Summarise the main development of a child from the age range 0-2 years, 3-5 years and 5-8 years

Assignment 1
1. Summarise the main development of a child from the age range 0-2 years, 3-5 years and 5-8 years.
There are five stages of development
(I) Physical Development
0 - 2 years
Children develop at various speeds but will all aim to reach a development stage before moving on to the next one. The first couple of month's babies don't interact much, they usually just are on their backs and are unable to support their heads. By the time they reach three months they can usually sit up and hold their heads. Some can hold objects and play with their hands. Between 9-12 months babies learn quite a lot of new things from turning over from their backs to their stomachs and crawling to reach a certain object. Usually by the time they reach their first birthday they are able to stand up some holding onto things to get around and some have probably mastered walking. You can see how proud they feel achieving this by the look on their faces. By the time they reach two years they can usually run, climb up on things and like playing with balls and throwing things and being able to fetch items as they find this quite an achievement.
3 - 5 years
Between the ages of 3-5 years it is amazing how much a child has learnt to do for themselves. Their physical co-ordination with playing with balls and how to control them is great. They love kicking a ball about. By the time they reach 5 years some will have mastered cycling a bike without stabilisers and scoot on a two wheeled scooter. They enjoy doing PE at school and participating in running and chasing games and doing exercise and sports day.
5 - 8 years
Between 5-8 years they have become more confident doing things such as enjoying making things from cardboard and paper and enjoy colouring and painting and they try to stay within the lines when colouring which they find is a great achievement. They also like music and enjoy dancing and singing along to the music. Most children have no fear of heights or water and usually by the time they reach 8 years they jump from various heights and most will be able to swim without armbands and enjoy jumping in and seeing if they can reach the bottom of the pool. Usually they will also have mastered cycling. Their balance is usually quite good and they might like trying to balance while walking on small narrow walls or try not to step on the cracks on the footpaths. From 8 years they like to take control and be the leader when playing and love creating new games.
(II) Intellectual Development
0 - 2 years
When babies are born they can't focus on things and can only see objects a few inches away from their eyes. That is why when you see a baby they usually hold objects really near to their eyes. By the time they reach 3-6 months their co-ordination is improving and they like bright lights. At 6-9 months they usually need a bit more stimulation with different objects and trying to pick out the objects they are asked to and they find it quite amusing playing who's got the ball/object. Between 9-12 months a child will start remember things i.e. where's the ball or can you get ball. They usually are able to blow kisses and wave bye bye. They usually like copying people's actions and find this very funny and can express their moods. By the time they reach one they try to be independent by trying to feed themselves and do things for themselves. When they reach two years of age they are well able to amuse themselves and play by themselves. They also like the various sounds things can make and enjoy listening to music and trying to sing along to nursery rhymes and try doing the actions for various songs.
3 - 5 years
When a child turns 3 years some start pre-school nursery where their intellectual development increases so much. They are learning how to hold and control a pencil and you can recognise their drawing more clearly now. They remember loads more and some may even recognise some words. By the time they start Reception they can usually know their alphabet, count, spell their name if not by writing by spelling it out. They can usually count 1 to 10. When they start Year 1 they can usually read between levels 1-5 of their school reading books and recognise loss of words and some may be able to spell them. During Reception and Year 1 they are learning to read with the help of Phonics where they sound out each letter and this helps them to recognise the words. In Year 1 they start doing numeracy (adding and subtraction). Children at this age are also very inquisitive and like asking questions and also usually have their own answer for how things should be!
5 - 8 years
Children's reading and maths skills improve so much between 5-8 years that they usually are able to read and write independently. By 8 years their Intellectual Development has increased and they are more confident and will progress and expand their knowledge and if asked they probably prefer certain subjects to others.
(III) Language Development
0 - 2 years
When babies are first born they are only able to communicate by crying, cooing or gurgling. By the time they are 3-6 months they can laugh and try to make sounds. 9-12 months they can copy sounds and are learning to following instructions from their parents. By their first birthday they usual can speak Mama, Dada (usually Dada is the first word they say) but probably can say a few other words. They can usually understand what their parents are saying. By their second birthday they usually have a wide range of words. They can by now say sentences, not always making sense but they give it a good try. They also like getting involved with conversations about things they have done or doing at that time.
3 - 5 years
Between 3-5 years children's vocabulary is quite good and they are able to hold a proper conversation with you but sometimes they get frustrated not being able to express themselves properly. They also become very inquisitive asking lots of questions and looking for explanations and usually after they will still reply "but why" afterwards if they are not satisfied with your answer. By the time they reach 5 years they are so confident as a speaker with their own points of view. Their understanding of words has also increased loads.
5 - 8 years
Usually by now they are extremely confident in their vocabulary and are able to explain things in more detail and recognise the differences between words. They also might try and use longer words in their sentences.
(IV) Emotional Development
0 - 2 years
Babies don't usually show much emotional development until around 5-6 weeks when they learn to smile and recognise the faces and voices of their parents/careers. By 3-6 months babies love the attention and security they get from people that they recognise. At 6-9 months they usually can be clingy and not want to go to some they don't recognise and don't like to be left on their own if their parent/career leaves their room. 9-12 months they love all the attention they get from familiar faces but also can get distressed by people they don't know. Between 1-2 years they usually can sense the moods of people and might recognise if someone is sad or upset and they might try to comfort them with a cuddle. They can also get very stressed at certain things like strange animals or loud noises.
3 - 5 years
Between 3-5 years children can be very emotional and can get upset at very minor things like not getting their own way or when things don't go as they should. They can also understand when other children are upset. They can get quite emotional at watching something sad on TV. By the time they reach 5 years they are usually able to hide their emotions quite well.

5 - 8 years
Children become very competitive and this can bring on disagreements between friends/parents if they don't get their own way. They also can be very stubborn and demanding and if they don't get their own way it can lead to them having tantrums. As they get older and more mature tantrums are less often and children like to seek approval from their peers. They respond great to getting praised for things they have done and they get motivated to keep trying to better themselves.
(V) Social Development
0 - 2 years
For the first couple of months babies enjoy being sociable and getting loads of attention. As they develop they enjoy taking part in games and watching what is going on around them. Usually around 6-9 months they start getting a bit independent and try doing things for themselves such as feed, wanting to hold spoons. When children reach 9-12 months they are more mobile and enjoy discovering new things and playing by themselves. Between 1-2 years they are discovering loads of new things that they can do and are able to communicate more through either speech or by showing you what they want to do or need help with.
3 - 5 years
Most children find it easy to make friends and move quite easily between different groups. They also understand that they have to take things in turns but sometimes they will have tantrums but soon learn that these don't work. When they go to school they make loads of new friends and it makes the transition into school easier. By 5 years they usually have certain friends which they play with all the time and if you ask them who are their best friends they are usually able to name one or two. They also now have distinguished between boys and girls and understand right from wrong.
5 - 8 years
By now some children will have a special friend and will just want to play with them but others just want to mix with various different people. As children develop their friendship may change depending on what is going on in their life.

2. Analyse key social, economic environmental factors which may influence development
There are lots of things which can influence/affect a child's development. If a child comes from a loving and stable environment they are more likely to be content and be quite sociable in that they make friends quite easily and this helps with their development. Not all children come from stable homes and they can find it quite hard to adjust from say their parents splitting up. Depending on their age they might not understand why their parents are no longer together and that their time is sometimes split between both parents or in some cases they only ever see one parent.
If a child is being bullied either at home or at school this will affect their development as usually these children don't know who to talk to or are afraid to speak up as they think they might get into trouble or that no one will believe them. I know bullying is not tolerated in any environment and schools and social services are working hard to eliminate this but sometimes cases will go unnoticed. Hopefully as a child develops and understands what is right and wrong they will speak up more. I know both my husband and I have always taught our son that if anyone is bullying them to either speak to us or their teacher.
Children respond so much better to stability and routines as they quite like to know that certain things happen at certain times, (i.e. going to school, nursery or breakfast/afterschool club and even bedtimes). Children don't like change especially if it is a significant change such as changing schools, clubs etc. I know when we changed our son from his nursery to a breakfast/after school club initially he didn't want to go and had a meltdown one evening before bed time crying but when I sat and talked to him about how the new club was going to be better for him as there was so much more there for him to do, he then started to come around to the idea. We took him to the new club and stayed with him for a while and left him for an hour and when we came back he was enjoying himself so much he didn't want to leave and now he loves going so much so after the first week he wanted to go on a Saturday! I feel that talking things through with a child helps their development so much.
3. Describe children's overall development needs
There are various factors which help the development needs of children. Love and support from parents or carers has a big effect on a child's development. Children being brought up in a loving and stable environment are usually more content and enjoy mixing with people and making friends. Sometimes if there has been a change in their home lives this can affect them (i.e. if their parents split). This could cause problems as a child might not understand. A good balance diet will give children all the nutrition and help development. Eating plenty of vegetables and fruit are very good. Seeing children playing outside and enjoying going to the park mixing with other children. Taking time to listen to children and trying to understand them will always be a positive in their development.