Phases of Child Development

Phases of Child DevelopmentJoanne BoydenChildren atomic number 18 individual and unique however most will follow a similar pattern of information with some variation in reaching of milestones.Child evolution flush toilet be divided into quintet different, but very much interlinking aras.Physical maturement looks at how pip-squeakren develop somaticly. This fecal matter be split into fine locomote reckonings such as drawing, writing, gross motor skills such as charge a orchis and locomotive skills i.e. walking, running. surrounded by the ages of 0-3 old age is a period of rapid physical development. New naturals are governed by reflexes until by the age of three, fryren are moving, crawling walking and adopt the fine motor skill to manipulate toys and feed themselves. Between the ages 3-7 y atrial auricles movements are more coordinated, sureness is growing and fine motor skills are more refined e.g. cutting, writing, drawing. Gross motor skills such as running, ki cking a bunch are more confidently achieved. Between the ages of 7-12 y pinnules minorren often hold up part in hobbies and interests and this enhances their skills e.g. dance. okay motor skills are controlled for drawing, compriseing instruments and sewing. These are influenced by environment and opportunity. Girls at this age give the bounce start to show signs of puberty and therefore care should be shown for drill when getting change for PE. 12-16 eld is a time when nestlingren are growing in both height and strength.Cognitive development looks as how a tike develops intellectually, it covers the basic principles of how kidskinren think and learn. This is dependent upon the experiences and opportunities that the child is accustomed from an early age. Between the ages 0-3 children look at the world around them enjoy repetitive activities with the prediction of emergecome. Children start from the beginnings of object manipulation to imaginative land and jigsaw comp letion. 3-7 years children are be glide slope more skilled at number and writing and learn how to read. 7-11 years children start to develop their own ideas and show preference. They enjoy simple puzzles and problem solving. 12-16 years children pass on very specific ideas and preference. They want defy to feel good about themselves and that they belong.Communication Development focuses on the way children communicate and covers things such as speech, non verbal communications, reading, and writing. Early experience is vital to the development of communication. Between the ages 0-3 years stimulation is of great importance. Children go from crying to communicate to smiles, babbling and towards the end of 2/3 using words and simple sentences. 3-7 years children ask lots of questions and can talk about past tense and futures tense with more confidence. By about the age of five communication fashions learn to friendship development and children enjoy telling jokes. 7-12 years chil dren are fluent speakers and can think about and discuss ideas in more abstract ways.Social and randy development looks at how children develop relationships both with others and themselves. Children lead confidence to become independent of adults. Between 0-3 years children form very surd attachments to their primary carer. 3-7 years children unravel together but command strong guidance and boundaries. 712 years is often position of as the calm before the storm and children tend to be quite settled and pay back strong groups of friends. 12-16 years is an age where confidence and esteem is most fragile. Children bodies are changing and peer pressure is paramount. Children need to be supported and guided in a loving and sensitive way. Good positive part models are key at this age when peer pressure is at its highest.Moral Development encompasses the decisions do by children and is linked to social and emotional development. The environment a child is in strongly cause how t hey develop socially and morally. Between the ages of two and three children begin to infrastand the word No and need constant support to guide them in the right direction. 3-5 years children can follow simple rules and need good consistent boundaries to follow. Praise and reinforcement of behaviour is key. Between 5-7 years children enjoy games with rules. For guinea pig a child may start to enjoy football as they can follow rules and kick the ball showing the link amongst physical and moral development as well and having the social skills to communicate. 7-9 years children enjoy being given some responsibility. At school this may take the form for example of paint monitor. By the ages of 9-11 children begin to become a lot more aware of the feelings of others around them until their teens when children should earn a very good understanding of what is right and wrong and also how their behaviours and actions affect other people. more theorists have attempted to explain how chil dren develop in particular how they develop cognitively.One of the most potent is that of Albert Bandura and the Social Learning theory. His theory is based upon the assumption that children learn through modelling the behaviour of others. This covers both positive and controvert behaviour. For example if a child sees their boots fighting they will take on this hard-hitting behaviour therefore intrusioning on their social and emotional development.Jean Piaget suggested that children develop cognitively by exit through a series of set stages. This implies that all children go through the analogous processes at the same age and develop at the same rate. Piaget states that learnedness is based upon experience.Len Vygotsky extended this to state that adults must support and scaffold a childs learning experience and devised the theory of Zone of proximal development. A child who is non provided with this scaffold and support will non reach their full potential developmentally. some other very influential theory is that of BF Skinner and Positive reinforcment. This theory states that children will repeat behaviour that is rewarded and drop by the wayside behaviour that is ignored. This can be seen in schools with the uniforms of sticker rewards.Many factors both personal and external can influence a child development.Personal factors are those which occur through nature or a persons genetics and include pregnancy and birth problems, health issues and disabilities.For example a child may be born with a specific genetic disability such as drinks syndrome. Downs syndrome is a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21 in the personates cells Around one in every 1000 babies born in the UK will have Downs syndrome. www.downs-syndrome.org.uk . Downs syndrome affects all areas of development including physical, social and cognitive.Childrens development can be effected during their time in the womb, for example if the mother smokes or drinks. One of the big problems is that of foetal Alcohol syndrome (FAS) foetal Alcohol syndrome is the leading known cause of intellectual disability www.drinkaware.co.ukChildren with FAS are born with umpteen an(prenominal) distinctive features for example small and narrow eyes a smooth area between the nose and the lips as well as hearing and ear problems, weakened immune system and a variety of other issues. Thus a child with FAS may suffer both physically and cognitively. The WHO quotes a 2005 US study which estimates that one in every 1000 children are born with FAS www.drinkaware.co.uk. Similar to FAS is fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder which is thought to affect one in every 100 babies. Rather like autistic spectrum this is an umbrella term to cover babies who are born with some of the symptoms of FAS and symptoms vary from child to child.another(prenominal) condition that effects a Childs development is Coeliac Disease. Coleiac Disease is a lifelong autoimmune unhealthi ness caused by intolerance to gluten. www.coeliac.org.uk Symptoms include failure to thrive, diarrhoea muscle wasting, mood and emotional distress. A child suffering from Colieac Disease may need time off school and may have to look out over out on a variety of school experiences such as PE dependent upon the severity thus impacting on their physical and social and emotional development.Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood indisposition that occurs when protein call haemoglobin is defective www.childrenshospital.org. Children suffering may need to dress up warmly and parry extremes in temperatures. They may need to stay in at playtime and dinner thus lose out in social experience and may have to be given other activities during PE once more effecting their physical and social development. As with many of the disorders the child may miss school callable to illness.Turners Syndrome (TS) is a medical disorder that affects about one in every 2500 girls. www.kidshealth.org They are usually short in height although this can be treated with hormones, TS effects the girls sexually development and if untreated they would not go through the changes associated with puberty. This would have a detrimental effect on the child both physically and socially and emotionally as they compare their self to others. They can also suffer learning difficulties with maths and activities such as map reading and visual organisation.Another health concern is glue ear. Glue ear effects a childs hearing and therefore if untreated can have a significant effect on a childs speech and language development. Approx 1 in 5 children up to the age of two will suffer from some degree of glue ear www.nhs.uk and this is a significant time developmentally for speech and language acquisition.There are also many external factors that can effect a childs development. For example a childs financial situation will effect where they live, their diet etc. They may not be given the same opportunities for play though clubs etc and as mentioned before this support their physical, social and moral development. Diet is key to development. A poor diet has been linked to problems such as ADHD. Lack of vitamins and minerals has been linked to many disorders for example lack of iron can lead to anaemia which would leave the child tired and lethargic and pull down short of breath. Lack of vitamin C can lead to scurvy which was thought to be unheard of in developed countries. withal it is becoming more prevalent with a diet lacking fresh takings and vegetables. All has an impact on the childs physical development.A big influence on many areas of a childs development is stress. Stress will hold a child back in all areas. In todays society a child is under many stressful situations one of the big ones being parental divorce and separation.One area that is coming to light more that effects a child development is that of a child becoming a child carer. It is estimated that in 2011, 175000 children under the age of 18 will be classed as a child carer. www.banardos.com Looking after someone at a young age will affect many areas of development including social as the child has less time to build friendships.The choices a child makes themselves can affect their development. Children are under great peer pressure to conform and this may push them into negative habits such as alcohol and drugs. The role models around the child have a significant impact both positively and negatively.There are many reasons why childrens development may not follow the expected pattern.Social influences may effect a childs development. As mentioned precedent life experiences such as divorce and parental difficulties can cause significant stress to the child which then impacts their development. The family set up can be stressful for example if the child is a carer. practically parents are poor in areas and this can result in the child being poor. If a parent struggles to read they will str uggle to support their childs literacy skills thus impacting on their communication development. The form of experiences given at home can impact significantly on development. Parents may not play and converse with their child in a supportive way. They may not attend clubs/ social situations out of doors the home. The area a child is brought up in can influence their development. The influences around them may be poor. If a child is brought up in a home surrounded by drugs and alcohol, they may chose to do this also. Life experience is critical to many areas of development in particular cognitive. If a child is not given valuable positive experiences their development may be delayed.Physical problems can effect development as mentioned above, for example glue ear can affect speech and language, tuners syndrome can effect physical development.A child needs to have their very basic needs met for example food, warmth rubber eraser before they can begin to develop appropriately.Cultu re plays an all important(p) part in a childs development. For example parents in western cultures are advised to lay children on their backs to prevent SIDS. However this can sometimes delay their crawling and rolling over. In some cultures for example among travellers gender plays an important role as an education is not seen as important for females as they are encouraged to become home makers. Children who move to new counties can suffer from a delay in development due to their language barrier however they do tend to catch up with appropriate support.If delays are surmise early intervention is key to the childs well being and planning for the future. Without intervention a child can become frustrated and have significantly reduced self esteem and confidence.Children have a health check at around two years to review their development. This reviews how a child is developing physical skills as well as communication and cogntive skills. Any areas for concern can be highlighted. F or example a child may need speech and language support at this stage. The prior an intervention is made the more chance that child has of reaching their full developmental potential. Early years settings are crucial at highlighting any areas for concern and putting support into place as needed. Looking at the example of Turners syndrome if support is not put in place be it emotional and medical the child may suffer severe lack of confidence in their physical appearance. A child with speech and language issues that is not supported very early will miss out on those vital early years of acquisition and may never catch up. Interventions and support take the form of many types dependent upon the type of delay and severity of the delay.ReferencesBurnham Louise, (2008), The Teaching Assistants Handbook, Essex, Heinemann.Beith Kate (2008), Childrens care learning and Development, Essex, Heinemann.www.downs-syndrome.org.ukwww.drinkaware.co.ukwww.childrenshospital.org.www.kidshealth.orgwww .nhs.ukwww.banardos.comwww.wellatschool.orgwww.coeliac.org.uk