Monday, April 30, 2012

Developmental Stages



Today, my daughter gave me this beautiful flower. She is very proud of it that she wants me to take a picture of her posing with her new discovery. I remember when she was little, the only thing that she can do is to stare at me and to eat and to cry. Now, she can pick flowers and appreciate the beautiful things around her. How time really flies.

I remember when I was in college, our professor would lecture us on the different stages of development. I was clueless then. Now, I have children of my own, I appreciate more my professor's lecture on child developmental stages. Children development is actually a process which involves learning and mastering skills like turning from supine to prone position, standing without help, walking, climbing up and down the stairs and many more. These skills are known as developmental milestones. Based on research, children develop skills in 5 areas of development.

Cognitive Development
In science, the term cognitive refers to mental processes. Cognitive development refers to the ability of the child to learn and solve problems. Example of this is a five-year-old learning to solve basic math problems.





Social and Emotional Development
This is the ability of the child to interact with other people. Examples of this stage include a six week old smiling at the face of her significant other and a ten month old baby learning to wave goodbye to his dad.

Speech and Language Development
This is the ability to understand and to use the language accordingly.

Fine Motor Skill Development
When discussing this type of development, always associate it with something small. It is the child's ability to use small muscles like using the little fingers to pick up small objects.


Gross Motor Skill Development
On the other hand, this type of motor skill is associated with the larger muscle group. This is the child's ability to use large muscles. Example of this type of development is a child learning to skip rope.


Whenever I see my kids learning new things, I get thrilled and excited. Who knows, they may develop faster than I could ever imagine.

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