It is very important to view children holistically, especially for young children. Cognitive, social/emotional, physical and language developments, as well as representation/symbolic thinking are essential areas for teachers to view a child. Children change rapidly during early years, for example, their body parts, the brains, and so on (Berger, 2009). By viewing the children holistically, early childhood educators will not miss any part of a child' development. Since every child is different and unique, it is crucial to provide developmentally appropriate practices for individual children to maximize their ZPD.
In China, children are measured mostly by their academic performance, even for young children. They need to do "exams" for entering preschools and kindergarten. Teachers will test their speaking, writing, math abilities, and other things. Children will have to answer a set of questions. (http://ysx.eol.cn/zexiaogonglue_11097/20110223/t20110223_580226.shtml, in Chinese) It is just unbelievable to see how Chinese parents push their children for the best. I grew up in a traditional Chinese family and I experienced the same thing myself. I was not happy as a young kid and luckily this stopped after we moved to Canada. Social/emotional development is one of the most important areas in children's life. However, not a lot of people in China realize the importance and this area has been ignored for many years until now. Nowadays more people in China care about their children's social development and also more workshops and advertisements concerning children's social/emotional development are presented to parents.
Reference
Berger, K.S. (2009). The Developing Person through Childhood. New York, NY: Worth Publishers
China does have very high educational standards. At times I wish the US followed some of those same regiments. However, I do agree with you that social-emotional development is also very important for young children. Providing an environment that supports the “whole child” is very important not only to a child’s education, but also for their health and well-being.
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