4.2 – Growth and development – feedback
Did your answers include any of the following?
| Area of development | How you can help a child develop it |
|---|---|
| 1. Physical development is how the body gains skills and performs successfully and includes ‘gross motor skills’ (using the larger muscles) using legs and arms and ‘fine motor skills’ which is the specific use of hands and fingers. | Encourage crawling/walking Take children to the park to play Encourage sports and physical activity out of school hours Provide a healthy diet |
| 2. Social and emotional development is about the sense of ‘Self’. It is about developing a healthy self-image and being able to have relationships (which include how we feel about ourselves – the starting place for relating to other people) and learning how to live with other people, at home and out there in the big wide world. | Encourage and support friendships. Avoid shouting and harsh punishment. Use touch and hugs to show feelings Acknowledge children’s feelings. Praise good behaviour. |
| 3. Intellectual development is about how we learn the ability to understand and use our memory and learn to focus. | Read to children. Explain things to children – find solutions together. Take them to school and help them with homework. Ask their opinion on important things, especially as they get older. Let them act on those decisions! |
| 4. Communication and speech development is learning how to communicate with people (family, friends, neighbours, school, community members etc.) This is not always easy, especially if there are issues with aggression, or maybe with your child being frustrated by a change of school or by feeling unsettled by other changes. | Talk and listen to children as you would like them to talk and listed to you. Sing nursery rhymes. Watch educational TV programmes. |
All of these areas of development link together, so you need to work an all of them.
Next: 4.3 – Ages & stages activityBack: 4.1 – Session 4. Growth and development