What is child development?

             Child development describes the changes children experience as they grow older. As children grow physically, they also develop in their knowledge, skills, and behavior. Children's development covers the full range of physical, psychological, linguistic, and intellectual changes that occur from birth to adulthood. Parents and other adults, such as grandparents and child care providers, play important roles in children’s development. Parents are the very first teachers about their child.

 

02. Why is it essential to know about child development?

                     Future world can't function without children, they're the most powerful and vital element. Every person in society has a responsibility to look after children. An understanding of a child's social, emotional, and mental development will affect the total development of the child. As a result, they will have a better future, good health, and enhance their ability to learn. Children display a specific set of physical, psychological, and emotional characteristics and develop a particular set of skills. As parent, guardians, teachers and child care workers are really responsible for all the development of a child. Therefore they should learn and well appreciate the child development very well.

 

 

 

03. Areas of child development

                 There are certain tasks or developmental milestones that children in general can perform at a particular age, which are termed developmental milestones. Stages of development are closely interconnected. The development of physical, speech, cognitive, and intellectual skills of children gradually changes until adolescence. Changes in this area can allow parents to track a child's progress. Furthermore the lack of these milestones could be a sign of a condition linked to developmental disorders or genetics. In here I will discuss about the key areas in child development. We can mainly clarified five areas which are rally affect the child development.

 

1.       Physical Development

2.       Intellectual Development

3.       Language Development

4.       Emotional Development

5.       Social Development

                             Early childhood is a critical time to start building a strong foundation for children as they strive to reach their developmental milestones. In the first five years of every child's life, she or he will experience so many wonderful changes as they grow physically and mentally. It's important for parents to track where the child is developing. Children develop these skills or milestones across all areas of their development. That is why these fundamental areas are more important for every child.

1. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

                                              Physical development means the changes in size, shape, and physical maturity of the body, including physical abilities and coordination.

  Physical development of a child is very important of his or her whole development. It is the most readily visible of the child development domains. From birth to about age 1 or 2 years, children grow rapidly. They learn to smile, roll over, sit up, wave, clap, pick, babble and try saying some of few words like mother father. and also babies enjoying music, movements,  and doing some small games like peek- a-boo. Automatically they are developing their communication skills too. We can divide physical development as two parts,

 

Ø  Fine motor skills

Ø  Gross motor skills

A fine motor skill is the ability to move the smaller muscle groups in a child's hands, fingers, and wrists.  Movement of the arms and legs constitutes gross motor skills. These muscles enable babies to sit up, turn over, crawl, and walk.

Parents and caregivers can help develop a child’s motor skills at all ages. Some activities include,

·         Placing the baby on his or her tummy, and helping child to reach for a toy.

·         Putting a toy on the couch for child to stretch toward when she or he starts to stand.

·         Encouraging walking with a stroller that little one push.

·         Visiting playgrounds, where the child can climb, swing and slide.

 

2. INTERLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT (cognitive development)

      Intellectual development means the growth of a child’s ability to think and reason. It's about how they organize their minds, ideas and thoughts to make sense of the world they live in. Important tools of intellectual development are language and communication skills

The two main areas of intellectual development are,

·         Language development – helps us to organize thoughts and make sense of the world around us

·         Cognitive development – is about how we use our minds and organizes thinking to understand the world around us.

                                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

          A parent must be involved in their child's cognitive development as early as possible so that they will be prepared for school and later on in life. Child development involves a child's abilities regarding working memory and attention, along with their ability to react and manage their daily experiences.so it’s really affected whole development of the child.

03. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT      

   Developing language skills is an essential part of a child's development and communication. Therefore language development also plays a vital role in child development. As the infant learns that a cry brings food, comfort, and companionship, he begins to communicate. During the first few months of life, newborns also begin to recognize important sounds, such as mother’s voice, father’s voice.

 

 

.                            Language skills are critical to children's ability to interact with their parents and peers, as well as to become a social being in later life. The development of language helps to enhance other aspects of development such as cognitive, social, and literacy. While every child has his or her own milestones for language development, by a specific age he should be showing certain behaviors.

The most important thing is that, parent can encourage the development of language skills with a child by interacting regularly, singing songs and reading simple stories. As a child grows, she can talk about her day or explain her likes and dislikes. A parent can play games with a child, such as naming objects or practicing concepts of direction; for example: in, out, over and through. Visiting a library encourages reading stories, and a parent can teach a child simple stories and rhymes to encourage repetition and language.

 

04.EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

   A person's ability to recognize, express, and manage their own and others' feelings is known as their emotional development. A child's emotional development begins during infancy and continues into adulthood. When he or she discovers a range of emotions, it continues throughout life. Positive and negative emotions are formed largely in the context of relationships including those with parents, siblings, and peers. A smile, along with actions and sounds that indicate pleasure, is the first way an infant demonstrates emotion between six and ten weeks of age. A baby's behavior becomes noticeable at about six to twelve months, when he or she begins to communicate emotions like fear, disgust, anger, and sadness, informing parents or caregivers that they are experiencing discomfort or displeasure and need attention.

 

 

 

 Each child develops differently, having strengths in emotional competence can help children and adolescents cope effectively and  supportive relationships with families and peers. Moreover emotional development directly combined with the communication. (language development)

 

05.SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

 

A child's social development refers to their ability to build relationships with others around them. Although the Children learn to interact with others through social development. As they develop personal identity and recognize themselves as an individual within community, they also acquire skills in communicating with other people and interpreting their actions. On the other hand Social skills allow children to establish positive relationships more easily, which contributes to their wellbeing.

                                                                                      

Social development involves learning the values, knowledge, and skills that enable children to relate to others effectively and to contribute in positive ways to family, school and the community. As per my view I think social development is directly connected with language development as well as the emotional development. So it can actually impact other forms of development a child experiences. If the child is well developing his or her social relationships help to,

·         develop language and communication skills

·         build self esteem

·         resolve conflicts

·         establish positive attitudes

                            that features we can find trough socially.