Stages Of Child Development

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Stages Of Child Development

By: Prashasti Shrivastava

What is child development?

Child development includes the psychological, biological, social, and emotional changes in human beings from birth to the beginning of adulthood. A child experiences a lot of changes in their body and mind varying from biological to social changes. Well, parents play an important and significant role in a child’s development. As the child grasps certain qualities from their parents. It is also the process where a child depends on others to grow into an independent self. Therefore, parents should also ensure that their child grows into an environment where their social, emotional, and educational needs are fulfilled. Also, we should notice that growth and development are two different terms. An increase in the size of height, weight is growth but a change in tissues or blood is a part of development. Growth and development go hand in hand; for development, growth is also required at a certain age. Also, the process of growth stops but development continues.

 

Areas of development:-

There are certain areas of development mainly categorized as four(physical, emotional, mental and social). They are all interconnected.

1. Physical:-

Physical changes include standing, sitting, walking, running which are broadly classified as motor skills. Physical changes also include using fingers and hands to draw, eat, write, play, etc.

 

2. Emotional:-

Emotional skills include how one reacts to a certain situation. As one matures they learn how to deal with problems, we notice if one handles the problems with ease or they get frustrated or angry.

 

3. Mental:-

Mental skills include thinking, learning, understanding, reasoning, and remembering. We learn about one’s mental abilities in schools.

 

4. Social:-

Social skills involve developing and maintaining relationships with family and friends. And also observing if one likes to be in large social groups or does he/ she prefers small groups. Or is one being sensitive while answering others or not.

 

 

Stages of development:-

There are various stages of development mainly categorized as 4 stages infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and after childhood. But developmentalism further classifies these stages. The development of a child often occurs in most unpredictable ways. As every child is unique and evolves in their own way, they get influenced by their environment differently on different age levels. We also notice a significant change in height, weight, and build among healthy children. A healthy diet, exercise, and genes all play an important factor. Some children are also likely to hit puberty before they are teenagers.

 

1. Prenatal development: -

This is often called primary and the first stage of development. As formation occurs and development begins.

 

2. Infancy: -

Infancy is also known as toddlerhood. As when a child is a few months old, he/she is keen to move. They start crawling, sitting, and slowly start talking in a short span of time. We also take care that the child should take proper nutrition and a good amount of sleep.

 

3. Early childhood: -

This stage follows toddlerhood. In this stage, the child is very energetic and is keen to learn new things. As a three- to five-year-old the child is busy learning languages and also, he/she learns to be a little independent.

 

4. Middle childhood: -

In this stage, one learns to develop relationships beyond family through interaction with friends and other people. Also in this stage specifically, the child develops a sense of competition among other fellow students. And children also refine their motor skills.

 

5. Adolescence: -

In this stage, one’s experiences a significant change in physical growth and sexual maturation (also known as puberty). Also, they also experience a range of emotions varying from love, fear, sadness, etc. Children also became more independent from their parents, sometimes they also rebel against their decisions too. Peer approval also becomes very important for them too.

 

 

Exercise guidelines at different stages of growth and development:-

 

The motor development in children takes place in various stages of growth. The infanthood or infancy is followed by the childhood, stage that is divided into three stages: the early, middle, and later childhood.

Infanthood (0-12 months): -                                                                                                 

●       Turns head.

●       Moves arms and legs.

●       Reaches and grasps objects.

●       Rolls back from side to side.

●        Crawls, stands and walks.

 

Early childhood (2-5 years):-

●       Basic locomotor.

●       Ball-handling.

●       Eye-hand coordination.

●       Running, jumping, hopping, skipping grasping.

●       Games with simple rules.

 

Middle childhood (6-10 years): -

●       Fine motor skills.

●       Fine eye-hand coordination.

●       Growth is relatively slow.

●       Cognitive activities.

●       Movement precision.

●       Balancing and coordination.

●       Catching, throwing; kicking.

●       Planned activities games.

 

Late childhood (12- 18 years): -

●       Motor skills perfected.

●       Onset of puberty.

●       Beginning of sexual maturation.

●       Competition.

●       Planned activities, that involve a lot of movements.

 

Although every child is unique and develops in their own way, parents are the key components in the development of a child. As parents are a child’s first and most important teachers. A study showed that nearly 40% of young children are cared for mainly by their parents. Every parent has their own way of dealing with a child but scolding their child for doing silly things or saying harsh comments will not help in growing of a child, parents should listen to their child care and patiently deal with their issues.

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