Stages of Child Development

Child development is a concern for all parents; in fact, many parents worry as to whether their child is experiencing the normal stages of child development. Because childhood development encompasses mental, emotional, social, physical and language abilities, tracking developmental milestones is a great way to ensure that your young one is growing at a healthy rate.

Early Child Development: One to 12 Months

The first year of a child’s life is an important one in her development. In fact, your little one will go through many important development milestones during this time.

From one to four months, your child will cry, laugh, frown and smile. In addition, she will also make cooing sounds in order to express her emotions and communicate with you.

Once your child is five to eight months old, she will be able to put together single syllables (phonemes); this language development continues from nine to eleven months, when your child will continue to babble and also gesture meaningfully.

At 12 to 14 months, your child might say his first word.

Your baby will probably start crawling at from 6 to 10 months. On average, babies start to walk from seven to eight months or from around the one year mark.

Early Child Development: Toddler Development

Your toddler’s development also encompasses physical and language abilities, as well as mental, social and emotional development.

At 13 months and onwards, your child’s language development will continue to expand. Her vocabulary will improve to include words such as “Hello”. She will also be able to attempt to lift heavier objects; meanwhile, her appetite will begin to decrease as her height and weight starts to more or less stabilize. Her eating habits will become increasingly picky.

From 18 to 24 months, your toddler will have clearer speech skills. In addition, she will start jumping and will be able to go up stairs by herself, although she will still require help going down stairs. Her motor skills will also continue to improve, and she will be able to open jars and turn book pages. Toilet training is also an important component of this stage of childhood development.

During the stage of 25 to 36 months, your child will have the ability to follow basic verbal commands. In addition, her speech will become increasingly clear. Normal child development also means that at this stage, your child will be able to brush her teeth. Continued social development means that children at this age will be able to identify their friends by name.

Early Child Development: Preschool Development

At 3 years of age, childhood mental development continues to become more sophisticated. Your child will have an increased attention span and will also be able to match similar objects such as circles and squares.

Improved social and emotional abilities linked to preschool development means your child will be able to express her emotions, as well as learn to distinguish between herself and others using the correct pronouns.

In addition, a three year old child will have the ability to jump, climb as well as put on his shoes by himself and dress himself with help.

At four years, normal childhood development means that your preschooler can play easily with blocks; language capabilities during this stage of early child development means that your child knows basic grammar as well as can hold conversations. The use of adjectives, such as “cold” and “hungry”, also increases.

A four-year-old child will be able to count up to 10 and identify friends and family by name; continued social development means that kids will be able to play while abiding by rules and ask why.

The last stage of early child development is the five-year mark. Preschoolers at this age will know the difference between yesterday, today and tomorrow, and will also begin to establish more friendships. Improved physical and motor skills means that your child will have better overall body coordination. Language development also continues to develop at this period of early childhood development, and children at this stage will have a vocabulary of 13 000 words.