Early Childhood

This stage of development is an interesting. At this stage children are doing a lot more for
themselves and are preparing to enter school. The purpose of this fact sheet is to discuss
several developmental milestones as well as provide information they will aid parents in
promoting healthy development in their child.
Physical Development Milestones
At this stage of development children are able to do a lot in the short amount of time they
have been in this world, but they are not done. One major
physical development seen in this stage is the ability to run
easily without falling over consistently, this milestone is
met at age 3. Another milestone is being able to do a
somersault. This milestones is typically mastered at age 5
(Center for Disease Control, 2014).
Cognitive Development Milestones
One milestone that is met in this area of
development is the child begins to copy and
identify capital letters of the alphabet, this is
typically seen by age 4. Another milestone that
is accomplished at during this stage is a child
understands when to turn the page of book, to
get to the next part of a story. This milestones is normally seen by age 3 years of age
(Center for Disease Control, 2014).
Language Development Milestones
Language and the ability to communicate with others increases in leaps and bounds at this
stage. Childrens vocabulary expands tremendously. One major developmental milestone is
by age three a child should be able to have a conversation with a stranger and be
understood most of the time. In addition, the ability for the child to speak in future tense
is also a skill that is learned by age five (Center for Disease Control, 2014).
Social/Emotional Developmental Milestones
During this stage children seem to more willing to get along with others. They begin to
want to cooperate with others, make friends and be well liked among their friends.
Children also begin to show that they are aware of gender such as what toys are for girls
and what toys are for boys (Center for Disease Control, 2014).
Moral Reasoning/Self-Regulation Developmental
Milestones
Children at this age are still learning how to handle not getting their way when they want.
They begin to comply with a delay in gratification yet are need of strategies that will help
them dealing with the delay. Another milestone seen is that children begin to respond with
empathy-based guilt when they have done something that they should not have done (Berk,
2013).
Social Factors
that Influence
Development
Many children at this age begin
preschool or a head start program of some sort. Though their parents are still the biggest
social contributor to their development school also has an impact. The peers that the
children come in contact with even the teachers the child is introduced to, all can
influence a childs development (Center for Disease Control, 2014).
Cultural Factors that Influences
They type of parenting used for child-rearing. Parenting styles (authoritative,
permissive etc.) have a major influence on the development of a child. However, the
type of parenting that a parent uses is typically one that way influenced by their
culture in one way or another. Typically the type of parenting that parents used
with their children is something that was taught to them by their parents and by
their parents parents and so on and so forth. For some parents the way that they
choose to raise their children is because of the way that their religion/spirituality
suggests that they should raise their children. For some parents it may be the
ethnic group that they belong to and the traditions and perspectives held within it
that have an impact on how the parent raises that child (Berk, 2013).
Warning Signs
A child that difficulties climbing stairs or falls down frequently may be struggling at this
stage of development and this could be a sign that the child may be developing atypically.
A child that has a very limited vocabulary at this age may be also be a sign that the child
may also have development struggles. If this is seen in a child parents should contact the
childs doctor for further examination (Center for Disease Control, 2014).
What You Can Do
Language is enhanced a lot during this stage, therefore parents should do their best to
support them. One way to do this is to speak in full sentences and use the actual words.
Parents should not use any type of baby language when speaking their preschooler.
Another tip is to begin to allow your child to help with chores, it is a social activity that
also encourages cognitive development and begins to teach the child responsibility (Center
for Disease Control, 2014).

References
Berk, L.E. (2013). Child Development. (9
th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Center for Disease Control. (2014). Developmental Milestones.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html
Center for Disease Control. (2014). Positive parenting tips.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/index.html