Transformational leadership highlights the importance of trait theory Assignment - 1

Transformational leadership highlights the importance of trait theory critically evaluate the trait theory of leadership and how - Assignment Example This piece of research paper attempts to address the transformational leadership and to detail how it highlights the trait theory of leadership. This paper critically evaluates the trait theory and analyzes how and why it is relevant in today’s business contexts. Transformational Leadership Out of various types of leaderships, Charismatic and Transformational leadership styles are found to be quite similar in character. Charismatic leadership is the ability of a leader who derives his leadership quality through some unknown and God-given gif to him (Sashkin and Sashkin 2003, p. 56) and therefore his ability is often considered to be divine as they make an emotional impact on subordinates as they appeal both of their hearts and minds (Daft, 2007). Transformational leadership, though quite similar to Charismatic, is very special quality to develop innovative ideas and bring changes to the organization by recognizing the needs and concerns of his subordinates, and by helping them solve older issues in newer strategies and encouraging them to question the status quo (Daft and Lane 2009, p. 424). Wart (2007, p. 74) identified three significant successive stages for transformational leadership. ... 469). Transactional leaders, Servant leaders and Situational leaders are some other commonly discussed leadership models. Transactional leaders are those who define the roles and tasks and related requirements of their subordinates by providing proper rewards and trying to meeting their social and other needs (Daft and Lane 2009, p. 424). Situational leaders act best according to situations. Servant leaders are those who function in responsibility for subordinates and for the society and they thus serve others in good manners, rather than their subordinates serving them (changingminds.org, 2010). Why trait theory is important today Leadership trait theory describes intrinsic traits of leaders and it is based on an assumption that leaders are born with some specific leadership abilities. Intelligence, dependability, energy, drive, enthusiasm, ambition, self confidence and cooperativeness are some of the traits that are found in today’s leaders. Trait theory is very important to day because it can be used to identify qualities that distinguish today’s leaders. Advantages and disadvantages of Trait theories Trait theory can be used to explain why some people are more effective and successful leaders even if they are not trained and why some others, who are trained, are not so successful in leadership. But, trait theories are mostly psychological in approach. Social elements like social class, religion, education, gender and ethnicity are fully ignored in trait theories. It is argued that trait theory makes its difficult to establish whether traits have direct bearing on success as a leader or if a surplus of one trait may compensate for the shortage of another trait (Adeniyi, 2007,

Research The Interpretivism Philosophy Management Essay

Research The Interpretivism Philosophy Management Essay Firstly, it is the research philosophy. There are two main types of philosophy and they are positivism and interpretivism. In this research the interpretivism philosophy will be applied to adopt the nature of theories on the factors influencing the project management performance. Secondly, it is the research approach that includes deduction and induction. In this research, the induction approach is considered the appropriate approach for the project management when the researcher examines three factors influencing the project management performance at BORDA Vietnam. Thirdly, it is the research strategy. There are three categories of research strategy such as exploratory, descriptive and explanatory. To pursue the purpose of this research is to explore the understanding of the concepts of project management and the impacts of factors on the project management performance at BORDA Vietnam, the exploratory strategy is selected to use. Fourthly, it is research methodology. There are two methods when conducting the research generally. They are quantitative and qualitative. With each method there are advantages and disadvantages duing application. In this research, the qualitative method is chosen to apply due to its appropriateness for the topic of factors influencing the project management performance at BORDA Vietnam. Fifthly, it is the data collection and data processing that describes how the primary and secondary data will be collected and how the collected data will be analysed to have findings for the next chapters. Last but not least, it is ethical issues of the research. 3.1 Research philosophy Sauders at al. (2009) emphasises that the research philosophy relates to the development of knowledge and its nature. It will reflect the researchers view of the world and underpin the research strategy. There are different philosophies of the research such as positivism, realism, interpretivism and pragmatism and these belong to the research philosophy which is the first layer of the research onion (Sauder et al., 2009). Depending on the type of research topic which philosophy will be adopted in the research? 3.1.1 Positivism Positivism reflects the philosophical stance of the nature scientist (Sauder et al., 2009). The positivism philosophy is applied to the research for generating the existing theories to develop the hypotheses and these hypotheses will be tested with highly structured and large samples relating to the observation and numeric data. However, when observing the social reality (Sauder et al., 2009), the researcher is independent from which is observed. 3.1.2 Interpretivism In the management research, the interpretivism refers to the understanding difference between the human as social actors (Sauder at al., 2009:16) and the objects. It focuses on the subjective meanings and the interpretation of the meanings behind the social phenomena. By applying the interpretivism philosophy for the research, the qualitative methodology is more appropriate to help the researcher conduct the small sample with in-depth interview and focus group interview. Project management performance plays an important role in the success of the project. However, there are many factors but the research focusing on three key factors influencing the project management performance. The factors are leadership style, teamwork and staff motivation. For conducting the research, the interpretivism philosophy is selected to help the researcher interpret the meanings of contextual observations and collected information from interview. 3.2 Research approach Research approach relates to the theory of the research. It explicit the concerned questionnaires for survey or guidelines for interview. There are two different kinds of research approaches, deduction and induction. Sauder et al. (2009) pointed out that the deductive approach is when to develop the theory and hypotheses and the research strategy is designed to test those hypotheses. The deductive approach is believed to be more appropriate with the positivist philosophy. Other way round, it is inductive approach in which the data is collected and theory is developed as the results of data analysis. The inductive approach is considered more appropriate with the interpretivist philosophy. 3.2.1 Deductive approach Deductive approach involves in the development of theory and hypothesis. The data or findings from questionnaire survey, guideline interview and secondary sources are the results to be tested to confirm or reject the hypotheses (Gill and Johnson, 2010). This approach is suitable with large sample from the quantitative method. 3.2.2 Inductive approach Inductive approach allows the researcher to develop the theory base on analysis of the phenomena. The theory is developed based on the result of data analysis. Sauder et al (2009) suggested that the small sample conducted for the research is suitable with the inductive approach. The research on factors that influence the project management at BORDA is to pursue the purpose of identifying and analysing three burning factors really affecting the performance of project management at BORDA Vietnam. The small sample of interview with the managers and staffs of BORDA office and involved partners will be conducted. Therefore, the inductive approach is considered more appropriate to conduct this research. 3.3 Research strategy Research strategy plays an important role during conducting the research. According to Sauders at al. (2009:141) the research strategy helps to guide the research questions, objectives, the extent of existing knowledge, the amount of time, other available resources and to underpin the research philosophy. There are three categories of research strategy such as (1) exploratory, (2) descriptive and (3) explanatory (Yin, 2003, cited in Sauderset al.2009:141). Each category is valuable with different research purposes. However, it is pointed out that the purpose of enquiry may change over time (Robson, 2002, cited in Sauders et al, 2009:139). 3.3.1 Exploratory The exploratory strategy is useful to clarify the understanding of the phenomena by finding out what is happening, to seek new insights, to ask questions and to assess phenomena in a new light (Robson, 2002: 59, cited in Sauders et al., 2009:139). There are three principal ways of conducting the exploratory research: A research of the literature Interviewing experts in the subject Conducting focus group interviews (Sauders et al. 2009:140) 3.3.2 Descriptive The object of descriptive research is to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations (Robson, 2002:59, cited in Sauderset al.2009:140). It means that before the data is collected, it should be a clear picture of which data should be collected. However, the descriptive research is as one piece of exploratory research and also the explanatory research. 3.3.3 Explanatory Explanatory research focuses on explaining the relationship between variables (Sauderset al.2009:140) of a situation or a phenomena. This strategy is more quantitative in the research methodology. In addition, it can be a combination between the quantitative and qualitative methods in the research methodology by collecting the qualitative data for explanation of the reason to the phenomena or problem. The purpose of the research is to gain the understanding about the concept of project management and impacts of factors influencing the project management performance in BORDA Vietnam. In view of the foreging, the exploratory strategy is chosen to use in this research that helps the researcher to interpret the findings to the meanings of this research. 3.4 Research methodology There are two main types of research methods: (1) qualitative and (2) quantitative. Each method will be selected to use depending on specific research topic and analysis sample. 3.4.1 Qualitative method According to Sauders et al.,(2009:480) the qualitative data refers to all non-numeric data or data that have not been quantified and can be a product of all research strategies. There are many things in human life which may not be quantitative. They are no worse for that. If they are of non-quantitative nature, they can be investigated in terms of their own categories and such investigation is no less scientific than measurement (Michell, 1999:14, cited in Giorgi A, 2005:80). When conducting the qualitative research, the purpose is to understand the meanings expressed through words (Sauderset al.2009:482) of the problem or phenomena from real world settings (Golafshani N, 2003:600). The qualitative research means such methods like interviews and observations are dominant in the naturalist (interpretive) paradigm and supplementary in the positive paradigm ((Golafshani N, 2003:600). The qualitative data after being collected is inputed into the analysis process through three main types: Summarising (consideration) of meanings; Categorisation (grouping) of meanings; Structuring (ordering) of meanings using narrative. (Sauderset al.2009:490). 3.4.2 Quantitative method According to Ponterotto J.(2005:128), the quantitative method focuses on the strict quantification of observations (data) and on careful control of empirical variables. This method needs the large sample and uses of statistical procedures to examine the meanings and variables (Ponterotto and Grieger, 1999, cited in Ponterotto, 2005:128). The quantitative research helps the researcher familiarize with the problem or phenomena to be studied and develop the hypotheses to be tested through the quantitative techniques. The categories of quantitative method include (1) the emphasis is on facts and causes of behaviour (Bogdan and Biklen, 1998, cited in Golafshani N, 2003:597); (2) the information is in the form of numbers that can be quantified and summarised; (3) the mathematical process is the norm for analysing the numeric data and (4) the final result is expressed in statistical terminologies (Charles, 1995, cited in Golafshani N, 2005:598). From the different above definitions and concepts of research methods, the researcher select the qualitative method that is considered the most suitable and conceptual analysis shall be applied via observation of daily management work at BORDA Vietnam and the in depth interview to all staffs and managers of BORDA office and partners involving in the project. It is small sample. The qualitative method will help the researcher find out the key crucial factors affecting the performance of the project management. The qualitative method will be described through the research process in the figure below: Research objectives Theories relating to the project management Qualitative method, data collection: + Primary data: in-depth and group focus interview, daily observations + Secondary data: desk research Discussion and analysis of findings Identification of weaknesses corresponding causes in PM Recommendations solutions for improving PM performance Figure 3.1: Research process (Source: Authors design) 3.5 Data collection The data used for this research comes from both primary and secondary sources. 3.5.1 Secondary source Secondary data collection: the data will be collected from the books, articles, journals publication, reports, annual working plans, desk research, evaluations. These resources provide the information and data on the activities and project implementation at BORDA Vietnam. 3.5.2 Primary data In-depth interview: the in-depth interviews will be conducted with 15 staffs of BORDA office and involved partners, 2 focus group interviews for staffs and managers to collect their opinions, comments and assessments on current project management performance and the factors influencing the project management performance at BORDA Vietnam. The contents of the in-depth interview guideline shall be flexible and subject to the persons interviewed to be able to get the best results for analysis, summarising and consolidation. The tentative duration for the interviews shall last from 15 October to 31 October 2012. The primary data collected through the interviews is used to give insights into the main factors influencing the project management performance within the implementation progress. Observation from daily management work: The researcher is a part of this team, so that the daily management work at BORDA Vietnam will be observed. 3.6 Data processing The information and data from the interviews shall be collected, summarised, consolidated and analysed to see the problems of project management and examined whether the factors such as leadership style, team work and staff motivation have an effect on the performance of the project management at BORDA Vietnam or not. The feedback from the interviewees is also considered the useful inputs for the recommendations and solutions of the researcher. 3.7 Research ethics In the scope of this research, the researcher focus on examining the practices of financial and human resource management to the project management performance at BORDA Vietnam in the period of 2011 2013. Because of time limits, the research cannot be conducted for other factors such as the role of management of quality, information system, knowledge, relationship, etc. to the project management performance. The research will use both the secondary and primary data, especially the in-depth interview questions for information collection. Before interviewing, the researcher will ask the potential interviewees directly or through emails and telephones for their convenience and agreement of spending time and providing the information, opinions. Without agreement, the researcher will not provide the name of interviewees in the research or any sensitive information will be kept confidentially for the researcher only. Moreover, this is an independent study from the point of view of the researcher. The findings and recommendations will be proposed to the high management level of BORDA to help improve the project management performance of project implementation in Vietnam. Chapter summary Through this chapter, the researcher describes the picture of how the research will be conducted and how data is collected and analysed. After studying about the different types of research philosophy, approach, strategy, method the researcher select: Research philosophy: interpretivism Research approach: inductive Research strategy: exploratory Research method: qualitative The findings from the in depth interviews with individuals of 15 interviewees and two focus group interviews for staffs and managers of BORDA Vietnam and involved partner VAWR/ CTIC and from the daily observation of the management work as well as from the desk research of the secondary data, the meanings shall be summarised, categorised ans structured (Sauders et al., 2009:490) The research ethics are mentioned at the end of this chapter. The researcher will ask for acceptance of using the personal information from the interviewees. Without the agreement, it will be considered the confidential information and will not be displayed in the research.

The Renaissance anf its impact on Society :: essays research papers

The Renaissance and its Impact on Modern Society The Renaissance 1 Abstract The Renaissance is a term that means rebirth. The renaissance marked a renewed interest in many things such as the arts but also brought about change in the areas of class structure; trade; invention and science. These changes have influenced nearly every social class and industrialized society in the modern world. This paper will show how this unique period in our history impacts our society today. The Renaissance 2 Class Structure and Trade Before the Renaissance, power was achieved by birthright, wealth and nobility however; the Renaissance gave birth to the merchant class. Agriculture was a mainstay of wealth and power however, it was quickly becoming less lucrative and many farmers decided to move to cities and take up new occupations. These city-based occupations required the need for increased educational skills such as reading, writing and bookkeeping. Accordingly education became more important, and parents of this emerging merchant class increasingly wanted their children to attend schools and universities. As the merchant class grew, they became increasingly wealthy. Along with this newfound wealth, this emerging merchant class gained power. Power that changed existing class structures and influenced politics. The evolution of the merchant class has developed into the free-trade system used throughout the industrialized world. Furthermore, the merchant class of the Renaissance allowed people not of birthright o r noble blood to gain wealth and ascend to power in both business and politics. Today many of our successful business men and women who came from humble origins and owe their ability to improve themselves through education and the earning of wealth through trade and business to the merchant class of the Renaissance. The Renaissance 3 Invention The Renaissance brought about the first portable clock. Invented in 1410, Filippo Brunelleschi’s spring-driven design clock made it possible to keep track of and manage time outside of the home or village. The evolution of Brunelleschi’s portable clock is our modern day wristwatch. The development of convex and concave lenses during the Renaissance also led to the invention of both the microscope and telescope. Arguably, the most valuable invention of the Renaissance was the moveable type printing press invented by Johann Gutenberg. Prior to Gutenberg’s printing press the copying of books and text was a painstaking, slow process done by hand. The Renaissance’s printing press is the grandfather of our modern day copy machine and computer printer. Science During the Renaissance science made leaps and bounds as well.

Nestle Crunch Marketing Plan Essay

Executive Summary This marketing plan was created for Nestle Crunch to position itself in the next year to deliver at least $13 million in profit without increasing the budget by over $2 million. An analysis of the chocolate confectionery market will be analyzed to develop marketing strategies to implement to satisfy these objectives. situation analyses Market Size Crunch is produced by the largest food and beverage company, which is Nestle. Retail sales of chocolate confectionery comprised of $33.8 billion in retail sales, which $16.9 billion were in chocolate sales. Market Trends The growth rate of chocolate confectionery lagged behind the cereal, gum, and sugar confectionery and showing very little projected growth through 2014. Unit Volume 35% of the market share in sales were the Regular sized Chocolates, 30% were for the miniatures, 25% were of promotional items (promotes seasonal sales), and then there were the king sizes which made up of only 10% of the market sales. Price Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s strategy was to list the lowest price on their bars at $0.79 each for Butterfinger and Crunch, while its close competitor, Hershey’s priced its Bars and Reese’s cups at $0.89. The other competitor, Mars, priced theirs even higher at $0.99 each. Price increase would result in lost in sales. Product Services Offered Nestle Crunch offered consumers a chocolate confectionery that served as an indulgent treat in contrast to satisfying hunger. SWOT Analysis In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. In business, the strengths identified are what a business works to maintain, build, and leverage. Weaknesses that are identified should be removed, resolved, or remedied. Opportunities and threats are external factors. External factors are, in most part, out of our external locus of control. We can only either optimize it or deal with it. Opportunities should be prioritized and optimized. Identified threats must be acknowledged by a business and/or develop counter measures for it, if any (SWOT Analysis, 2009). INTERNAL Strengths Offer the lowest prices among competitors Crunch is regarded as an indulgence, a reward, or treat Participates in all channels of distribution Produced by the worlds’ largest food and beverage company – Nestle Weaknesses Marketing budget cannot increase more than $2M from the previous year (2009) Its positioned to target males and young adults who were not the largest chocolate consumers EXTERNAL Opportunities Large market in the Midwest Females and children consumed most of the chocolate confectionery Psychographic segments that are potential target markets: Practical value seekers Confection loving moderators TV has the greatest reach Threats Chocolate sales lag behind sugar confectionery, cereal bar and gum Competitors –Hershey and Mars in the U.S. market share marketing strategy Positioning We want to position Crunch as: â€Å"Nestle Crunch is for women and children who want to reward themselves to an indulgent chocolate treat, because Nestle Crunch is the only chocolate bar that tells you best that you deserve it.† strategy development Objective The mission is to deliver at least $13 million in profit without increasing the budget by more than $2 million. Targeted Consumer Demographics Target Market Crunch satisfies a consumer’s need to satisfy an indulgent desire, and promotion is used to trigger these impulses. Therefore, promotion is vital to increasing sales. Specifically, to children and females (teenage females, adult females, and mothers) who mostly attribute chocolate as an indulgent desire according to the Figure below In addition, according to the research, women are 51% of the population and consume 6% more chocolate than men. Children and young adults under the age of 25 comprise 60% of the population. In terms of geography, the Midwest is 22% of the population and the region that sells the most chocolate confectionery. strategy development Financial Projections Strategy and Execution Minus 1 event of free standing insert (FSI) coupon good on one regular size Crunch bar Add I event of A regular bar bonus size (+25%) is offered during 2-week promotional period; it was not offered in 2009 Minus 1 event of a 2-week store display featuring regular size Crunch Distribution increases by 2.0 percentage points A Crunch price increase of +12.5% on all products would match Hershey’s retail prices but would still be less than Mars’ prices; no pricing action was taken in 2009 The following table shows the impact on sales and profit when making changes  in the marketing mix. According to the table, with the marketing mix selected we are able to achieve our objective of ensuring production contribution of at least $13 million, our profitability percentage change is at least over 15%, and budget does not increase by more than $2 million. Advertising and Promotion Media Marketing The media vehicles for advertising that will be utilized are TV, print, and online. Since TV has the greatest reach, 70% is allocated in the budget for TV advertising and promotion; 20% for online and 10% of the budget for print marketing. The total budget for these media marketing is a little below $12.9 million We have an estimated reach of 90% for the TV advertising and marketing and 10% and 20% for print and online respectively. The pie graph below illustrates the media mix selection: Pricing strategy The pricing strategy will be to increase the price of Crunch by 12.5%, which will match the Hershey’s retail price, but will still be below the price of Mars. An increase in price does result in a decrease in sales, but after thorough examination of the P&L, it will show an increase in profitability to justify the drop in sales. Distribution strategy Increasing the distribution showed to increase sales. Since a large percentage of sales were sold through other distribution channels besides mass merchandisers, supermarkets, and convenient stores, an increase in distribution to the other channels that include drug stores, warehouse club, and vending machines, justify a slight budget increase as shown in the Figure below. The following figure summarizes the marketing plan Promotions, advertising, and special events are concentrated on the special holidays that historically show increase sales in the chocolate confectionery market. Many of the events are also focused mostly in the Midwest, because this region is shown to have the highest sales and consumption in the nation. The budget is kept below a $2 million increase while still accomplishing the goal of increasing profitability. Other Metrics The following table shows 2008 and 2009 chocolate confectionery market size and market shares of Nestlà © Crunch and its competitors as additional references. References Alan Chapman. SWOT Analysis. (2009, October 13). Retrieved October 16, 2009, from http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm U.S. CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONERY: DYNAMIC MARKETING PLANNING. Retrieved on June 02, 2014 from : https://brenau.instructure.com/courses/1209789/pages/course-documents?module_item_id=10683688

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay

While being in this course I have learned about the different curriculums, philosophies and theories. In this paper I will be discussing how to develop an appropriate curriculum for preschool children. This paper will include the following topics: the theories and/or philosophies of Montessori; concepts learned throughout this course, how to apply them into an early childhood classroom focusing on the understanding components to design a curriculum for a preschool classroom based on ages 3 to 5 year old children. First let’s discuss the philosophies of both Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget. Maria Montessori ideas and beliefs are embedded throughout every early childhood program and her influence on our thinking about curriculum has been profound. She was a tireless child advocate and believed that all children deserve a proper education. Montessori insisted that through proper early education, underprivileged and cognitively impaired children could be successful if they were given a chance to learn. She was one of the first to establish a preschool for poor and mentally retarded children in Rome; these preschools were called â€Å"Casa dei Bambini†, which translated in English as â€Å"Children’s House.† Dr. Montessori proposed that children that are at risk and the notion that society had a moral responsibility to devote resources to early child intervention. Our textbook states that. â€Å"Montessori embraced and expanded Froebel’s kindergarten concept; she felt that children were natural learners and should drive much of their own learning. She asserted that children should be grouped in multiage (2  ½ to 5 years) classes to allow flexibility and opportunities for peer mentoring. Montessori developed an extensive set of â€Å"didactic† materials and lessons designed to be attr active to children and used by teachers to teach specific concepts and skills. She adapted furniture to child size as a gesture of respect for the unique needs of early learners† (Jaruszewicz, 2012). I agree with her philosophy and theory, because children do need the freedom to learn at their own pace and not to be pressured to do what they see other children do. It is also important the classroom learning environment to be attractive  so that it will draw the children to be there and learn new and exciting things. In order to use the teaching method, the teachers must be trained to work with all children and understand that no one child develops the same as another. The other philosopher that I will discuss is Jean Piaget. A contemporary of both Montessori and Dewey, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that initiated a constructivist view of curriculum (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget conducted several experiments with young children that proved that their mental concepts are learned through trial and error experiences . Young children will continue to do things that they have been told not to do, until the consequence of their actions has been reached. For example, when a parent tells their child not to stack the building blocks up too high or they will fall on them which could lead to them being hurt; the child continues to do that the same thing over and over again to see if what their parent said is true. Once the child has seen the building blocks fall over on them is when they have learned that they don’t need to do that. His work confirmed early learning as distinct from other developmental periods, implying, therefore, that materials and activities for young children should reflect the idiosyncratic way in which they think and process stimuli (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget proposed that cognitive development occurs in four different stages, three of which occur during early childhood. In the sensorimotor stage, infants and toddlers process experience and begin to coordinate movement through sensory exploration. Preoperational thinking of preschoolers emerges spontaneously, as they are internally motivated to make sense o f their environment by testing ideas and theories in play and exploration with materials (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget and Montessori are the main philosophies that stood out to me in this course the most. Next I will discuss the Core knowledge preschool sequence curriculum and the areas inside it. With strong focus on challenging, but appropriate content, the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and Teacher Handbook is unique among early childhood programs. It outlines a cumulative and coherent progression of knowledge and skills in all developmental areas and integrates developmentally appropriate practices for both content and instruction. Using the core knowledge curriculum helps with creating appropriate activities that prepare the preschool age children to learn. Children are  always ready to learn; as long as the teacher understands that, each child will be eager to learn in new and exciting ways. It is important for teachers to make sure that the information that they wish to teach the children in the classroom is appropriate and fun. The Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence Curriculum focuses on five different areas: Social Skills, Early Literacy skills in reading and writing, Mathematics, Science and Visual Arts. It is important for children to learn how to interact with other children their age early in their lives to develop their social skills. One of the many things I love about Montessori is that Montessori teachers see the ‘whole’ child-developmentally, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. There is a myth out there that says simply placing children in the same room and having them do activities helps them develop social skills. I disagree. Developing social skills needs to be a value in the classroom as well as modeled by the teachers/adults who are around the children. Using manners, demonstrating what Montessori called ‘Grace and Courtesy’ and always being respectful of the child are key ingredients to helping a child develop social skills. There are several ways to help expand children’s social skills. The activity that would be used to develop social skills would be to have the children sit in a circle on the floor, pass an object around each child to take turns telling the class something about them. Whether it is there name, favorite color, parents name, how many sibling they may have, etc. When are playing together in the classroom they learn to take turns, shared things and playing with others in general helps them develop social skills. The development of language in early childhood classrooms is an umbrella for the Montessori curriculum. The teachers and parents consider activities on the shelves of the Language area as the heart of actual language learning. The techniques used in a Montessori classroom are different when it comes to teaching language and literacy. Teachers, parents, and administrators need to recognize communication as the foundation for the meaningful development of language concepts and skills. Effective communication depends on authentic relationships be tween communicative partners. Teachers have the responsibility (actually, the opportunity) to develop and expand learning relationships with young children. This is truly the ultimate opportunity to make a difference. Seen in this light, conversations with young children on  the playground, during field trips, on the way to the bathroom, in the midst of conflict resolution, during lessons, and countless other times create the context for the development of language skills. Relationships of trust are built between children and teachers and among peers. Classroom work further contributes to language concept and skill development within this context of meaningful communication. It is important to talk children especially infants constantly, so they can develop a strong sense of vocabulary. Children catch on to everything that they may hear. So it is definitely important to be cautious what language you use around children. Printed materials and images are strongly important in an early childhood classroom. These materials make the classroom attractive to children as well as make them want to learn about what those images and books mean. Phonemic awareness is part of a balanced literacy program, and can be developed in several ways during shared reading and shared writing. Shared reading and shared writing typically occur during the language arts time block, but may also occur during content-area learning. On to my favorite subject any grade level or age is mathematics. In an early childhood classroom, teaching young children mathematics somewhat easy and in some cases not so much. Getting children ages three to four year olds to learn their numbers and one to one correspondence can be a challenge, but it requires patience to teach the children the meaning of number awareness. Provide children with authentic, hands-on learning experiences-DO NOT USE WORKSHEETS. In preschool you should play to the children’s natural curiosities and look to your student’s interest to guide l esson planning. You are setting up children for a lifetime of learning and you should create excitement around what you. Also, the more hands on the activity is, the more learning styles you are engaging, and the more the child enjoys it the more they will learn and retain! Create activities that children are actively involved in learning something new, such as how to count and recognize numbers. Numbers are not the only thing that children can learn that is related to mathematics. Shapes are how to perceive and recognize them are important as well. Teaching children about shapes and how many sides each one has involves numbers as well. Mathematics and Language go together because you are using vocabulary words to decide the shapes, numbers, etc. In conclusion, this paper touched on some important factors to help develop a developmentally  appropriate curriculum for preschool/pre-K age children. It is important to provide activities for young children and make sure the environment is a positive, warm and inviting one that children will want to come to school and learn new things. In this paper I disc ussed the standards for each core knowledge area to develop an appropriate curriculum for young children. References Jaruszewicz, C. (2012). Curriculum and Methods for Early Childhood Educators. In C. Jaruszewicz, Curriculum and Methods for Early Childhood Educators. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.