Developmental Milestones

Current Developmental Milestones and Future Caregiver Activities to Foster the Cognitive, Social, Motor, Language and Adaptive Development of Benelli Kolb. A Developmental Checklist from 20 months to 30 Months of Age. Danielle L. Kolb Pittsburg State University

Dr. Duane Whitbeck April 27th 2012

Developmental Milestones Abstract Benelli Kolb is a 21 month old toddler whose developmental areas were tested by her mother using a 20-21 Month ASQ-3 Questionnaire and a developmental checklist provided by Dr. Duane Whitbeck. Benelli was tested in 6 areas of development; cognitive development and problem solving, language and communication, socialization-emotional development, fine and gross motor skill development, personal awareness and emotional well-being. It was found that she was developing in all areas at normal or above normal rates. There are 5 activities for each of the 6 cognitive areas to help foster and expand Benellis growth and development. These activities are designed for use in the home or daycare environment.

Developmental Milestones Introduction Benelli is a 22 month old toddler born on July 19th, 2010. She weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces at birth and was 18 inches long but now weighs 25 pounds and is 31 inches tall. She has curly brown hair and brown eyes and is a typical looking toddler. Benelli is a very outgoing and adaptable girl. She does well in social situations but still enjoys being able to play alone. Her favorite food is blueberries and the only thing her parents havent been able to get her to eat is brussel sprouts. Benelli is current on all immunizations and is currently in good health. She has eczema on her hands and in the corners of her elbows and other than having RSV at 9 months old she has had no major medical problems or hospitalizations. Benelli lives with her mother, father and older brother and attends day care during the day. Her father works during the day while her mother attends class and her brother is in school. Benelli was observed and tested with 2 types of developmental checklists. The first one was an ASQ-3 20 Month Information Survey (Squires). The ASQ-3 is given by Parents as Teachers and has replaced The Denver Screening test in recent months. This checklist was completed when Benelli was 20 months and 26 days old and administered by her mother. The second developmental checklist was provided by Dr. Duane Whitbeck for an Infant and Toddler Development Class. The ages addressed with that screening were 12-18, 18-24 and 24-30 months. This test was also administered by Benellis mother. The last one was a Developmental Checklists Birth to Five (Developmental). It was used for reference and to compare the 3 checklists for consistency. Benelli was tested in 6 developmental areas to see what her developmental progress was and so that the family could create and execute activities to foster further development of those 6 areas based on the conclusions of the checklists.

Developmental Milestones

Language and Communication Development Benelli is able to accomplish all of the 12-18 month communication goals, 4 of the 5 1824 month goals and 1 of the 24-30 month goals. Language and communication have been the biggest changes noted in the past month. At one point Benellis parents were worried about her verbal skills but with the recent progress Benelli has made that concern is no longer an issue. Benelli spoke her first word at 10 months, it was Mama. Benelli has a functional vocabulary of 20 or more words and is adding new words by the day. Currently she is repeating the words she hears in everyday language such as eat, bye-bye and bath. Exposure to everyday language is key to increasing her vocabulary. Benelli is also able to name 5 of 8 common animals when asked where is or whats that. Animal sounds have been hard for her to repeat but in recent weeks she will imitate cat, dog, duck and frog sounds if a caregiver first imitates them. When Benelli is hungry or thirsty she will say eat and go to her high chair or point to the cabinets and refrigerator. These verbal and nonverbal cues help her indicate her wants and needs. Only recently has Benelli started to use 2-3 word combinations and sentences to express herself. The most common one is, Bubby did it. Benelli is starting to express that family members are gone and she remembers where. It has been reported by the day care provider that Benelli will ask where her mother, father and brother are during the day or say, Daddy work, Mommy work or Bubby school. When at home with her mother and brother Benelli will ask about her father and will point to dark colored trucks asking, Daddy truck?. Benelli does well following simple 1 and 2 step directions. When asked to bring a book to Mommy or to put a toy away for Daddy Benelli responds 80% of the time. The 1

Developmental Milestones goal that Benelli has mastered in the 24-30 month range is preferring to listen to a familiar story. Benellis favorite book is Llama Llama Red Pajama and it is read to her almost every night. She enjoys picture books and asking, Whats that while pointing to the pictures more than books that are read aloud. The one and only pronoun that Benelli is using is me which is her variation of mine and one she is starting to use quite frequently. According to both developmental checklists Benelli is on track and has mastered the language and communication skills that are appropriate for her age. Cognitive Development and Problem Solving Benelli tested well in all areas of cognitive development and problem solving. She has mastered all of the 12-18 month and 18-24 month goals while mastering 4 of 7 24-30 month goals. Benelli uses the television remote as a toy phone while playing and talks to whoever is on the other end. This type of play indicates she can, imitate a pretend action with an object and exhibits symbolic play (Whitbeck). As discussed in the language section Benelli understands when her family members and other familiar people are absent. She will also look family members by going room to room and saying their name. If or when she doesnt find them she will come back and say, Daddy work? to make sure she didnt miss something. Benelli has the cognitive ability to imitate others facial expressions. Her father winks at her throughout the day and now in response Benelli will close both eyes and smile. She is also able to imitate washing her hair and body while in the bathtub by moving her hands over her head and belly. Being able to imitate actions helps Benelli understand she is a separate person who is capable of doing some of the same things the people around her do.

Developmental Milestones When given a shape sorter to play with Benelli is able to match up and put in the circles, square and triangles. She tries to put the stars in the triangle openings and the hearts in the circle openings because the shapes are so similar. This activity is a great problem solving activity for her. Sometimes she does not have the patience to accomplish the task or just wants free play with the blocks but that is normal for her age. This is also the age where ownership and mine becomes a big part of daily life. Benelli isnt able to say mine but will say me and take away from others what she believes is hers which indicates she has a, sense of ownership. Benelli enjoys getting into things and exploring the contents. She will open dresser drawers, dump laundry baskets and empty kitchen cabinets to explore their contents. She will open anything she can get her hands on to see whats inside. Backpacks, diaper bags and the contents of her hair bow box are commonly dumped so she understands the concept of opening something and removing its contents. If she cannot reach something or wants something off the counter in the kitchen Benelli will push or pull a chair to the counter and crawl up on it to retrieve the item. Her mother and father once caught her on the kitchen table dancing because she had climbed up there to turn on the radio. Benellis toys are kept in a toy box in the living room. She is able to put away toys when asked and retrieve toys from the toy box if asked. Being able to remember where those items are kept helps with her association and classification skills. This skill also demonstrates that she understands prepositions like under, next to and on top of. Like most children her age Benelli wants to learn about the world around her. She does so by asking, That?. She may use that instead of why because she has not added why to her vocabulary or because she does not understand what why means. Cognitive development

Developmental Milestones and problem solving are areas at which Benelli excels. She is able to process much of what goes on in her world and use it to solve problems and enhance her cognitive abilities. Socialization Emotional Development Socialization and emotional development were the strongest areas of Benellis development. She has mastered all of the goals in the 12-18, 18-24 and 3 of the 4 in the 24-30 month ranges. Her mother reports that one of her favorite things about Benelli is that she is a social creature who loves people and has an easygoing personality. Benelli will play with any and all children around her and she does not seem to prefer playing with one age over another. When she is dropped off in the mornings for daycare she greets her friends Drew and Lanie by saying their names and waving at them. Benelli also understands that her home environment is different from her daycare environment. The daycare provider has reported that Benelli has very few emotional outburst or incidents with taking toys from others, biting or hitting. The daycare provider has also said that Benelli shares her toys and takes turns with others on a fairly regular basis and is respectful of the people and toys around her. At home Benelli is happy and energetic but does have troubles with emotional outbursts, hitting and taking toys from her brother. Benelli usually has tantrums and outbursts when she is waiting on someone or something. Toddlers have no sense of time so waiting is very hard for them. Listening to the requests of her parents is something Benelli does well. She understands that there are consequences to some actions such as being removed from the high chair after being prompted not to throw food or coming inside after being prompted to not go toward the street. Benelli drinks from a lidless cup at dinner and attempts to eat her food with a fork or spoon. She does a good job feeding herself and refuses to let others feed her. After dinner

Developmental Milestones Benelli likes to help clean-up her high chair with a damp rag. When prompted to, help Mommy clean Benelli will wipe the tray down. Just as Benelli will imitate others cleaning, cooking and bathing she will also imitate caring for her own babies. Benelli will carry rock and kiss her babies and try to feed them with toy spoons and give them drinks from her own Sippy cup. Benelli has offered the babies her binky from time to time and when her father asks her why the babys crying she will shhh the baby for comfort. Gross and Fine Motor Development-Perceptual Motor Skills For the gross motor section of testing Benelli did very well. She walks and runs with no problems but does have trouble coming to a sudden stop. Benelli understands the concept of jumping but cannot yet get both feet off the ground at the same time. Both of these physical limitations are typical of toddlers. Benelli has some trouble throwing a small ball and tries to throw her brothers much larger soccer and basketballs. She can go up and down stairs with assistance from caregivers or a hand rail but cannot do so alternating her feet. Benelli has no gross motor delays and her parents have no concerns about her gross motor development. Her favorite gross motor tasks are kicking a ball with one foot while standing in front of it and pushing her Cozy Coupe around the yard. Benelli enjoys making marks in coloring books on paper and with chalk on the sidewalk. She is able to copy a vertical line but no other marks. While reading at night and looking at books with her parents Benelli is able to turn board book pages one at a time but thinner paper pages are more difficult for her to turn singly. One of Benellis milestones for this developmental area is stacking a 4-6 block tower. She has not accomplished this task. She seems very

Developmental Milestones distracted when she gets the blocks and wants to throw them, put them in her mouth or put them back in the container. With continued practice she will be able to build 4-6 block structures. Play-dough is a fine motor task we attempted with Benelli. Initially she tried to eat it but with some simple redirecting she was squishing it between her fingers. Benelli has no fine motor delays and is on target for a 22 month old toddler. Personal Awareness Development Benelli is able to accomplish all 12-18 and 18-24 month tasks and one of the 24-30 month tasks. Personal awareness skills are big milestones for toddlers. When a toddler reaches one of these milestones he/she will be becoming more independent and feels more like a big boy/girl. Benelli likes to put on family members shoes even though they are too big for her. She knows what shoes are and they go on feet. Benelli is starting to indicate toileting needs after she has had an accident. These are some of the first signs to potty training readiness. Benelli no longer uses a bottle and is able to use a Sippy cup with no problems and a lidless cup with minimal spilling. When she is done eating she helps wash her hands and face before bedtime. At bath time Benelli helps remove her shirt, socks, shoes and pants but cannot accomplish this task without the help of a caregiver. After her bath Benelli likes to look in the mirror and talk to the pretty baby. Body awareness is also a major milestone for toddlers. Benelli demonstrates this by being able to point to 7 body parts when a caregiver asks her where they are at. These personal awareness milestones have been met and Benelli is meeting these milestones at a normal pace. Emotional Well-Being

Developmental Milestones Emotional well-being is another developmental area that Benelli is excelling in. She has met all of the 12-18 and18-24 month milestones as well as 4 out of 5 24-30 month milestones. Benelli is a very affectionate little girl who is able to communicate her desire to be close to her caregivers by asking for hugs and requesting caregivers pick her up. She will hug her family members goodbye and blow them kisses as they leave for work and school in the morning. When her mother picks her up from daycare Benelli will run to her as soon as she sees her and give her a hug. Benelli will then point to her diaper bag and the door and say bye-bye to her friends. In the evenings she will watch for her father from the back door and when he walks in the house she will gesture to be picked up and hugged. Benelli is able to communicate her emotional wants and needs very effectively. Benelli explores the environment around her to find out what she can and cannot do. While outside she will try to go toward the road and look back at her caregivers to see what their responses are. By setting limits for Benelli her caregivers are showing her how to respect people and the things around her. She will test toys and items in her environment to discover cause and effect instead of imitating the play and actions of others. This is a 24-30 month milestone that Benelli has already met and continues to master. Toddlers at this age should, begin to instigate activities based on own needs wants and desires rather than by imitation alone, (Whitbeck). Benelli will play alone with the toy kitchen and pretend to eat what she cooks or offer the meal to others. When it gets close to nap time or bed time Benelli will bring her blanket into whatever room her caregiver is in and gesture to be picked up. Benelli has a very regular sleep routine. She takes a nap at 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. and will sleep from 8:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Benelli is, beginning to show a fairly consistent emotional style, and has an easygoing

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Developmental Milestones personality (Whitbeck). Her emotional well-being is at or above her peers and developing at a normal rate. Conclusions Benelli is developing at a typical 22 month old level. She is developing above her peers in her emotional well-being, socialization and cognitive development areas. These areas need to have continued support from her family and caregivers to ensure that they continue to develop appropriately. In the other 3 areas Benelli shows no signs of delay and is developing on schedule. To encourage and foster the development of these 6 areas Benellis parents and family will provide developmentally appropriate activities for her to participate in. Activities 1. Language and Communication Expose Benelli to more pronouns and their use in daily living activities (Kansas Communication). Work on teaching Benelli her name by using her name when speaking to her and when pointing to her say Benelli and have her attempt to repeat her name. Encourage language development through continuing to read to Benelli and pointing out pictures with their names (Kansas Communication). Show Benelli pictures of animals then name them and imitate their sounds to encourage language development and animal recognition. When Benelli uses a 1-2 word sentence give her more words to use with her sentence and repeat it back to her. Example- Daddy home? Is Daddy home?, Eat, eat. I want to eat, or Im hungry.

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Developmental Milestones 2. Cognitive Development and Problem Solving Skills Begin counting objects with Benelli. Count the number of grapes on her tray at lunch or her number of fingers and toes (Kansas Cognitive). Introduce large piece puzzles to put together with Benelli. Decrease the amount of assistance as her skill progresses (Kansas Cognitive). Play simple games with Benelli such as Peek-a-Boo or Hide and Seek. Talk about where objects are in relation to Benelli. Are they over, under, behind, in or out. Allow Benelli a chance to group objects by color, size or shape. Make sure to explain what she is doing, the colors and shapes she can see and use words like big and little to classify those objects (Kansas Cognitive). 3. Socialization Work on naming each of Benellis family members. Benelli is able to identify her mother, father and brother. When asked will she point to them? Take Benelli to places where she has a chance to socialize with other children her age. Practice taking turns and communicating with the other children. Play groups or play dates are an option as well as trips to the park or part time day care. Practice cooperation skills. Allow Benelli to wait for others to complete their task before tending to hers. See if she is able to wait for short amounts of time without getting upset. Make sure she knows her needs will be met when you are done (Kansas Social).

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Developmental Milestones Opportunities to follow adult requests in a fun environment. Ask Benelli to follow you to the swing so she can be swung. Ask her to pick up the blocks with you so that a new toy can be brought out or book read (Kansas Social). Bath time is a great time to practice cooperation. See if Benelli can wash her feet, hair, face or tummy when requested. This will also help her learn the names for her body parts. 4. Gross and Fine Motor Skills While playing give Benelli an opportunity to pull a wagon or push a large toy car around the yard to help develop large motor skills. Give Benelli soft objects to throw toward an empty clothes basket. Rolled socks work great for this. See if she can throw the socks in the basket. She may need to start closer to the basket and back away with practice (Kansas Physical). Benelli needs ample time to eat her dinner and drink from her cup. At mealtimes provide Benelli with a toddler safe spoon or and fork and a cup without a lid so she can practice these skills. Allow Benelli to scribble with a crayon or marker on paper. Going outside to scribble on the sidewalk with chalk is a great variation. This will help her develop her fine motor skills while developing her understanding of cause and effect. Play dough or clay are great things to let Benelli explore especially while her mother or father is making dinner. Give her a small amount on her highchair

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Developmental Milestones tray and let her squish and pound it. This will also help strengthen her fine motor muscles (Kansas Physical). 5. Perceptual Motor Skills Work on stacking blocks with Benelli. Start by stacking two blocks then move on to more. Soft blocks, stacking cups and Duplo blocks work well for the activity. She can also sort the blocks by size and color. While reading books allow Benelli to turn the pages. Show her how to turn them one-by-one. Start with board book pages and once she has the concept down try turning paper pages (Kansas Physical). Benelli is able to jump if she is on a soft surface. Practice jumping somewhere safe. To encourage her to jump have her jump on a piece of paper on the floor or off of a bottom step or step stool. Modeling jumping would be helpful and show her what the process looks like (Kansas Physical). Practice going up and down the stairs with Benelli. Allow her to hold your hand while going up and down. Show her how to hold the handrail and take the steps one at a time. Wrap a small toy in tissue paper and encourage Benelli to unwrap it. Hiding a toy underneath layers of blankets is another version of this activity. Benelli practices hand-eye coordination skills with this activity. 6. Emotional Well-Being Spend time playing house. Old pots and pans work well or a small sweeper/toy vacuum. A cardboard box with a small blanket inside works well

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Developmental Milestones as a toy crib/bed for stuffed animals and baby dolls. Encourage Benelli to explore these items on her own during parallel play. Play face games in the mirror. Make funny faces and encourage Benelli to make the same faces or faces of her own. This is also another great time to practice teaching Benelli to say her name (Kansas Social). Make sure that there is a consistent routine in Benellis day to day activities. If she has a regular routine she will start to understand when nap time or bedtime is. This will teach her to wind down before nap and bedtimes and anticipate the days schedule (Kansas Social). Having a variety of activities available for Benelli will allow her to explore her world on her own and initiate her own play. Encourage her to seek out new experiences in her environment. Taking the toys out of the toy box to sit inside and pretend its a car. Benelli needs to express herself with words instead of yelling and pulling at people. A solution to this is to explain to her how she is feeling and give her words for her want and needs. This will allow her to communicate easier and encourage her to use her language to express herself (Kansas Social).

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Developmental Milestones References "Developmental Checklists Birth to Five." Preschool Learning Center. 2006. Web. Apr. 2012. <http://www.preschoollearningcenter.org/images/upload/developmental_checklist.pdf>. Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services. A Booklet for Kansas Families, Cognitive Development: Thinking to Learn. Topeka: Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services, 2010. Print. Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services. A Booklet for Kansas Families, Physical Health and Development. Topeka: Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services, 2010. Print. Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services. A Booklet for Kansas Families, Social and Emotional Development. Topeka: Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services, 2010. Print. Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services. A Booklet for Kansas Families, Communication and Literacy. Topeka: Kansas Department of Health, Infant Toddler Services, 2010. Print. Squires, and Bricker. "Ages and Stages Questionnaire Third Edition ASQ-3." www.parentsasteachers.org. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2009. Web. Apr. 2012. <http://airforcemedicine.afms.mil/idc/groups/public/documents/afms/ctb_138494.pdf>. Whitbeck, Duane. "Developmental Checklist for Infants and Toddlers." Angel Learning. Angel Learning, Spring 2012. Web. Apr. 2012.

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Developmental Milestones <https://pittstate.angellearning.com/section/default.asp?id=12SP%2DAS%2DFCS%2D3 92%2D01>.

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