Child Development & Early InterventionModule Details

Rationale
Early intervention is an important course because of its improved outcomes especially if done at a child’s most intimate level. Some issues in children, if left for without an intervention, can negatively impact the development of a child. Developing nations are known to intervene too late when social and behavioural problems have become deeply entrenched in children and young people as argued by Graham Allen (2011) in “Early Intervention: the next steps.” Delayed intervention can be costly when providing remedy, the measures of which may even fail to address the problem. Intervention is about preventing the development of problems in later years that can affect the future health and wellbeing of a child. Reactive interventions are known not to be effective, while early intervention can effectively address social problems in a child’s life. This therefore, is crucial for a potential teacher, hence the course aims at equipping the teacher with the information and strategies to intervene early enough in the life of the student.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course students will be expected to:

(i)  Describe the concept of early intervention and its significance at the pre-school level.
(ii)  Identify areas in the students that may need remedial at an early age.
(iii) Work hand in hand with the family of the student in providing remedial measures to the student.
(iv) Analyse the different developmental stages in the student.
(v)  Discuss the different types of intervention.
(vi)  Analyse the different strategies in early interventions.
(vii) Compare and contrast developmental stages with theories of development.
(viii) Apply instructional strategies that can help learning.
(ix)  Identify threats such as child maltreatment, substance misuse and risky sexual behaviour in students.