The Developing Toddler Essay

We have a large outdoor activity set in the back with slides and stairs and ladders this helps to build the gross motor skills. Running jumping, climbing all of these things are detrimental to this development. We also have a smaller play ground on the side of the building for the smaller children that contains some smaller equipment such as cars you can sit on and kitchens and small play houses with slides. Young age children can build their gross motor by beginning on these smaller toys before adventuring out to the larger one that we have set up in the back.

Physical development in children is an important area and is usually expected to happen automatically as they grow. The important areas are gross motor skills,

The book puts in question what are the important factors to a child’s development all the way until there teenage years. When growing up there are two main group of people that make us who we are; our parents and the outside world. When we are little, before we start school we do not know anything other than our family, this is called the first stage of development. By only knowing your family members this causes you to only act the way you see. However, a few years later, when

The theories/approaches established by historical and contemporary pioneers provide valuable insight, underpinning the understanding of how children develop, allowing teachers to enhance the holistic development of every child. This essay will analyse the: behaviourist theory; cognitive-developmental theory; and socio-cultural theory.

According to Beek, Peper, and Stegeman (1995), “the motor control theories provide an explanation on how the nervous system will solve the degrees of freedom problem and serve to direct movement command.” The following theories are the generalized motor program theory and the dynamical systems theory. The GMP theory “proposes that the movement plan is retrieved from memory within the central nervous system and neural instructions are sent down to the effectors via the efferent pathways.” The dynamical systems approach on the other hand, “does not propose a hierarchical control, but suggests that movements emerge through self-organization of the interaction of the body and environment.” It can be said that everybody’s “bodily movements occur in the context of the everyday functioning of people while realizing specific task goals.” As a general, yet acquired rule, “such movements involve the participation of multiple joints and limbs.” Moreover, when in action, these body parts are “coordinated and are brought into proper relation to one another as well as to the surrounding layout of surface.” The coordination of these body parts may “look relatively simple, as in picking up an object, or relatively complicated, as in juggling, performing an attacking forehand drive in table tennis or playing the drums.” To the psychomotor scientist or researcher, however, “all coordination is complex in that he or she is confronted with the challenge to explain

At 6 weeks infants develop a social smile, at 3 month laughter and curiosity develop, at 4 months full responsive smiles emerge, from 4-8 months they develop anger, from 9014 months they develop a fear of social events, at 12 months the are fearful of unexpected sights and sounds, and at 18 months they are self-aware, feel pride, shame, and embarrassment. In the first two years, infants develop from reactive pain and pleasure to complex patterns of social awareness. Emotions in infants are produced from their body as opposed to their thoughts. Therefore fast and uncensored reactions are common in infants. During their toddler years, the strength of their emotions will increase.

What began as involuntary movement and reflexes at birth, by 6 months have become voluntary movements. By 2 years the fine motor skills are beginning to develop. Gross motor skills involve the large muscles of the body that enable such functions as crawling, kicking, sitting upright and rolling over. It is a little harder for an infant to walk because they are top heavy and their thighs are too big to support their little feet. Most infants, starting at nine months begins to learn how to walk. Fine motor skills are necessary to engage in smaller, more precise movements, normally using the hands and fingers. Fine motor skills are different than gross motor skills which require less precision to perform. This is the child's ability to use small muscles, specifically their hands and fingers, to pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw.

This independent day care assignment proved its importance into piecing together the various theories of human development. It allowed me to learn and experience the book contents and develop a clear understanding of its practical applications.

Children develop gross motor skills at different age norms which are affected by their culture and can vary (Berger, 2014). In order to gain information, we need to educate and understand this development, we have to conduct research. We are looking for new information and theories. Although surveys are a great way to collect a large amount of data the information gained is only as sound as the subject. This is why we need other avenues for research, and we need parental support to make that happen.

As children’s bodies become more streamlined and less top-heavy, their center of gravity shifts downwards toward the trunk. As a result, balance improves greatly, paving the way for new motor skills involving large muscles of the body. (Berk, 1999) During the preschool years until approximately age seven, fundamental motor skills develop including the locomotor skills needed to run, jump, hop, and skip. Also the object control skills such as throwing, catching, and kicking are developing. By the age of six or seven, children begin to integrate two or more of these skills. Though all children will not develop these skills at the same age, they will follow the same sequence.

Motor skills involve movement of muscle in the body (John, 2009). These are larger movements such as crawling, running, and jumping (John, 2009). Most of the gross motor development occurs during childhood (John, 2009). Gross motor skills have two principals that determent how a child will regularly develop (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). Head to toe development this means the upper parts of the body will develop before the lower parts of the body (John, 2009). Children develop these skills throughout play (John, 2009). A tree year old Toddler can be very active therefore participating in activity that require movement, coordination, and balance can be beneficial to help a toddler to develop their motor skills (Jan, Beth & Melissa, 2012). A 3 year old child can throw a ball but catching it is more difficult. They start walking with good posture similar to an adult; they can also walk backwards (Jan, Beth & Melissa, 2012). A 3 year old can run which required strength and balance, during running they should be able to rotate their trunk and swing their arms (John, 2009). By the age of 3 a child walks up and down stairs alternating their feet without support which is possible because their balance has increase (John, 2009). A 3 year old child also learns to jump from a step and learn to jump forward (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). They start hopping at the age of 3 ½ and also can stand on one foot (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). Skipping requires sequencing and rhythm which makes it more difficult this include step and hop patterns.

These skills need to be constantly used and refined in development so that they’re maturing at a steady rate. The development of these skills is of upmost importance because these are the muscles a child will use all day every day, when walking around the house or when playing with friends at school. These muscles will be continually engaged and having a good solid foundation of these working muscles will improve the early stages of a child’s life. The development of gross motor skills will generally speaking grow from inside to outside as well as head to toe, which is consistent of an infant’s same develop in the mother’s womb. As a child is progressing through the first two years of life, many changes will occur. The child will first learn to balance the body and move towards controlling the muscles of the body, then on to crawling and supporting itself, and by the end of that second year of life the child will have mostly refined skills that allow for play and overall being more mobile in moving around and navigating through day to day movements. Along with this increased mobility, a child will be able to get different places like on furniture, or up stairs but getting back down will be the hard part. As well as, the infant’s muscles’ may be progressing but the ability to stop and switch direction in movements is however not fully developed at this point.

There are many physical advantages to gross motor skill development that play a role both in childhood and throughout the rest of that individual’s lifetime. Motor skills that are developed in infancy are essential steps to continue to build motor skills throughout childhood (Burns et al., 2017). In order to have the best physical potential to be able to carry out daily activities, gross motor skills are where this all begins. To have optimal function, an individual must learn how to control their movements with poise and rhythm.

A child also starts using gross and fine motor skills in sporting activities. Fine motor skills include using the small muscles that are found in the hands, arms, and fingers to use and control tools and materials. Gross motor skills involve controlling the head, trunk, legs, and arms. An early childhood professional

Everyday we are developing no matter our age, but it is how we develop children that will tell a tremendous amount an individual. How a child developments is fundamentally important at a young age as it affects all aspect of their lives once the child matures. Throughout the class, we looked at many theorists during the course of the semester as well as looked at many articles pertaining to the concepts of the development of children. The theorists and articles opened up our minds to a world that we have never seen before and concepts about child development we have never been taught but have seen in the practical work we do every week. What makes humans unique is the ability that we have to interpret the language being used, as Lois Bloom