You are on page 1of 4

EARLY CHILDHOOD

At this age children are typically full of energy, eagerness, and curiosity. They seem to be
constantly on the move as they engross themselves totally in whatever captures their interest at
the moment.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Changes in size, proportions, and muscle strength
support explosion of new gross motor skills. As the body
becomes more streamlined and less top heavy, the center of
gravity shifts downward, toward the trunk (Berk, 2013).
Children should be able to walk up and down stairs
unassisted, using alternate feet. By this age, children should be able to maintain an improved
balance in order walk smooth and rhythmic. Children should also know how to throw a ball
with increased body rotation and transfer of weight on feet (Berk, 2013).
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
By this age, children should be able to have three-to four word sentences. Children
should be exposed to language and expressing themselves through conversation. Children at this
age should gradually generalize grammatical form and continue to add grammatical morphemes
in a regular (Berk, 2013). It is important for children age to engage with children and adults to
express their needs and wants. Children should also be able to state their own name as well as
memorize the names of familiar people around them. Children should be able to take information
and process it in order to use in conversation. Children should be able identify who they are and
who takes care of them. Children combine words into longer sentences, conveying more
complex thoughts and relationships. They gain greater control over pronunciation, and they show
signs of learning the rules of morphologyplurals, possessive and past tense, for example. But
perhaps the greatest change is in the expanded functionality of language (Piper, 2012).
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
The cognitive process includes such mental activities as discovering, interpreting,
sorting, classifying, and remembering (Allen
& Marotz, 2010, 2007). Cognitive
development is something that continues to
enhance as we get older. Children are able to
sort, classify, and pattern objects to various
attributes. Children can read simple words and identify and recognize alphabets. They can also
recognize sequencing in daily routines and come familiar with the routine until they can repeat it
independently.
SIGNS OF ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT
Signs of atypical development at this age group are when a child cannot form three to
four word sentences, ask questions and maintain eye contact, and stay with an activity for a long
periods of time. This is a trying age group where parents begin to see changes in their childs
development where it is either monumental or delayed. At this age, as stated above, children
should be able to form sentences and hold conversations. Being able to maintain eye contact is
important because it allows children to grasp an understanding of the directions given to them
and sticking to a particular activity for a long period of time. When these delays or signs of
behavior happen during development it is time to observe, process the information, and find the
best techniques to help with development before contacting a specialist.
DEVELOPMENTAL INFLUENCES
Participate in 30-60 minutes of vigorous physical activities with the child each day. Go
for a walk, play in the park, ride bikes, provide balls for kicking, throwing, and hitting, enroll in
tumbling or dance classes, play in the sprinkler or swim in a plastic pool (Allen & Marotz,
2010, 2007). As stated above this age is the age of curiosity, energy, and eagerness, it is
important to provide the child with the right tools to be successful through development. Also,
appreciate the childs spontaneity of how they communicate and respond to certain situations,
ask open-ended questions and take part in their interest.

References
Allen, K. E., & Marotz, L. R. (2010). Developmental Profiles: Pre-Birth through Twelve (6th
ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Berk, L. E. (2013). Child Development (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Children's Medical Service. (2012, August 30). Infant Toddler Development Training Module 1,
Lesson 3. Retrieved from http://www.cms-
kids.com/providers/early_steps/training/itds/module1/lesson3_3.html
Medline Plus. (2014, May 16). Adolescent Development. Retrieved from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002003.htm
Piper, T. (2012). Making Meaning Making Sense: Childrens Early Language Learning. San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

You might also like