Early Childhood Education One of the key roles of childhood care providers is to prepare children for school through curricula that assist children nurture their individual cognitive, physical, emotional, and social skills, and at the same time helps instructors respond to the needs, interests, and abilities of each child under their care. Cognitive development is of particular importance in this case, equipping children with knowledge on, among other things, measurement and patterns; shapes and numbers; and counting techniques (Childcare Aware, 2014). This area of child development is best built through play. A report by the Manitoba Early Learning and Childhood Curriculum framework, for instance, recommends the development of children's cognitive and intellectual skills through related experiences - such as allowing them to experiment with a variety of cardboard boxes and tubes.

Furthermore, such play activities nurture a child's social skills, equipping them with the skills necessary for interacting, negotiating, and engaging effectively with other children (Manitoba Early Learning and Childhood Curriculum, n.d.). In addition to boosting a child's problem-solving and communication, leadership, and organizational skills, such activities open up opportunities for children to become more appreciative of the cultures and backgrounds of others. This is of particular importance given the rising degree of diversity in school settings. Child care settings also prepare children for school by boosting their physical skills (Childcare Aware, 2014). Motor skills and coordination are, for instance, developed through ball-kicking activities.

The Childcare Aware Organization identifies two instructional approaches used in childcare facilities; i) child-directed instruction -- where children are given the lead in their own learning, and opportunities to direct their own play and learning activities; and ii) teacher-directed instruction -- where the teacher almost entirely directs children's learning activities. Concern has been raised over the falling significance of child-directed approaches in childcare facilities and kindergartens. By being allowed to design their own learning experiences, children develop feelings of self-confidence and competence, and learn to create their own knowledge. Persistent direction, on the other hand, inhibits children's creativity and impedes on self-confidence - making it difficult for them to learn leadership,...

Towards this end, providers are often advised to design curricula that provide ample opportunities for self-directed approaches to learning.
Childcare facilities are, like any other organization, licensed by their respective states. The overriding aim of such licenses is to ensure that facilities provide safe and quality learning environments for children. Licensing regulations ensure that facilities, among other things, comply with fire regulations and safety standards for health hazards such as falls and injuries; and ensure that food preparation and nutrition standards meet the set safety requirements; and that they make use of properly-designed curricula set towards nurturing children's intellectual, social, emotional, and physical skills. In other words, licensing ensures that facilities operate in a manner that enables them to effectively achieve the objective of preparing children to be useful individuals in their later years.

Unit Four

The multiple intelligence theory, advanced by Howard Gardner, is based on the idea that people have different strengths/profiles of intelligence and cannot therefore learn, remember, and understand in the same way. The theory is built upon seven intelligences that Gardner believes determine how well an individual is able to interact with, and understand the world -- i) linguistic intelligence, which measures a person's ability to use spoken and written language to pass a message across effectively and achieve a certain goal; ii) intrapersonal intelligence, measuring how well one is able to understand and appreciate themselves, and consequently develop life models that lead them to regulate their lives effectively; iii) interpersonal intelligence, which is concerned with one's ability to engage effectively with, and understand the perspectives of others; iv) spatial intelligence, which measures the ability to identify and make valuable use of space patterns; v) bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, measuring one's capacity to use their mental and physical abilities to solve problems; vi) musical intelligence, which measures the skill to compose musical rhythms, tones, and pitches; vii) and logical-mathematical intelligence, which assesses one's ability to carry out scientific investigations, and analyze mathematical problems logically (Smith, 2008). According to Gardner, one's intelligence level depends on their endowment of the…