Growth And Development : Physical Development, Social Development, Emotional Development,

TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT 

1 Physical development
 2. Cognitive development
3. Social and Emotional development
4. Language development

 

1 Physical development: 

   Sufi has turned two. She enjoys climbing up and down the stairs and uses crayons to scribble on the wall. She is also able to do several other tasks. Now you already know that there is an immense increase in Sufi’s abilities. She is not only gaining height and weight but is also able to walk, jump and make use of a spoon as well as crayons. Physical development is the most recognized and observable change in the life of a child. It includes the gross motor skills, such as walking, jumping, running, catching and the fine motor skills for painting, drawing, doing up buttons, using a spoon and writing. This development is largely dependent upon the child’s health and nutritional status.

 2. Cognitive development:

Sufi like her peers is a very curious child. She keeps exploring her environment to gain more knowledge about it. She loves to play with toys and puzzles and other objects in her environment which increase her cognitive abilities like thinking,reasoning, problem solving ability and memory development. Cognitive development focuses on how children learn and process information. As the children grow in age they can understand their environment by using their senses (seeing, listening, touching, smelling and tasting), registering information in their minds and efficiently retrieving it from their memory.

3. Social and Emotional development:

Nimrat and Sufi’s parents and other care givers loved the children and spent adequate time with them. Hence the children feel very secure and show a sense of concern for people around them. These are the indicators of sound social development among children. The seeds of this social behavior are sown in infancy itself. Young children also enjoy company of their friends. They develop social skills like sharing, cooperation, patience etc. in their interaction with peers and others. Can you think of the times when you felt happy or sad, excited or angry? These are all different types of emotions. Emotions are the stimulated or moved state of mind. Emotional development is the ability to control and manage one’s emotions. It is important that children in their early childhood are surrounded by people who are emotionally mature and stable and are able to manage their emotions. 

4. Language development:

 Interacting with others is very important for our day to day living. We all interact with each other through various methods of communication i.e writing, speaking, sign language, facial expressions, gestures, and several art forms. Language is an important medium of communication. It is a form of communication that uses words and symbols to express thoughts, desires and feelings.

                            PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT   

    1 During Infancy:

    We shall discuss the various aspects of physical development in this section.

 • Body size during infancy is measured in terms of height and weight. During the first year of life, a baby goes through more changes in his/her body size than at any other time.

• Height:  Children of the same age vary greatly in height, but the pattern of growth is similar for all. An average Indian child at birth measures between 17 to 21 inches; at one year 28 to 30 inches, at two years the child is 32 to 34 inches tall (almost double his birth length). For the first year in the baby’s life the length is recorded in lying down position using an instrument known as infant meter (Shown in the figure 18.6.1 below). Hence it is said that in first year we measure the length and not the height of the child. 

• Weight:  An average Indian newborn weighs 2.5 to 3.25 kg (5-8 pounds). You know what happened after 3-4 days, when Sufi was born? She started losing some weight and her parents immediately took her to the doctor. The doctor told them that this was normal and by 7-10 days she would not only regain her lost weight, but, would also show an increase in her weight. At 4 months, she doubled her birth weight and at the end of the first year, tripled it. During the second and third year, she gained from 1.25 to 2 kg annually. 

• Development of Bones:  Bone development consists of growth in bone size and the change in their composition. Ossification or hardening of the bones mainly takes place during infancy. Bones of the babies can be easily deformed because they are soft. The shape of the head, for example, can be flattened if babies spend most of their sleep time on their back or the chest can be flattened if they sleep too long on their stomachs. Hence it is advisable to change the position of the baby every two – three hours. 

 • Development of Teeth: Teeth start developing in the baby’s jaws during the third or fourth month of prenatal life but they don’t start appearing until the baby is 5 to 6 months old. Then they usually come out at a rate of about one tooth a month until the baby is 2 to 2½ years old. 

2 During Early Childhood Years:

Growth during the early childhood (2-6 years) is not as rapid as it was during infancy. During this period children improve on skills such as walking, running, balancing and self-dressing.   

• Height and weight: Now overall increase in Sufi’s height and weight is slower than it was during infancy. She is expected to gain 2 to 2.5 Kg each year and about 2 ½ to 3 inches each year.

 • Body Proportions: Sufi’s appearance is now changing to that of a young child. She is now four years of age and her chubby appearance is disappearing. Changes in body proportions for different parts of the body vary. The head growth is slow, limb growth is rapid and trunk growth is medium. Facial features remain small, but the chin becomes more pronounced and the neck elongates. By the time she will turn six years old, she would start acquiring body proportions of an adult.

 • Body Build: Differences in the body structure becomes apparent for the first time in early childhood. As body proportions change, children’s bodies begin to take on the characteristics of endomorphic, ectomorphic and mesomorphic body builds.

 

• Development of Bones during early childhood: The bones ossify at different rates in different parts of the body following the laws of development. The muscles become larger, stronger and heavier with a result that children look thinner as early childhood progresses, even though they weigh more. 

                                  MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 1 Infancy:

       The word motor refers to muscular movements. By now we know that Sufi has developed immense control over different muscles of her body. This refers to Motor development. It is a voluntary movement of the body or parts of the body. This includes control over gross movements and finer coordination. Gross motor development refers to control over large muscles. These muscles help performing functions such as crawling, standing, walking, climbing and running. Fine motor development involves the use of small muscles. Holding things like a cup or a crayon, grasping, turning the pages of a book, buttoning and zipping, drawing and writing are all examples of use of small muscles. As children grow, they not only refine the already acquired motor skills but also develop new ones. The most obvious change during the course of infancy is the acquiring of new motor skills, like sitting with support to sitting without support. 

2 Early Childhood:

 Development of Gross Motor Skills: During the first four or five years, the child gains control over gross movements. Most of the fundamental motor skills like running, catching, can be performed with greater accuracy than these were performed during infancy. After five years of age, major development takes place in muscular coordination. The following gross motor activities and skills can be observed among the pre-school children: 

• Running:At first, running is little more difficult than walking. By the age of 5 or 6 years, the child is able to run smoothly without any fall.

 • Jumping: A child can easily jump by his fourth birthday. He/she can jump from a height of about 12 inches. The five-year-old has no difficulty in jumping over obstacles.

 • Skipping and hopping: Skipping and hopping are modifications of jumping. Most of the children can skip well at the age of 6 years if provided opportunity.

 • Climbing: Before a child is two years old, he can walk upstairs and downstairs with help, holding the railing of the stairs or the hand of a person. 

• Tri-cycling: By the age of two years, very few children can ride tricycles. Between 3 and 4 years, all who have had opportunity to learn can do so.

 • Ball throwing and catching: By 6 years, most children become proficient, though there are vast variations in the skill at every age. For example at first, the child uses his/her whole body to grasp the ball. Then, he/she uses his arms only. Later he/she can catch the ball between the palms in a perfectly coordinated manner.

Development of Fine Motor Skills: As children move into early childhood years, their ability to manipulate the objects or work with hands is still not good. But as they play with small objects and perform activities, their small muscles develop and fine motor skills improve. Improved eye-hand co-ordination also helps in fine motor skills. During early childhood y, the activities like tearing, cutting, pasting, playing with dough or clay, drawing, threading the beads, helps to improve the eye hand coordination and motor skills of the child. Following are some of the skills which a child can perform by the age of five years:

• Self-feeding, dressing and grooming: By five years, children can feed themselves like an adult, dress completely and comb their hair successfully. 

• Handwriting:At five years, a child can write his/her name in capital letters. At six years, he/she can write the entire English alphabet if given the opportunity to learn them. 

• Copying: Between the ages of 2 ½ and 5 years, most children show improvement in their ability to copy simple geometric figures.