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Early Development of a Child

Child development occurs in every child and refers the their physical development, but mostly their mental development. During the early years of a child's life he will learn to do things like walk, talk, and read. Certain factors can encourage or hinder this process.

  1. Age Development

    • Children all develop at different rates, but children display particular abilities by certain ages. By the age of two, a child should be talking. They most likely will not be able to pronunciation words very well, but they will be able to say some. They will also use their motor skills more. By three, children should be able to form comprehensible sentences. At three and four, the child will become more independent and think logically. Their brains continue to develop and expand a little more every year.

    Stressors

    • A child will experience three types of stress in her life: positive stress, tolerable stress and toxic stress. All of these are very important to the child's development. Positive stress results from experiences like immunizations and discipline. This will only affect the child for a short time and is completely healthy. Tolerable stress is somewhat prolonged stress that results from a natural disaster or the divorce of a parent. Toxic stress is caused from things like neglect, emotional abuse and a parent's substance abuse. Prolonged stress can inhibit a child's ability to develop relationships and could cause lowered immunity.

    Brain Development

    • The brain of a child develops by building on different skills. Children must know the sounds different letters make and what they look like in order to properly pronounce and read them as they grow older. Patience with children is necessary to help their skills develop.

    Window of Opportunity

    • At a certain point in life, the brain loses the ability to understand or grasp concepts as well. As people get older, it becomes harder to learn. The period of high learning potential of young children is called the window of opportunity. During this time, children embrace a variety of experiences and absorb them.

    Considerations

    • Not only are relationships at home important to child development, but providing strong community involvement and nurturing for the child as well. For example, if a child has a good home life but lives in a dangerous area, this can cause the child stress which will hinder developmental abilities.

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