Describe the expected pattern of children and young people's development from birth to 19 years, to include:
* Physical development * Communication and intellectual development * Social, emotional and behavioural development.
All children are unique and a lot of their developmental milestones happen naturally as they get older, however some can be affected by different life factors, such as health, environment and background and more specific skills can be learnt and encouraged. I have outlined below the usual expected patterns of development for children showing the rate and sequence in which development takes place. However all children are individual and this is an outline of expected development.
Physical Development
0 – 18 months – Newborn babies have very little control of their bodies, however at birth the sucking reflex kicks in, allowing a baby to take milk from the mothers breast or bottle. Another instinctive reflex of the baby is grasping. By 3 months they start to gain a little control and would usually have strengthened their neck muscles in order to hold their heads up for short periods of time. By 6 months the muscles are usually strong enough to sit upright. As their first year progresses they start to gradually gain more control of their bodies and become mobile in their own different ways, such as crawling, rolling, or shuffling.
18 months – 3 years – As their second year goes on, they continue to develop quickly and the muscles and confidence have built up so that most children will start to walk unaided. They can now judge distance, aiding them in feeding themselves, and pointing and indicating objects of interest to them. They will also enjoy and mimic the dressing routine, using not just their hands but their individual fingers to grip things, such as buttons. This is also demonstrated by them starting to use crayons to colour and by turning the pages of a book. By this time they also have the control to be able to