Development from Birth – 19 Years Free Essay Example

All children and young people develop at different rates, but the order which they advance in differs very little. Children’s development tends to progress from head to toe, inner to outer, from simple to complex and from general to specific.

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.

Physical development is the growth of movement skills in both fine and gross motor skills and development in hand to eye co-ordination. Each of these is inter-connected and therefore can all be of impact to one another. Social and emotional development is the process of forming relationships, learning social and cultural skills, caring for others, independency, decision making, building confidence and learning to handle emotions in a healthy way. Intellectual development refers to the understanding of information, lengthening attention span, the reasoning in daily experiences, developing memory, logical thinking and questioning.

Language development is the understanding and gaining of language, developing vocabulary and body language.

0-6 Months:

Physical development : At this stage a baby should be able to turn their head towards sound and movement, watch an adult’s face when feeding and smile at the faces and voices they find familiar. They should be able to hold their feet when lying on their back, look and reach for objects, hold and shake a rattle and put items in their mouths.

Social and emotional development: At this age a baby will respond to adult’s voices and faces, prominently their mothers, possibly by smiling. They will concentrate on adults face during feeding and be extremely dependent in adults for reassurance and comfort, quieting when held and cuddled. Language development: At this age a child should make a variety of “happy” sounds, respond to music and sounds (this can be very calming) abd watch their carers face and try to copy their movements.

6-12 Months:

Physical Development: During this period a child should be able to move from sitting with support to sitting alone, roll from their tummy to their back and begin to crawl or shuffle on their bottom. Pulling or pushing against an adults hand to reach a standing position, raise arms to be lifted, turn to look when their name has been called and to try and reach for food to put in their mouth. Social and Emotional Development: A child will enjoy the company of others and games such as peek-a-boo, shows affection to main carer but be shy towards strangers. Language Development: The babbling sound begins! A young child will make 4 or 5 different sounds at this step, show feelings by squealing or crying and laugh or chuckle to show their enjoyment.

1-2 Years

Physical Development: A young toddler will begin to walk (with or with-out a push along toy), sit alone confidently, wave goodbye, feed themselves, point to what they want and to shake their head for “no”. Their thumb and first two fingers will be used to grip, crawl upstairs, stoop when picking an object from floor level, begin to show preference for one hand, build tower of few bricks and to begin to hold crayon in palm and to scribble on paper.

Social and Emotional Development: Like to please adults and to perform in front of an audience, may become anxious or distressed when separated from known adults, may grow attached to a comfort object (such as blanket), can mostly be cooperative and be easily distracted from unwanted behaviour and can play alongside other children. Language Development: Move from using single words to putting them together as a phrase, they will understand key words used in sentences, in the second year children start to understand the use of conversation and begin to copy carers. Children’s understand outstrips their ability to express themselves however by two years they could be using from 30 up to 150 words.

2-3 Years

Physical Development: Kneels to play, throw and kick a ball, builds larger brick towers, pour liquids and uses pencils to make marks and circular scribbles. Social and Emotional Development: Developing sense of own identity and wanting to do things for their selves, demanding of adults attention and being jealous of adults attention being shred, reluctant to share play things, acts impulsively, requiring needs to be met instantly, prone to burst of emotion tantrums, enjoys playing with adults or older child who will give attention, beginning to play with others of own age for short periods of time.

Intellectual Development (0-3 Years) Beginning to realise others are separate beings from themselves, imitates others and tries out ways of behaving in play, becoming more confident but still needs adult reassurance Language Development: Put words together in a sentence and beginning to ask questions (What? Why? How? Who? Where?) can join in well known songs or verses and put actions to words (Row-Row-Row the boat) Could possibly be using several hundred words by 3rd birthday, can scribble and make marks on paper with a crayon.

3-4 Years

Physical Development: Large Motor Skills; Jump with feet together, walk on tip toes Throw a ball with aim and walk up and down the stairs. Fine Motor Skills; painting, threading beads on a lace, gain control over food utensils, use scissors and hold pencil to draw house and or people. Social and Emotional Development: becoming more independent and self-motivated, feels more secure and able to cope with unfamiliar surroundings and adults for periods of time, becoming more cooperative with adults and likes to help. Sociable and friendly with others, plays with children and more able to share, beginning to consider the needs of others and to show concern for others. Intellectual Development: Understand two or three simple things to do at once (eg Get a glass of water, bring it to your brother and then take the glass back to the kitchen) Can sort objects by size and type (by colours, animals or shapes)

Language Development: (3-4 years)Pitch and tone can begin to be used alongside present and past tense. Vocabulary will be extended to 1000-1500 words and marks made by crayons will become more controlled. (4-5 years) Grammar can become more accurate and questions more complex, understand that books are a source of pleasure and use pictures to help them follow the story. Language will be used to communicate a child’s ideas and they may begin to recognise their own name and a few frequently seen written words, a pencil will be able to be help more confidently and shapes can be copied to form some lettering.

5-7 Years

Physical Develpoment: Large Motor Skills; Hops, kicks with aim, catch a ball, skips, rides bicycle, climb confidently. Fine Motor Skills; Haandels pencil with control, copy shapes and write some letters, sews stitches, threads needle, can do buttons and shoe laces. Social and Emotional Development: Makes friends but may need help in resolving disputes, developing understanding of rules but still finds turn-taking difficult. Enjoys helping others and taking responsibility, learns lots about the world and how it workd, ad about people and relationships, makes friends (often short term) and plays group games, needs structure and routing to feel safe, when behaviour is over the top they need limits to be set.

Intellectual Development: Begin to understand about sameness and difference in various aspects of life, can begin to understand that differences can exist side by side. Can begin to see different perspectives on the same subject, for example the same amount of water can look different in different containers. Language Development: During this period the chid can speak fluently and be able to make up stories, handle books well, understand that text carries meaning and recognise and increasing number of letters linking them to sounds.

7-12 Years

Physical Development: Large motor skills are met such as running, jumping, skipping, climbing, kicking and hitting balls however teams games are usually enjoyed by age 8. Social and Emotional Development: Become less dependent on close adults for support and therefore can cope with the wider environment along with enjoying being in groups of other children of similar age, usually influenced easily by peers. Developing understanding of what behaviour is expected in certain situations and what is unacceptable, a sense of fairness and justice.

Gender identity is becoming more apparent and preferring to play with same sex friends. Wanting to fit in with peer group and wanting to form closer relationships from age of 8. Intellectual Development: Able to read to themselves and will take a active interest in certain subjects by age 9. Language Development: Will need help learning how to spell complex words, with help from adults and teacher’s vocabulary will grow when new words are introduced, speech becomes fluent and can describe complicated happenings. Reading out loud and knowing the difference tenses and grammar will also become noticeable.

12-19 Years (Adolescence)

Physical Development: Adolescence is said to be the period between childhood and adulthood, this can start from as early as 11 years and up to 19 or 20 years. The rate of development during these times can differ significantly and are different for both genders. This can be a very difficult time for teenagers as being similar to your peers can be a huge pressure; developing early or late can single teenagers out from others and bring up many emotional factors. Boys: Adolescence for boys usually starts at 14 years which is later compared to girls, however at the end of puberty boys are usually bigger than girls. Sex characteristics at this age are developing; these include body hair, deepening of the voice, broadness and muscle growth. Testicular and scrotum growth begins in early – mid puberty, the penis growth starts a bit later but continues for a longer time period. Girls: Puberty for girls can be as early as 8 years although the average age is 13.

Breast budding is traditionally the beginning of puberty around the age of 10, pubic hair will then begin to grow and become curlier. Depending on when puberty first begins for each young lady they may be physically mature by the age of 15 and close to her full adult height however her hips and breasts may still become fuller. Social and Emotional Development: The first emotional factors to come with puberty are usually self-consciousness of the teenager’s body changes and whether they are “normal” compared to their peers. Emotional maturity can feel a drastic change to the teenagers, feeling their childish needs with adult desires, desiring independence but needing guidance; this can be a very confusing time for the young adults. Feeling less importance on their parents approval and instead turning to their friends for group-acceptance and behaviour codes.

Along with this new found independence comes new questioning of the world, community values, personal values, beliefs and views; these will then individually sculpt the identity of the young adult. During this time many teens form close friendships with their peers of their own gender and most also develop an intense interest in the opposite gender, away from the emotional security their family provides the teenagers are open to many different emotional situations including potential rejection. Intellectual Development: With physical and emotional maturity comes maturity of the mind and the individual’s words and actions.

As the teenager’s freedon and independence grows the need for maturity grows with it. During adolescence young people increasingly take responsibility in their lives in areas such as finances, employment, relationships and accommodation. The process of acquiring full responsibility should be complete by adulthood however; the rate of development is dependent on the amount of guidance given, to helping the brain to make the connections between knowledge and practical application to daily life.

Education will be another main factor, next to parents, to shaping these young adults; the education system with its teachers will assist in helping the young adults to understanding moral, social, economic and cultural codes that will form the foundation of their identity. Language Development: As confidence and knowledge of language grows teenagers tend to develop different forms of communication such as sarcasm, “slang” language, shortened “text” language and the skill of formal or informal debate. Being able to express themselves with more words and forms of communications is a result of their maturity.