Unit 1 Human Lifespan Development A – Human Growth and development through the life stages

A. Human Growth and Development through life stages A1 – Physical development across the life stages A2 – Intellectual development across the life stages A3 – Emotional development across the life stages A4 – Social development across the life stages

A4 – Social development across the life stages The stages of play in infancy and early childhood Solo play, parallel play and co-operative play The importance of friendships and friendship groups The social benefits of friendships The effects of peer pressure on social development The development of relationships with others The development of independence through the life stages Peer influence in adolescence, starting employment, leaving home, starting a family.

Social Development Stages of Play - https://pathways.org/watch/parents-guide-stages-play/ Solo play 0 – 1 year 12 – 18 months Looks at adults closely, puts things into mouth and touches things with hands. Plays alone with toys. Gradually begins to play simple games, e.g. peek-a-boo and begins to explore toys alone Begins to pay and talk alone, repeats actions and starts to play with adults. Notices other children. Parallel play 18 months – 2 years Begins t enjoy repetitive actions such as putting objects and into and taking them out of boxes. Begins to copy other children and adults. Enjoys playing with adults as well as on own. Learns to complete tasks through trial and error. Associative play 3 – 4 years Begins to play co-operatively with other children and starts to show reasoning skills by asking questions ‘why’ and ;how;. They join in pretend and fantasy games negotiating and taking on roles Co-operative play 4 – 6 years 6 – 8 years Begins to use simple rules in games. Plays co-operatively towards a shared goal and takes turns when playing table top games with other children. Begins to enjoy playing in small groups, making up own games and rules. Enjoys understanding and using rules, but does not usually cope well with losing.

Social Development Importance of friendships Social benefits They can help you cope with life events, support you to maintain a healthy lifestyle, help you avoid loneliness, provide a sense of belonging, self-worth and self-confidence, leading to a reduction of stress and depression and a boost of happiness. As people get older, friendships can take a backseat due to changing interests or circumstances, other priorities emerge such as home, career, family commitments.

Social Development Importance of friendships Effects of peer pressure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTx-cqldoRI https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/health-wellbeing/peer-pressure/ During adolescence people become more independent from families, socialising with others and developing more social freedom. Peer groups are important during adolescence and have great influence on values, views and opinions. Peer pressure can be challenging, as it can encourage risky behaviour (eg. Drinking alcohol, taking drugs, having unprotected sex)

Social Development Developing friendships with others Young children form relationships based on play. They fall out with each other as quickly as they make up. For older children, adolescents and adults, relationships are more complex. As children mature and start to think beyond their own needs they are able to the world from someone else’s view point and are able to develop more meaningful relationships. Informal relationships develop within families and significant people in your lives, building strong bonds based on trust and understanding. They promote a positive self-concept that prepares you for developing intimate relationships and show mutual respect. Formal relationships develop between colleagues, teacher/pupils. They don’t involve emotional attachments but are important to social development, they demand different skills, confidence and self-esteem. If a child has positive relationships with families and others they are likely to be successful in developing effective formal relationships.

Social Development The Development of Social Relationships Infancy 0 – 2 years Interacting with carers Infants tend to have an inbuilt tendency to interact with carers. By 2 months they may start to smile at human faces At 3 months they will respond when adults talk At 5 months they can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people They make their first relationships as they form an emotional attachment to carers. In later stages of infancy, they will play alongside other children (parallel play)

Social Development The Development of Social Relationships Childhood 3 – 8 years First Social Learning Young children are emotionally attached and dependent on adults. They begin to learn social roles and behaviour within the their family as it forms a safe base to explore social relationships with others through play. As they become older they become more independent and form relationships based on a sense of mutual trust. Friendships become increasingly important as children go towards adolescence and they begin to form social networks, or circles of friends.

Social Development The Development of Social Relationships Adolescence 9 – 18 years Secondary Social Learning A person’s self-worth becomes more influenced by peers than family. Adolescents copy styles of dress, beliefs, cultural values and behaviours of their friends as they have to cope with the development of their own sexuality and the social transition to full independence from the family.

Social Development The Development of Social Relationships Adulthood 19 – 65 years Maturity Friendship networks continue to be important during early adulthood. For most, it’s dominated by forming intimate relationships and the need to find employment / establish a career, marriage, and parenthood. In Middle adulthood social activity is limited by time pressures as they have to split time between work, caring for parents, other family commitments and wider social activities.

Social Development The Development of Social Relationships Older Adulthood 65+ years Maturity In retirement, older adults have more free time to develop friendships through taking up new hobbies, pastimes and travel, or increase involvement with close friends and family.

Social Development The development of independence through the life stages. Infancy and childhood Infants are totally dependent on others for their care. During childhood they begin to assert their need to become independent and attempt to do more for themselves e.g. dressing and feeding themselves. They widen their experience by starting school, joining clubs and activities outside the home and become less reliant on family, starting to make their own decisions on food choices, what to wear, their likes and dislikes. Peer influence in adolescence Adolescence begin to question their sense of identity and see themselves as independent from their family. They may begin to question their family’s values and become influenced by their peer groups They learn from real-life experiences about the consequences about making good or poor choices.

Social Development The development of independence through the life stages. Starting employment Between 16-18 young people make important decisions about their future career options. Starting employment is an important transition and is effectively the first step into the adult world as they adapt their routines, and learn policies and rules of the workplace. They also gain financial independence (getting wages, opening bank accounts), helping them on the route towards independence. Leaving home Everyone leaves home at different times, some at 18 to go to Uni, some not until their mid to late 20s because they can’t afford to live independently. Leaving home means you may have to make sacrifices such as lower standard of living, you have to adapt to new levels of independence such as managing chores, bills and studying / work/ Starting a family. This brings new responsibilities. It can provide a sense of identity and a feeling of achievement, but requires a lifestyle change and can include financial difficulties, and involve sacrifices as you have to put the needs of the baby before yourself, putting a career on hold, changing work patterns which can affect you financially and emotionally.

Social Development The development of independence through the life stages. Middle Adulthood People have more time to pursue hobbies and interests due to fewer family responsibilities. They may each the peak of their career and have more disposable income giving them independence, choice and freedom. They can establish different social groups and travel more. However due to changes in pensions, some people have to work longer or do part-time work when retired, or look after their grandchildren or parents so may not have as much time as others. Older Adulthood Between 65 – 75 many older people remain active with a busy social life and freedom from work, as well as free bus passes and concessionary entry costs. IT and social media makes it easier to stay in touch with friends. Many people now remain active in their 80s and 90s and the number of people living to 100 has increased by 73% in the last decade. However, some people disengage from society, especially if a spouse has died, and they can become lonely and vulnerable and lose a lot of their independence if they have to rely on others for care.