Understanding Children and Young Persons Development

Understanding Children and Young Person’s Development

Unit 2
1)
The aspects of development that children are measured on are:
  * Physical
  * Communication
  * Intellectual/cognitive
  * Social, emotional and behavioural
  * Moral

A child’s development is continuous and can be measured in many ways, although every child is different and develops at different times and in different ways.
Physical development
Physical development is the area in which the child learns to master physical movements. This is split into three sections which are fine motor skills, gross motor skills and locomotive motor skills.
At birth- Physical development at birth is usually shown through reflexes. Reflexes are actions performed without thinking.
Here are some examples of reflexes:
  1. Swallowing and sucking- ensuring the baby can feed and swallow.
  2. Rooting reflex- movement of the baby’s head to look for a nipple or teat if its cheek or mouth is touched.
  3. Grasp reflex- if an object is put in the palm of the baby’s hand they will automatically put their fingers around it.
  4. Startle reflex- if a sudden sound or bright light startles the baby then they will react buy reaching their arms out and clenching their fists.
  5. Walking and standing reflex- if a baby is held upright feet down on a firm surface they usually use stepping movements.
Between 1 and 3 months- From the age of 1 - 3 months the baby is looking less curled up and seems to startle less than when new born, they are also able to lift and turn their heads starting to acknowledge things.

Between 6 and 9 months- From the age of 6 – 9 months the babies physical skills have developed a lot. The baby is now able to reach out for toys to grab moving them from one hand to another; the baby can also attempt to hold a spoon and can sit up in a highchair with support as they are getting stronger. More towards the 9 month mark the child is attempting to become more mobile maybe crawling...