Child Development & Milestones
One to three years
What do we mean by growth and development? Growth is the increase in size of the body – in height, weight and other measurable areas.
Development is the gaining of skills in all aspects of the child’s life. The different types of development are often split into four areas:
Physical development: this refers to the body increasing in skill and performance and includes: gross motor development (using large muscles), for example legs and arms fine motor development (precise use of muscles), for example hands and fingers.
Social and emotional development: this is the development of a child’s identity and self-image, the development of relationships and feelings about him or herself and learning the skills to live in society with other people.
Intellectual development: this is learning the skills of understanding, memory and concentration.
Communication and speech development: this is learning to communicate with friends, family and all others. However, it is important to realise that all the areas of development link together. Just stop and think about the changes that take place in the developing child.
At birth there have already been huge changes from two tiny cells as the egg and sperm joined at conception to a complex new baby at birth. Then from being a tiny helpless being at birth, by the age of 16 years the child changes to a highly complex young person who has all the basic skills for life, including talking, running, writing and the ability to think in abstract ways.
Weight increases from 3–4 kg at birth to an average of 65 kg for a young man. From a length at birth of about 35 cm, height changes to more than 155 cm. From being a relatively immobile baby, the child is able to walk, run, skip and climb. From not being able to talk, the child becomes an able communicator. From being fully dependent, the child learns to dress, feed and think for him or herself.
From wide arm movements and automatically grasping
What do we mean by growth and development? Growth is the increase in size of the body – in height, weight and other measurable areas.
Development is the gaining of skills in all aspects of the child’s life. The different types of development are often split into four areas:
Physical development: this refers to the body increasing in skill and performance and includes: gross motor development (using large muscles), for example legs and arms fine motor development (precise use of muscles), for example hands and fingers.
Social and emotional development: this is the development of a child’s identity and self-image, the development of relationships and feelings about him or herself and learning the skills to live in society with other people.
Intellectual development: this is learning the skills of understanding, memory and concentration.
Communication and speech development: this is learning to communicate with friends, family and all others. However, it is important to realise that all the areas of development link together. Just stop and think about the changes that take place in the developing child.
At birth there have already been huge changes from two tiny cells as the egg and sperm joined at conception to a complex new baby at birth. Then from being a tiny helpless being at birth, by the age of 16 years the child changes to a highly complex young person who has all the basic skills for life, including talking, running, writing and the ability to think in abstract ways.
Weight increases from 3–4 kg at birth to an average of 65 kg for a young man. From a length at birth of about 35 cm, height changes to more than 155 cm. From being a relatively immobile baby, the child is able to walk, run, skip and climb. From not being able to talk, the child becomes an able communicator. From being fully dependent, the child learns to dress, feed and think for him or herself.
From wide arm movements and automatically grasping