Contemporary Insights about Child and
adolescent Development
Child and adolescent Development
 “Child development”, or “child and
adolescent development” refer to the
process of growth and maturation of
the human individual from conception
to adulthood.
Understanding Children
 An understanding of children's needs,
cognitive abilities, psychosocial crises,
and moral and social development can
help us in selecting the kinds of books
and reading-related activities that will
be most satisfying to a child of a
particular age. We shall briefly survey
those aspects of the developmental
theories of Abraham Maslow, Erik
Erikson, Jean Piaget, Lawrence
Kohlberg, and Albert Bandura that are
most pertinent to experiences with
literature.
 Maslow's great concern was for
humanistic education and so his
thinking focused on the individual's self-
actualization as fulfillment of his or her
potential.

 Erikson's psychosocial theory is
concerned with the development of
individual identity and also with the
individual's ability to function in society.
 Piaget has written most extensively
about children's cognitive development,
but his work deals with moral growth as
well.
 Kohlberg's work is concentrated
primarily on moral development,
describing a succession of stages
through which an individual moves with
increased maturity.
 Bandura has studied the influence of
social models on children's teaming.
 Such theories have implications for the
selection of literature because they
suggest something about children's
interests and needs at various stages of
development.
Developmental Milestones
 Developmental milestones are typical
changes that occur for children as they
grow from birth throughout childhood.
They are reached at different times for
different children and may be impacted
by developmental disabilities.
 Research has helped shed light on the
developmental milestones that occur
for most children within all of the major
domains of development, including
physical, cognitive, emotional/social,
and language/literacy development.
Milestones in Physical Development
By 2 Months
-Can begin to hold head up
-Starts pushing up during tummy time
-Movements of limbs become smoother
By 4 Months
-Can hold head steady without support
-Pushes legs against hard surfaces
-May begin rolling over
-Can grasp and hold toys
8 months
-Can roll over bi-directionally
-Can sit unsupported
-Can support own weight on legs;
-may also be able to bounce up and down
9 months
-Can stand while holding onto something for
support
-Can maneuver body into a sitting position
-Can crawl
1 year -May express boredom without novelty (e.g.,
-Can walk, sometimes needing support of crying)
nearby objects
4 months
-Might be able to stand and/or walk without
-Can express happiness and sadness
holding on
-Can respond to affection from others
1 year and half -Can recognize familiar people and things
-Can walk without support
6 months
-May be able to stair climb or run
-Can intentionally bring objects to mouth
-Can drink from a cup
-Can pass objects between both hands
-Can carry objects like toys while walking
-Expresses more curiosity about environment
-Can eat with a utensil
9 months
2 years
-Can look for hidden objects (may or may not
-More coordination (e.g., can kick or throw a
find them)
ball)
-Can look at objects as they fall
-Can stair climb
-Can play "peek-a-boo"
-Can draw and color
1 yea
3 years
-Can easily find hidden objects
-Can easily stair climb, run, etc.
-Explores in new ways (e.g., throwing, banging
-Can use a bike (e.g., tricycle, bike with training
on objects)
wheels)
-Can copy other people's gestures
4 years -Can follow simple directions
-Can hop and stand on one foot
2 years
-Can catch balls with greater accuracy
-Can eat with more control (e.g., pouring own -Can distinguish shapes, colors, etc
juice) -Can learn and recall the content of books and
songs
5 years
-Can follow more complex directions
-Can hop, skip, and stand on one foot for an
3 years
extended time
-May be able to do complex movements (e.g., -Can play pretend games
somersaults, climbing) -Can understand the meaning of numbers
-Can use the toilet -Can solve problems (e.g., how to fit puzzle
-Can use more utensils at mealtime pieces or blocks together)
Milestones in Cognitive Development 4 years
-Can names colors, letters, numbers, etc.
 Cognition involves operation of the
-Can remember story plots
mind, or thinking.
-Can distinguish more complex ideas (e.g., same
2 months vs. different)
-Notices faces -Can play more difficult games (e.g., board,
-Can begin tracking people and objects with card)
eyes
5 years
-Can count
-Can draw with more complexity
-Can understand daily scenarios (e.g., going to
school, grocery store shopping)
Milestones in Emotional and Social
Development
2 months
-Can smile at others
-Can self-soothe
4 months
-Enjoys play and novelty
-May be able to copy facial expressions
6 months
-Can recognize strangers vs. familiar people
-Can respond to the emotions of others
-Can recognize self in mirror
9 months
-May become clingy to caregivers and fearful of
strangers
-May have developed favorite toys
1 year
-Can gain attention through sounds and actions
-May be fearful of new situations or the
departure of a caregiver
-May show preference toward things or people
1 year and half
-May engage in temper tantrums
-Can play pretend games
-Can explore a lot but may need caregiver close
by
2 years
-Can copy the behavior of others
-Becomes more independent
-May disobey rules or act resistant
3 years
-Can show affection for peers
-Imitates the actions of others
-Can show empathy
-Greater range of emotional expression
4 years
-Becomes more creative
-Shows and expresses own interests
-Shows more interest in playing with others
than alone
5 years
-Shows interest in friends and in pleasing them
-Has gender awareness
-More following rules than disobeying of earlier
age
Language and literacy development
Key Concepts
- Language has been defined as "a system of
symbols that is used to communicate.“
- Literacy is defined as the ability to read and
write1. Like language, literacy develops through
the interactions a child experiences with others.
In early childhood, for example, literacy can
develop through hearing stories read from
books and showing children pictures with words
Ways to Support Language and Literacy
Development in Early Childhood
There are simple ways that adult caregivers can
help support the language and literacy
development within early childhood. One way
to do this is through books. The following tips
help support children's healthy development in
this area using books.
1. Incorporate books and reading into daily
routines, like a part of a child's bedtime ritual.
2. Remember that very young children may not
have the attention span to sit through long
books; reading a book partially is still helpful.
3. Use all forms of verbal expression to read to
children, including reading, singing, and
conversing about the content of books.
4. Connect the stories found in books to the
child's life (i.e., personalize them).
5. As babies get older, show them the words
that you are reading, as you read them.
6. Keep children engaged in reading by asking
them questions along the way, or letting them
tell stories.
7. Keep in mind that what young children like in
books is different than what older children like;
for example, books with bright colors, large
print, and lots of novelty are more appealing to
young children.
Milestones in Language and Literacy
Development
2 months
-Makes cooing and gurgling sounds
-Pays attention to sounds
2 years
-Can form short sentences
-Can repeat more words used by others
-Can name objects and people
3 years
-Can hold conversations
-Can names more objects and people
-Understands more complex instructions (2 to 3
steps)
4 years
-Can tell stories
-Understands some grammatical rules
-Can sing a song or recite a poem
5 years
-Can speak in clear sentences
-Can understand tense (e.g., past vs. future)
-May be able to recite more complex things
(e.g., own address)

4 months
-Can babble
-Will cry in various ways to express needs (e.g.,
hunger, tiredness)

6 months
-Can respond to people with basic sounds
-Can pronounce vowels -Can recognize own
name

9 months
-Can make basic sounds (e.g., "dada" and
"mama"
-Can copy the sounds of other people

1 year
-Can respond to others' request
-Can try to verbalize the words that he or she
hears
- Can communicate through gestures (e.g.,
shaking head no)

1 years and half

-Can say many words
-May communicate through pointing