Atypical Academic Development in Small Children
Atypical Academic
Development in Young Children
Karen Beilfuss, Trisha Burda and Michelle Sarich
Typical Development
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Children gather information from people, things, and events in their environment
They organize this information in their minds, and code it in ways that keep it usable and easily understood They match the information with what they've learned before, noticing similarities and differences, and store the information for future use
Children's development usually follows a known and predictable course
The acquisition of certain skills and abilities is often used to gauge children's development
These skills and abilities are known as developmental milestones
Such things as crawling, walking, saying single words, putting words together into phrases and sentences, and following directions are examples of these predictable achievements
Although not all children reach each milestone at the same time, there is an expected timeframe for reaching these developmental markers
Developmental Milestones
Milestones are behaviors that emerge over time
They form the building blocks for growth and continued learning
Some of the categories within which these behaviors include:
● Cognition (thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding)
● Language (expressive and receptive abilities)
● Motor coordination (gross/fine motor, jumping, hopping, throwing/catching, drawing, stacking)
● Social interaction (initiating peer contact, group play)
● Adaptive (dressing, eating,washing)
Atypical Development
Some children exhibit behaviors that fall outside of the normal, or expected, range of development
These behaviors emerge in a way or at a pace that is different from their peers
Some children show patterns of behaviors that are unusual or are markedly different from their peers
Great care should be given to determining whether patterns of behavior are reflections of children's personality, or whether they exemplify areas of weakness and concern. Teachers
Development in Young Children
Karen Beilfuss, Trisha Burda and Michelle Sarich
Typical Development
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Children gather information from people, things, and events in their environment
They organize this information in their minds, and code it in ways that keep it usable and easily understood They match the information with what they've learned before, noticing similarities and differences, and store the information for future use
Children's development usually follows a known and predictable course
The acquisition of certain skills and abilities is often used to gauge children's development
These skills and abilities are known as developmental milestones
Such things as crawling, walking, saying single words, putting words together into phrases and sentences, and following directions are examples of these predictable achievements
Although not all children reach each milestone at the same time, there is an expected timeframe for reaching these developmental markers
Developmental Milestones
Milestones are behaviors that emerge over time
They form the building blocks for growth and continued learning
Some of the categories within which these behaviors include:
● Cognition (thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding)
● Language (expressive and receptive abilities)
● Motor coordination (gross/fine motor, jumping, hopping, throwing/catching, drawing, stacking)
● Social interaction (initiating peer contact, group play)
● Adaptive (dressing, eating,washing)
Atypical Development
Some children exhibit behaviors that fall outside of the normal, or expected, range of development
These behaviors emerge in a way or at a pace that is different from their peers
Some children show patterns of behaviors that are unusual or are markedly different from their peers
Great care should be given to determining whether patterns of behavior are reflections of children's personality, or whether they exemplify areas of weakness and concern. Teachers