Development and growth for a child can be divided into four periods:
- Infancy
- Preschool Years
- Middle Childhood Years
- Adolescence
Categories of Development
- Gross motor
- Fine motor
- Sensory
- Language and Literacy
- Mathematics
- Socioemotional
- Cognitive
- Attention
- Memory
- Cognitive Flexibility – develops gradually throughout early childhood and has an influence on social and academic competence, e.g., reading and spelling
- Inhibitory Control – controlling a dominant response (first answer that comes to mind) and thinking about better an idea or response
- Self-regulation – planning, attention, recall
- Executive Functions – language, literacy, mathematics
Rate of Development
- Babies may develop at different rates.
- There is a wide range for “normal”.
- A baby may be ahead in some areas and behind in others.
References
Medline Plus. (n.d.). Infant and Newborn Development. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/infantandnewborndevelopment.html
Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8: Deepening and Broadening the Foundation for Success; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Allen LR, Kelly BB, editors. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 23. 4, Child Development and Early Learning. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310550/