1. Ages & Stages of Child Development
© Learning ZoneXpress

2. Learner Objectives Identify stages of child development
Understand physical, intellectual, emotional and social characteristics of developmental stages
Apply stages to interactions with children
Slide 2: How many stages of child development can you name before we see this powerpoint? What types of descriptions are included in the physical, intellectual, emotional and social characteristics of the stages of development? What area do you think would be the most interesting to learn more about?

3. Significance of this Study
Studying child development helps us to learn:
Children have stages of growth
Creeping and crawling before walking
Each stage builds on previous stages
Feeling trust must come before acting independently
Stages are only a guide, each child will grow at their own pace
“Early” and “late” walkers can come from the same family
Slide 3-4: These slides tell us why it is important to learn about child development. What reasons do you have for wanting to learn more? Why is it important that all people learn more about child development?

4. Significance of this Study (cont.)
Development does not always go forward in even steps
After learning toilet independence, a child may forget their new skill
Mistakes are normal
Children fall often before they walk
Children grow in several areas simultaneously
Listening to a book brings about learning a language, trust in an adult and how to turn pages .

5. Stage Names and Age Ranges
Newborn
Birth to three months
Infancy
Three months to one year
Toddlerhood
One to three years
Preschool age
Three to five years
School age
Five to ten years
Slide 5: This slide lists the ages in each stage of child development. How many children do you know in each of these stages? Which stage do you predict has the most changes and growth? If you had a career working with children, which of these stages would you most like to work with and why?

6. Types of Growth & Development
Physical Development – Growth in the body’s size and ability
Growing taller
Gaining weight
Building muscles
Coordinating eyes and hands
Emotional Development – Maturing of the mind
Thinking
Reasoning
Using language
Forming ideas
Slide 6: In these slides – the types of growth and development, the overall physical and intellectual development characteristics are described. Can you see physical development changes more easily or do you think it is just as easy to see how a child grows in intellectual development?

7. Emotional and Social Development
Expression of feelings and relationships with others
Strong feelings, such as love, fear, anger
Self esteem
Sharing
Coping with change
Communicating with others
Playing with others
Learning right and wrong
Slide 7: What makes social development so challenging for some children? How important is it for parents to model good behaviors associated to emotional and social development? (Answers will vary)

8. Newborn Development (birth to three months)
Physically
Short necks
Sloping shoulders
Protruding abdomen
Narrow chests
Weak legs and arms
They are very helpless
Respond to touch and warmth
May kick or cry at air changes, rough textures or moisture
See patterns in close-up objects
They see best at an eight-inch distance
Communicate by crying and cooing and beginning to smile
Slide 8: How many of these physical development characteristics have you observed in a newborn? What is your experience with newborns?

9. Reflexes of Newborns Rooting Reflex: Grasping Reflex: Startle Reflex:
When the newborn’s cheek is stroked, they turn their head toward the touch and open their mouth and start sucking in search of food.
Grasping Reflex:
When the inside of the palm is touched, babies grasp a finger tightly.
Startle Reflex:
When a baby is put down, held away, or hears a loud noise, a baby throws out their arms, draw back their head and stretch out their legs in response.
Babinski Reflex:
Babies extend their toes when the soles of their feet are stroked.
Slide 9: How many of you have observed these behaviors in newborns? Did you know that each type of reflex had a name? Can you give an example of how a newborn exhibits the grasping reflex or the startle reflex?

10. Newborn Care Giving Guidelines
Establish a daily routine
Provide consistent care
Talk to infants
Hold infants close while giving care
Provide an interesting environment
Be relaxed and calm
Develop bonding by cuddling infants
Slide 10: Do you think it is harder to care for a newborn than an older child? What are some things that are more challenging for you as a caregiver of a newborn? (Answers will vary)

11. Infant Development (three months to one year)
Physical Development
Rapid growth – 11/2 times in length and 3 times weight from birth to 1 year
Hold head up and turn it
Control of arm and leg movements
Support themselves with arms when on tummy
Grasp and drop objects
Learn to sit
Begin to creep or crawl
Pull themselves up to standing position
Develop hand-eye coordination
Slide 11: Infants grow and change rapidly. Have you ever noticed what it is like to buy clothes for infants? How often does a 6 month old baby wear the 6 month clothes? What special things are used when making infant clothing to make them more accommodating for this type of child? (Answers will vary) How many of you know when you were able to sit or stand?

12. Infant Development (cont.)
Intellectual Development
Communicate at first by crying
Coo and begin to babble
Begin to say a few words
Explore objects by touching and putting them in their mouth
Slide 12: Who remembers what your parents told you were the first words that you said? Is it true that “everything goes into an infant’s mouth”? What types of changes in the home need to happen when an infant begins crawling?

13. Infant Development (cont.)
Emotional and Social Development
Recognize caregivers
Experience stranger anxiety with unfamiliar person
Experience separation anxiety when caregiver leaves
Fear moving too far from caregiver when playing
Need to develop trust in their caregivers.
Slide 13: How many of you have seen “stranger anxiety” in an infant? Describe the situation. How would you describe the “play time” of an infant?

14. Infant Care Giving Guidelines
When holding young infants, support their head and neck.
Make the environment safe for the child by removing harmful objects that are within their reach.
Choose toys that are safe; check the size and sturdiness.
Pay special attention to their safety when they are crawling.
Slide 14: What are your challenges when you are a babysitter for an infant? What do you think would be the most important quality a parent would look for when choosing a caregiver?

15. Toddlers Development (one to three years)
Physical Development
Grow rapidly, becoming taller and heavier
Strengthening of bones and muscles
Begin to walk, climb, run, throw balls, stack blocks and turn knobs
Begin to use a spoon and cup
Seem to be in constant motion
Slide 15: What do you observe and notice most about a toddler? Describe their physical accomplishments.

16. Toddlers Development (cont.)
Intellectual Development
Begin talking and saying short sentences
Understand more than they can say
Learn names of body parts and objects around them
Begin to understand a vague sense of time, counting, colors, shapes, sizes
Slide 16: What observations have you made about the intellectual development of toddlers? Do toddlers understand more than they can communicate? What would be a fun learning game to play with toddlers related to intellectual development?

17. Toddlers Development (cont.)
Emotional and Social Development
Play next to, rather than with, other children
Say “no” and “I do it myself” a lot
Take pride in dressing and feeding themselves
May grab a toy if another child looks at the toy
Begin to learn rules and limits
Begin to understand right and wrong
Test new behaviors and observe results of their actions
May be easily frustrated
May have extreme mood swings
Developing a sense of self worth
May have a fantasy life
Slide 17: Why do you think a favorite word of toddlers is “no”? What are some of the hardest social development characteristics that a toddler must learn? Under the category of emotional development – a toddler is easily frustrated. Do you think this is true of the toddlers you have observed? Why?

18. Toddler Care Giving Guidelines
Provide toys at the child’s ability level: Puzzles, nesting buckets, and blocks.
Take walks to explore surroundings and talk about what’s being seen.
Identify objects the child can see, hear, smell, touch or taste.
Read to the child and name objects in pictures.
Let the child help with simple household tasks.
Compliment the child on their good behavior and accomplishments.
Read and talk to the child.
Slide 18: What are the most popular toys that toddlers have? What type of activity have you done as a care giver of a toddler that has taught them something educational? Name a household task that a toddler could help with.

19. Preschoolers Development (three to five years)
Physical Development
Arms and legs become longer in relation to their torso
Becomes thinner
Improved ability to hop, skip, catch and throw and balance on one foot
Can feed themselves and work large buttons or zippers
Can use small scissors and glue things together
Can draw somewhat realistic pictures
Slide 19: What do you think is the most important physical development characteristic of a preschooler and why? What physical game can you play successfully with a preschooler?

20. Preschoolers Development (cont.)
Intellectual Development
Ask “who, what and where” questions about their environment
Use short sentences to carry on a conversation
Begin to learn about reading, writing and following directions
Can concentrate on a task
Slide 20: Give an example of intellectual development displayed by a preschooler.
Share a conversation you had with a preschooler. What topics did you discuss? What surprised you about their knowledge of the subject?

21. Preschoolers Development (cont.)
Emotional and Social Development
Are eager to please
Begin to be cooperative and to share in playing with others
Begin to solve simple problems
Can understand and follow rules
Have a sense of right and wrong
Want to avoid punishment and gain rewards
Express feelings
Need to develop positive feelings about themselves
May have fears, such as of the dark
May not grasp differences between fantasy and reality
Slide 21: From your experiences, did the social development of the preschoolers follow the guidelines given on our slide? How do preschoolers often express their feelings?

22. Preschoolers Care Giving Guidelines
Build motor skills by providing water play, encouraging running, skipping, playing catch and with games like hide and seek and Simon Says.
Do simple crafts, storytelling, use puppets and play dress up.
Encourage the child to talk about their activities, artwork and feelings about their friends and family.
Provide puzzles, cutting and coloring activities.
Assign household tasks and help the child to successfully complete the task.
Talk with the child about their everyday activities and feelings, encouraging their questions.
Slide 22: As a babysitter, have you followed these care giving guidelines? Which of the activities mentioned have you done with Preschoolers? From your experiences, what type of activities do preschoolers enjoy most?

23. School Age Children Development (five to ten years)
Physical Development
Replacement of baby teeth with permanent teeth
Increased ability in large motor skills – kicking and catching a ball
Slide 23: If you were a teacher, what would be the challenges for teaching children at age five to ten? Tell a story about the loss of a baby tooth.

24. School Age Children Development (cont.)
Intellectual Development
Exploring and testing of their environment and ideas
Asking many questions about how and why things are as they are
Learning math, reading and writing skills
Expanding vocabularies by about 5000 words per year
Slide 24: What do you remember about yourself or a brother or sister regarding asking lots of questions? How is asking questions important to the intellectual development?

25. School Age Children Development (cont.)
Emotional and Social Development
Forming peer groups
Taking more responsibility for their behavior
Discovering that rules may be flexible
Knowing difference between right and wrong
Recognizing others have feelings
Feeling of fear may decrease
Feeling of stress may increase
Slide 25: What do you remember about learning to share? What examples of sharing or problems learning to share can you give from children you have observed recently? What are some of the issues parents or children have to deal with if children have trouble with social or emotional development?

26. School Age Children Care Giving Guidelines
Support the child’s involvement in learning and participating in school activities.
Help the child to develop one or two special interests, such as collecting stamps or rocks, studying birds, playing an instrument, or getting involved in a sport.
Help them develop one or two special interests such as collecting of something like stamps, rocks, or studying birds.
Provide realistic positive feedback.
Encourage friendships and involvement in groups of children you know well.
Provide ways for the child to learn responsibilities such as caring for pets.
Encourage healthy eating habits and appropriate feelings about body image.
Slide 26: What types of responsibilities were you given as a child? Did you have pets? What kinds of chores did you have? What do you remember about having collections, hobbies, playing an instrument or being in a sport when you were in elementary school?

27. Discussion Questions
1. How does knowledge of child development help parents with the task of parenting?
2. Why does a doctor check a child’s height and weight when giving regular check-ups?
3. How does knowing sequences of development help a parent support the child’s growth and development?
4. When should a child begin to help with household chores?
5. How does knowledge of child development reduce the potential for child abuse?
Slide Continue to follow the discussion and review questions given on all of the remainder of the slides.

28. Review
1. This type of development refers to development of the mind. It is the ability to think, reason, use language and form ideas. What is it?
Answer: Intellectual
2. This development is the growth or change in body size and ability. What type is it?
Answer: Physical

29. Review (cont.)
3. When you learn the rules and learn to communicate and get along with others, you are experiencing this type of development.
Answer: Social
4. Love, happiness, fear and anger are sometimes expressed in this type of development.
Answer: Emotional

30. Match the Ages to the Stages of Child Development
1. 3 months to one year A. Preschool age
2. three to five years B. Newborn
3. birth to 3 months C. Toddlerhood
4. one to three years D. School Age
5. five to ten years E. Infancy

31. Web Sites to Review Examples of Developmental Stages
Developmental Milestones
Halsey Schools – Ages and Stages of Child Development
Hills/Help_Pages/Ages & Stages/12-24 Months.htm
Normal Stages of Human Development
Other References
Butler, S. & Kratz, D. (1999). The Field Guide to Parenting. Worcester, MA: Chandler House Press.
Gesell, A. & Ilg, F. (1943). Infant and Child in the Culture of Today. New York: Harper & Brothers Publisher.
Davis, L. & Keyser, J. (1997). Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. New York: Broadway Books.
Consultants
Dr. Marty Rossmann, Professor Emeritus, Family Education, University of Minnesota
Colleen Angel, FACS Educator .