Part II:

PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Prepared by: Juvy Ann P. Bagatila BSED ENGLISH 1B

 Nature of Growth and Development

 Growth involves differentiation and change in form.
Organic growth consists of three (3) elements
1. Increase in size
2. Differentiation of structure; and
3. Alteration of form

 On the other hand, the development constitutes something more than those
three elements.
 Physical and Motor Development of the Child
• The progressive differential growth- first the head, then the trunk, then the
legs- has been designated by the term cephalocaudal (from the head to
foot).
• While the body has been growing in length, it has also been growing in a
proximodistal direction that is from the central part to the peripheral. For
example, the trunk and the shoulders develop first and then the arms, fingers
and toes begin their real growth.
 Growth of Body Organs
The various organs of man can be grouped into four different growth rates:
1. Positive acceleration which is very slow growth during childhood and then
extremely rapid acceleration at puberty. Examples are the genital organs.
2. Negative acceleration with rapid growth during the first six years of life and
then a sharp slowing down such as the brain and its parts.
3. Reversal growth such as the lymphoid group which increases very rapidly at
first, then actually decreases in size.
4. S-shaped curve which starts and ends with rapid growth periods separated
by a long period of very little pain. This is the “general” type of growth.
 Some Common Skills in the Early Childhood Stage
Generally, babies possess common skills classified as hand skills and play skills as
discussed by Hurlock (1982).
• Hand Skills
 Self-feeding- at eight months, most babies can hold their bottles after
the nipples have been placed in their mouths; at nine months they can
put the bottle nipples in their mouths and take them out without any
help.
 Self-dressing- at the end of the first year, most babies can pull off their
socks, shoes, caps and mittens. By the middle of second year, they will
 attempt to put on caps and mittens, and by the end of babyhood they
can pull off all clothes and put on a shirt or dress.
 Self-grooming- self bathing is limited mainly to running a cloth or
sponge over the face and body. Before they are two, most babies try to
brush their hair or teeth.
• Play Skills- babies learn to jump from elevated position usually by
movements resembling by walking. They learn to climb stairs first by crawling
or creeping.
 Patterns of Motor Control
• Head Region
 Eye control- optic, nystagmus or the response of the eye to a
succession of moving objects begins about twelve hours after birth;
ocular pursuit movements between the third and the fourth weeks;
horizontal eye movements between the third and the fourth months;
and circular eye movements, several months later.
 Smiling- reflex smiling, or smiling in response to a tactual stimulus,
appears during the first week of life, social smiling or smiling in
response to the smile of another person, begins between the third and
fourth months.
 Head Holding- in a prone position, babies can hold their heads erect at
one month; when lying on their backs, at five months; and when held in
a sitting position, between four and six months.
• Trunk Region
 Rolling- babies can roll from side to back at two months and from back
to side at four months. At six months, they can roll over completely.
 Sitting- the baby can pull to a sitting position at four months, sit with
support at five months, sit without support momentarily at seven
months, and sit up without support for ten or more minutes at nine
months.
• Arm and Hand Region
 Hands- thumb opposition- the working of the thumb in opposition to the
fingers- appears in grasping between three and four months and in
picking up objects between eight and ten months.
 Arms- the baby can reach the objects by six or seven months and can
pick up a small object without random movements by one year.
• Leg Region- shifting of the body by kicking occurs by the end of the second
week. Hitching or moving in a sitting position, appears by six months.
 Research Studies on Motor Control
• Studies have shown evidence that the development of sitting, standing and
walking is determined by growth changes and maturational development of
the neural and muscular system rather than by practice.
 Late Childhood Physical Development
• Height- the annual increase in height is 2 to 3 inches. The average eleven-
year-old girl is 58 inches tall and the average boy of the same age is 57.3 tall.
 • Weight- weight increase is more variable than height increase, ranging from
3 to 5 more pounds annually. The average eleven-year-old weighs 88.5
pounds, and the average boy of the same age weighs 85.5 pounds.
• Body proportion- although the head is still proportionately too large for the
rest of the body, some of the facial disproportions disappear as the mouth
and jaw became larger, the forehead broadens and flattens, the lips fill out,
the nose becomes larger and acquires more shape.
• Homeliness- the body disproportions, so pronounced during late childhood,
are primarily responsible for the increase in homeliness at this time. In
addition, careless grooming and a tendency to wear clothes like those of
peers, regardless of their becomingness, contribute to homeliness.
• Muscle-Fat Ratio- during late childhood, fat tissues develop more rapidly
than muscle tissues which have a marked growth spurt beginning at puberty.
• Teeth- by the onset of puberty, a child normally has twenty-eight of the thirty-
two permanent teeth. The last four, the wisdom teeth, erupt during
adolescence.
 Late Childhood Skills
Hurlock (1982) classified these skills into:
• Self-Help Skills- older children should be able to eat, dress, bathe, and
grooms themselves with almost as much speed and adeptness as an adult,
and these skills should not require the conscious attention that was necessary
in early childhood.
• Social-Help Skills- skill in the category relate to helping others. At home,
they include making beds, dusting, and sweeping; at school, they include
emptying wastebaskets and washing chalkboards; and in the playgroup they
include helping to construct a tree house or lay out a baseball diamond.
• School Skills- at school, the child develops the skills needed in writing,
drawing, painting, clay modeling, dancing, crayoning, sewing, cooking and
woodworking.
• Play Skills- the older child learn such skills as throwing and catching balls,
riding a bicycle, skating, and swimming in connection with play.
• Handedness- by the time they reach late childhood, most children are so
predominantly right- or left-handed that changing handedness is far from
easy. Doing so must be with caution and only under certain conditions.