Normal Stages of Child Development
Other People Are Reading
-
Infancy
-
The infancy stage of child development begins at birth (0 months) and lasts until approximately 24-36 months. A healthy infancy is extremely vital to long-term mental and physical growth as a person undergoes their greatest amount of development during this stage. Depending upon nutritional, genetic and environmental factors, a human infant should successfully meet several developmental milestones. Many of these are motor and cognitive skills involving controlling muscle groups (sitting up/crawling/walking without assistance), recognizing familiar faces and sounds, grasping objects and manipulating objects, following basic directions, speaking words and sentences, and beginning to walk.
Childhood
-
Childhood begins at approximately 4 years of age and lasts until the onset of pre-adolescence. Children in this age group experience a high degree of increased mental capacity and autonomy from caregivers, asserting themselves as individuals and social beings in their own right. They should steadily gain the ability to care for their own hygienic needs (brushing teeth, bathing, use of bathroom facilities) as well as determine when these needs must be met. Children's personalities begin to define themselves to a greater degree and issues such as ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities may also manifest during this time. Physically speaking, children undergo considerable height and weight growth, although their limbs tend to thin and elongate from their previous infant state. Children may also begin to show interests in organized activities which involve the use of fine motor skills and cognitive abilities.
-
Adolescence
-
Adolescence is the final period of child development before adulthood is reached. Although every child will mature at a different rate in varying degrees, the onset of adolescence usually begins earlier in females (8-12 years of age) and a bit later in males (10-13 years of age). Increases in height (especially in males), weight and emotional and mental capacities are all signs of normal development in pre-and post pubescent adolescents. Physical maturation in the form of pubic, arm, leg and armpit hair growth is common for both genders, while normal females will also experience breast development and the commencement of their menstrual cycles. Combined with the hormonal changes in their male counterparts, including increased testosterone levels and physical maturation of reproductive organs, the final stages of child development are reached when physical and sexual maturation cease to occur.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit image from http://www.childlife.org/images
