19 Child Growth & Development 5. Facilitation of Development 1. Role of Relationships Level 1 Recognize the importance of safe, secure, caring, and responsive relationships with each child to promote optimal development. CGD 5.1.1 Level 2 Understand the need to provide environments that: o Nurture emotional well-being o Provide a secure base for children o Reflect needs, abilities, and interests of every child Encourage initiative and self-reliant exploration. Facilitate cooperative peer learning experiences (for children who are developmentally ready). Encourage appropriate emotional expression and emotional intelligence (e.g., help children develop social skills and empathy). CGD 5.1.2 Level 3 Design and implement environments that: o Nurture emotional well-being o Provide a secure base for children o Reflect needs, abilities, and interests of every child Model and help others develop competencies for developing relationships that enable each child’s optimal development and learning. CGD 5.1.3 Level 4 Critically examine and communicate to teachers, caregivers, staff, and families current evidence-based research on practices that enhance the development and learning of children from birth through age 8. CGD 5.1.4 Level 5 Articulate, analyze, and evaluate current knowledge, theories, research, and best practices for developing safe, secure, caring and responsive relationships with every child to promote optimal development and learning. CGD 5.1.5 2. Role of Experience Level 1 Recognize that young children learn through direct experiences. CGD 5.2.1 Level 2 Understand the need to provide a variety of learning experiences that: o Engage each child's natural curiosity and desire to learn new skills o Are challenging but not overly difficult o Are matched to the child's current skill level o Apply theories of development and experiential learning to early childhood practices from birth through age 8 CGD 5.2.2 Level 3 Design educational environments that support developmental change at the appropriate developmental time based on biological, emotional, social, and/or cognitive reasons. CGD 5.2.3 Level 4 Critically examine and communicate to others current evidence-based research regarding the impact of personal experiences to facilitate optimal development. Integrate theory and research with practical application. CGD 5.2.4 Level 5 Advocate for licensing regulations and quality standards that ensure environments provide high quality and developmentally appropriate practices to support early learning and develop stimulating, engaging learning experiences for young children. CGD 5.2.5 Indicates term defined in the glossary the first time it appears in the document.