and more information available for families in variety of languages and cultures.

It’s important not to stereotype because a person’s  beliefs and response to having a child with a disability may be related to their culture.

The interplay between the systems that impact a family are varied. Urie Bronfenbrenner described child development happening within an ecological model (Fig. 1) that includes influences from the individual child characteristics; the family characteristics; the extended family, social systems and school systems, among others.

Ecological model

Fig. 1: This figure illustrates an ecological model that includes the values and beliefs that influence the child, family, community and larger society

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