Introduction
The selected community in this paper will be primary school-age children of both sexes from Nantucket. The developmental needs of the target age group are to understand the world and learn how to interact with people around them at school and beyond, which is why the stimulating curiosity in children program was chosen.
Needs
The most critical need of the primary school-age group, with respect to the personal and social functioning targeted by the stimulating curiosity in children program, is to foster the right motivation to master the school curriculum and broaden horizons beyond it. The importance of addressing these needs lies in the fact that learning skills are laid down early and are necessary for children’s timely cognitive development (Sigelman & Rider, 2017). The primary school-age group, which is naturally curious, will be more open to interacting with others and adopt a more conscious and healthier attitude towards the emotions they experience.
Interventions
Interventions developed for the primary school age group encourage asking questions and are effective, as they demonstrate increased curiosity. The specific interventions take into account risk and resilience factors by addressing existing negative attitudes and involving parents in the process (Sullivan, 2015). In this way, the program’s interventions are tailored to the unique developmental needs and resiliency factors of the primary school-age group. This is because it is challenging to introduce positive patterns without correcting the existing negative ones and without influencing the parents who contributed to their formation. The program’s interventions are overly general and therefore do not address the specific developmental needs and resilience factors of the targeted school-age group.
Addressing Personal & Social Functioning
High-level interventions address personal and social functioning. The role of this stimulating curiosity program and its interventions in promoting the improvement in the personal and social functioning of children from birth to adolescence is to foster a more open perception of the world and the people around them (Fozilova, 2023). This program contributes to the development of the future adult by contributing to future social growth (Schutt, 2018). For example, a child is not afraid to ask questions about how others feel, which in the future will help them establish a relationship with a partner (Galotti, 2016). This program could be improved with more parental involvement in the process.
Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence-based practices are used to correct the school educational process. Evidence shows that the practices are effective – this includes statistics on children’s emotional health and survey results on their interest in attending school following the program’s implementation (Gruber & Fandakova, 2021). These statistics can also be considered benefits of incorporating these practices. Drawbacks to not incorporating them include reduced motivation to study and to interact with teachers and peers (Liquin & Lombrozo, 2020). Opportunities for further incorporation of evidence-based practices include organizing psychological health clubs with parents. I identified this gap by reviewing the literature on the role of family education in meeting children’s developmental needs.
Conclusion
Therefore, the primary school-age group’s developmental needs are to learn about the world and how to connect with others at school and beyond, which can be realized through a program that fosters children’s curiosity.
Risk & Resiliency Factors
Risk and resilience factors I am going to focus on regarding the primary school age group are the negative patterns of disinterest already developed in children and the experience of suppressing curiosity due to neglectful parenting. Risk and resilience factors for the primary school age group influence the type of interventions provided by the program, involving them in the manifestation of curiosity not only at school, but also beyond
References
Fozilova, O. N. (2023). The concept of research activity of preschool children. Best Journal of Innovation in Science, Research and Development, 2(6), 525-528.
Galotti, K. M. (2016). Cognitive development: Infancy through adolescence (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Gruber, M. J., & Fandakova, Y. (2021). Curiosity in childhood and adolescence: What can we learn from the brain. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 39(5), 178-184.
Liquin, E. G., & Lombrozo, T. (2020). Explanation-seeking curiosity in childhood. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 4(7), 14-20.
Schutt, R. K. (2018). Investigating the social world: The process and practice of research (9th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2017). Life-span human development (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Sullivan, T. J. (2015). Introduction to social problems (10th ed.). SAGE Publications.