Ages and Stages of Child Development
Growth vs Development Growth: A child’s physical increase in size or amount that is easily observed. Development: The ability of a child to do things that are complex and difficult.
Stages of Development Infancy – birth - 12 months Toddler – 12 months - 3 yrs. Preschool – 3 yrs. - 6 yrs. School Age – 6 yrs. - 12 yrs. Adolescents – 13 yrs. - 18 yrs
Infancy Physical Development: Born with strong reflexes and ALL five senses. Later develop eye-hand coordination & large motor skills. Intellectual Development: As infants are awake more, they notice to world. Follow objects with eyes. During 8-12 months they develop object permanence. Social Development: By 3 months they smile. By 7 months they recognize familiar and unfamiliar faces. First signs of fear. Emotional Development: Infants develop trust of caregivers that are caring for her every day.
Toddlerhood Physical Development: Begin to walk and run (gross motor skills) and maybe feed and dress themselves (fine motor skills). Social Development: Begin to parallel play- playing alongside other children but not with them. They want to do everything themselves! Emotional development: Develop an “I can do it” attitude. Strong emotions that can change quickly. Intellectual Development: Communication skills improve – talking, can talk about space and size. Moral Development: They can begin to understand the difference between right and wrong.
Preschool years Physical Development: Begin to hop, ride tricycle, run with a stride, play simple games. Small motor skills develop further. Social Development: Begin cooperative play – playing WITH groups of children. Begin to learn to share. Moral Development: Sense of right and wrong become more concrete. They understand rules as right and wrong and do not like when someone doesn’t follow those rules. Emotional Development: Become less self-centered and show empathy for others. Full range of emotions. Intellectual Development: Learn to count, identify colors, recite ABCs, and begin to use imagination.
School-Age Years Physical Development: Rate of growth slows down. Baby teeth are replaced with permanent ones. Continued development of fine motor skills make handwriting and drawing more precise. Intellectual Development: They ask lots of questions and acquire reasoning. Learn to read and do simple arithmetic. Moral Development: Begin to understand that rules are flexible. Care about what others think. Emotional Development: Outgrow preschool fears. More prone to feelings of stress from school or family issues. Social Development: Have more social opportunities outside of the family. Form peer groups. Learn to cooperate.
Adolescence Physical Development: Intellectual Development: Onset of puberty triggered by hormones. Body changes to take on characteristics of a man or woman. Able to imagine the consequences of different actions and reason other options. Can think abstractly and form personal judgments. Emotional Development: Moods swings are common. Struggle between desire for independence and desire for others to continue caring for them. Social Development: Moral Development: Knows the difference between right and wrong, but feels pressure to go with the crowd.
Special Needs The patterns of developed we have discussed outline “typical” development. But, everyone is unique and does not follow “typical” development exactly like this. Physical Disabilities: Learning Disabilities: Emotional Problems: Mental Disabilities: Disabilities that limit movement, vision, or hearing? Examples? Disability affects the ability to understand and use language. Could be problems with reading, spelling, or math. May be indicated by withdraw from activity. Could exhibit anger or depression. Affect intellectual development and every day skills.