Characteristics of Childhood Development Stages
Not what you're looking for?
Explain distinguishing characteristics of each of the five developmental periods.
Infancy
Early Childhood
Middle Childhood
Early Adolescence
Late Adolescence
300 Words -- would be great and it doesn't need references.
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
This solution discusses the distinguishing characteristics of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence and late adolescence.
Solution Preview
Infancy:
During infancy - from birth to age 12 months - babies experience rapid physical growth and development. Their weight usually doubles by 5 or 6 months of age and triples by their first birthday. An infant's nervous system - brain, spinal cord and nerves - also develops, allowing them better control of the head and limbs, which enables them to explore their new environment and interact with others.
Generally, healthy babies reach certain developmental milestones by the first year. These can include, but are not limited to:
Rolling over by themselves
Sitting alone, without support
Crawling
Making babbling or squealing sounds
Standing up
Walking, while holding on to furniture or a person for support
Saying at least one word, usually "mama" or "dada"
Early Childhood:
Early childhood encompasses ages 1 to 4 years. Huge changes take place during this stage, as tiny, dependent infants transform into children who can walk, talk and begin formal learning.
By their fourth birthday, most children attain a height that is double their length at birth. They also gain muscle control, balance and eye-hand coordination, which enable them to become more physically active and independent.
Motor skills generally achieved during early childhood development include the ability to walk, run, kick and throw a ball overhead as well as pedal a tricycle. By age 4, children can also eat, dress and undress without assistance.
Children also experience huge developmental changes in their cognitive and language abilities during these years. At age 1, most children are able to say a few intelligible words. By their fourth birthday, most children speak clearly in sentences of four to six words, have a vocabulary of more than 1,500 words and understand the concept of counting.
Middle Childhood:
Middle childhood is the developmental period that occurs between the ages of 5 and 10 years. During these years, children are more independent and physically active than they were ...
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Early Childhood Development
Children develop at a range of paces. However, there are some generally accepted early childhood development milestones. This quiz focuses on skills associated with birth to 9 months. Understanding typical childhood development is integral knowledge for educators, healthcare professionals, and many other careers.
The PLAY Project: Autism Intervention Model
Parents, therapists, caregivers, providers, and special education teachers who are exploring early intervention models should take this quiz about the PLAY Project. This quiz will provide a very brief introduction.
Autism
Do you know all about autism? Find out with this quiz.
Infant Development 2
Continue to test your infant development knowledge with this quiz!
Importance of Exploratory Play for Early Learning
Research indicates that young children require the freedom to safely explore their environment to build cognitive skills. This quiz will introduce some play-based early intervention techniques to promote learning.