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STAGES OF GROWTH FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Three Stages In order to best help your child,
it can be helpful to think about the first three years of
childhood as occurring in three stages:
You
should keep in mind that some young children may not fit into
these stages based purely on their age. Keeping your child's
individual strengths and abilities in mind will allow you
to recognize appropriate intervention strategies.
INFANTS
Characteristics of Infants
During the time between birth and eight months,
your infant child relies on you to meet all of his basic needs.
His daily routines are centered around eating and sleeping
patterns. As he begins to move, he becomes aware of his arms
and legs. He initiates social interactions through sounds
and movements that communicate pleasure, surprise, anger,
disappointment, anxiety and many other feelings. Through meaningful
interactions with adults and materials, he begins to learn
the skills he needs. Because he cannot move himself from one
place to another, he must rely on you to carry him to interesting
events or to bring objects and activities to him. If he does
not have the chance to have these experiences, his physical,
social, and mental development may be slowed. For children
in this stage, you can promote development by the way you
talk and what you do during daily routines such as diapering,
feeding, dressing, bathing, and playing. Intervention for
infants can take place at home, in child care, or during therapy
sessions.
Examples
of Infants
CRAWLERS
AND WALKERS
Characteristics of Crawlers and Walkers
Compared to infancy, the time between 8 and
18 months is filled with increased activity, especially crawling
and walking. A crawler or walker can move at her own pace
away from and back to, the security of adults. Freedom to
safely move about is important for her physical development.
She is beginning to understand new concepts such as cause
and effect, the uses of objects, spatial relationships, and
perspectives. When provided with choices between desired objects
and activities, she may begin to show preferences. She may
learn to group and compare, imitate, and develop patterns
of relating to others. She is also developing the ability
to verbalize and understand verbal instructions. To develop
language skills, she needs individual attention from adults
and encouragement to explore and learn from a variety of activities
and objects. Daily routines for crawlers and walkers include
bathing, feeding, diapering, and playing. These routines can
be creative times to improve gross motor and fine motor skills,
mental skills, and communication skills. Intervention strategies
for crawlers and walkers can be more structured than intervention
strategies for infants. You can use more of the forms of help,
as well as more of the techniques for creating teaching opportunities.
One key to intervention for crawlers and walkers is to talk
a lot and with enthusiasm, do things that are fun for your
child, and use objects that attract
his interest.
Examples
of Crawlers and Walkers
TODDLERS
Characteristics of Toddlers
The period of time between 18 and 36 months
is filled with exploration, questioning, discovery, and a
strong determination to experience events, objects, and ideas.
A toddler thrives on exploration and
creativity. Her imagination and curiosity give her great
energy and creative potential. She may now be good at making
choices and acting upon her own ideas. She is able to move
herself from place to place or from activity to activity.
She still must rely on adults for protection and guidance,
but she shows increased independence and competence. Her language
and communication skills are increasingly more complex. She
has developed many of the skills she needs to make choices,
to communicate her needs and wants, and to follow instructions.
These communication skills make it easier for adults to plan
interventions. The daily routines for toddlers typically include
a regular naptime, eating, dressing and playing. Activities
for toddlers are very similar to those for preschool children
and, as such, interventions that are more specific can be
planned throughout the day. Let's look at some examples of
intervention strategies used with toddlers.
Examples
of Toddlers
Now that
you have learned about helping your child Prior to Preschool,
you can stop here or return to the Project
SPIES Homepage to find additional information
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