Describe with examples how to behave appropriately for a child or young person’s stage of development
Children like to think they are more grown up so they will try and push the boundaries, they maybe talking to you at school or one of their friends and may slip in a naughty word, when you ask ‘Where did you hear that word from’ they will say ’ I heard it from (name of person) another adult.
When you are communicating with children and young people you need to communicate with them at their ‘age related’ stage of development, because children / young people develop at different stages some might be more advanced than others, children with ‘Special Needs’ will need more help from other professionals who will assess their stage of development and areas that will need more focus on.
Foundation stage and key stage 1
Children of all ages will have varying levels of attention span, the younger children will need more reassurance than the older children, especially when the first start school. These children are very young and still developing their communication and language skills. When you are addressing them you need to come down to their level otherwise they could get frightened if you are standing over them while trying to communicate with them. You also have to make sure you have their undivided attention when communicating with them as their attention span is very limited and they tire very quickly with them being so young, you could always ask them to repeat back the conversation you have had with them so you know whether they understand what you have spoken about, you also get an idea of what level of understanding they are at.
Key stage 2
When children go into key stage 2 they have already started to mature especially children with ‘Special needs’ they tend to protect them a lot more and interact with them and help to keep them on the right path. You will at some point still have to remind them not to interrupt when others are talking but this could be...