4.3 – Ages & stages activity
We have looked at what growth and development is and we know that it is vitally important. Now we need to look at the stages of development as a child gets older. Some of this development will happen autuomatically (like growth and physical development), but many things need to be learnt. As parents, much (but not all) of this is our responsibility.
It’s fair to say that without support children’s development has the potential to be delayed. As parents we have to look at the areas of development and put some work in to moving children through the developmental stages.
Milestones of Development
Child development experts around the world agree on what children can usually do at each stage of life. These are called ‘milestones of development’. Growth and development is often split into five stages (see below).
We are going to do some thought torrent activities on the ages and stages of a child’s development. For each of the five age categories given below, list at least five things that you think children should be able to do by that age in the text boxes provided. Write them in your worksheet.
| Age | |
|---|---|
| Infancy: Birth to one year | |
| Early Years: one to three years | |
| Childhood: four to seven years | |
| Puberty: eight to 12 years | |
| Adolescence: 13 to 16 years |
After 16, children are defined as young adults. While their physical and intellectual development is technically complete, their emotional and social development will still need support and nurture. In fact, the 16 to 19 stage is in many ways as formative for your children as the early years because this is when they will question your actions and will learn from your answers, just as they learned from your actions when they were little.
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