Understanding children’s development
Intellectual development (skills of understanding, memory and concentration)
Becoming more globally aware
Will question sources of information
Developing ability to think abstractly
Reading and writing confidently
Can reason and apply logic to problems
6–8 years
Understands the use of symbols in maths, writing, etc.
Great curiosity in relation to workings of his or her environmen
Able to understand concept of conservation
By 5 years
Counts to 20 by rote
Knows time of day for basic activities, for example breakfast, bedtime
Colours pictures neatly
Copies square, and range of letters
How children learn, think and develop ideas
Communication and speech
Words now used with meaning
The stage up to about 12 months when a child starts to say his first words.
The development of language divides into two distinct stages
Linguistic
Pre-linguistic
Non-verbal communication
Children probably use it more than adults do
The speed of language acquisition is amazing
By eight months a child will be babbling sounds like ‘dadada’, by 18 months he or she will be using 30–40 words and by three years a child will be constructing complex sentences
Social and emotional development (child’s identity, self-image, relationships, feelings)
Secondary socialisation teaches children
How to interact with adults who are not family
How to interact with friends and others
The‘rules’ of society, what is acceptable and what is not outside the home
Secondary socialisation
Regular contact with people and settings outside their home.
Playgroup, nursery and school, and continues throughout life.
Primary socialisation
Takes place within the family, in the first years of a child’s life
Socialisation
Learning to cope in the family and society we live in
Learning to live with others in both our family and society
Family and friends play an important part
Physical development (body increasing in skill and performance)
13–16 years
For girls puberty is complete at about 14 and periods start. For boys puberty is 13–16 and they will be stronger than girls
8–12 years
Puberty starts around 10 for girls with a growth spurt and increase in body strength
Improves physical skills that have already developed
6–7 years
Enjoys hopping, bike riding, roller blading and skating
Controls pencil in a small area and does detailed drawing
5 years
Runs quickly
Forms letters and writes own name
Easily dresses and undresses
Draws a person with a head, body and legs, and a house
The important skills of using our bodies
Use of large muscles to walk, run, climb, jump and skip and the use of our smaller muscles
Aspects of development that we can see happening.
Grown in terms of size, height and weight
