Developmental Child Development

|Theory. |their second year they will start to walk and be able to |Social, emotional and behavioural development – Slower to |

A child develops through its whole life. They can develop; physically, linguistically, intellectually, socially and behaviourally. “Physical development is the way in which the body increases in skill and becomes more complex in its performance” [Meggitt, 2000, Page 2]. Twenty five days after conception; the body of the chid has developed immensely from the small fertilised egg. Up to birth the foetus mainly develops physically however once the child is born the child then begins the long process of development. Not only do the gross motor skills and the fine motor skills develop on the baby, but the sensory development also widens on the child.

From 3 to 7 years the child’s movements will be more coordinated. They will learn to balance when hopping, skipping and playing with balls. The fine pincer grip when holding pens, pant brushes will be more defined.

*Social and emotional development: Children now begin to make friends, understand rules, they enjoy helping others and being given responsibility, they like routine and need structure.

Each child’s physical, social, emotional, and intellectual and language development will be looked at through age stages. All of these categories are as important as each other and can each have a substantial impact on the child’s full adult potential.

From birth to 6months- a child will develop a range of skills starting with being alerted when you say their name. Their neck muscles will become stronger and they will be able to hold their head

* Incentives-a promise of a reward in the future, as a result of particular behaviour or achievement-the element of ‘if…then’.

There have been many theorists who have opposing views on how and why children behave and how they learn. I will discuss 4 theorists, their theories and how they have influenced and shaped work with children.

Theories of development are important as they can influence practice and help us understand a Childs way of learning, behaviour and reactions

Growth is rapid during the first two years of life. The child 's size, shape, senses, and organs undergo change. As each physical change occurs, the child gains new abilities. During the first year of the child’s life, physical development mainly involves the infant coordinating motor skills. The infant builds physical strength and motor coordination by repeating motor actions.

The difference between sequence of development and rate of development is that a sequence of development is the order in which the development of a child will occur. The rate of development is in which speed/ time this development would happen. Child development experts have carried out a lot of research on young children to work out what most children can do at different ages and the rate at which they grow. From this research, milestones have been identified. A ‘milestone of development’ refers to the age at which most children should have reached a certain stage of development. We think about stages and sequences of development in stages:

Infancy is far from what some have assumed – a time for rigidly and mechanically handling the baby because he seems to have so little capability as an adapting human being. The following developmental tasks are to be accomplished in infancy:

and animals had something in common. Those things are the methods in which we learn,

Psychology involves studying the mental functioning and general behaviors of both humans and animals. Social behavior and mental functioning of an individual are explained by exploring the neurological and physiological processes. These include emotions, cognition, perception, motivation, attention, brain functioning and personality. Child psychology is as well stated to be the application of psychological techniques to children where it involves carrying out research on mental states and development of children. The development of the child both physically, mentally and emotionally, with the help of a parent allows the identification of helpful information to any evolving challenges in child’s behavior and

In the early 20th century many theories were put forward to help explain why and how children develop. A theorist who played a