COURSE:

LIFESPANDEVELOPMENT

COURSECODE:
(PSY1033)

NAME:
SHEKI
NAHGLORYD/
OGUNASI
LAN

ASSI
GNMENTTOPI
C:EARLYCHI
LDHOOD

GROUPMEMBERS:

VI
CKNESWARANS/
OSI
VAM CMK-
02-
DPSY-
2005001
KRI
TISSHAAD/
OSELVARAJAH CMK-
02-
DPSY-
2005005

SHEKINAHGLORYD/
O CMK-
02-
DPSY-
2010007
GUNASI
LAN

LECTURER’
SNAME:
EN.KHAI
RULAZUANBI
NJALI
L

1
2
 TABLEOFCONTENT:

PAGE CONTENT
1 COVERPAGE.
2 TABLEOFCONTENT.
3 EXPLAI
NONEOFLI
FESPANDEVELOPMENT.
4 I
NTRODUCTI
ON.
5-
6 DI
STI
NGUI
SHBETWEENTODDLER&PRESCHOOLER.
7-
9 THEGROWTHPATTERNI
NEARLYCHI
LDHOOD.
10 THEDEVELOPMENTOFGROSSMOTORSKI
LLSI
NEARLY
CHI
LDHOOD.
11 THEDEVELOPMENTOFFI
NEMOTORSKI
LLSI
NEARLY
CHI
LDHOOD.

3
1.
(a)Explai
noneofLi
fespanDev
elopmentphasesi
n
detail
s.
Earlychi
ldhood issometimesref
erredtoasthe pr
eschool
 year
s.This
i
saper i
odoft he l
i
fe 
spanafteri
nfancyandbeforethechi
l
dbegi ns
formalschooling.Thi
sistypi
call
yfrom ages3to5or2t o6y ears.
The
rateofphysicalgrowthin 
ear
lychil
dhood i
sslowerthanwhatwas
foundininfancy.

4
I
NTODUCTI
ON
Youngchi l
drenar enotonl ygrowingphy sicall
yduringearlychil
dhood, butt hey
arealsogr owi
ngment all
y.Childr
enoft hisagecont i
nuetoadv ancethei rskil
ls
i
nobser vi
ngandi nteracti
ngwi ththewor l
daroundt hem.Theyal somake
tr
emendous l eaps i n how t hey pr
ocess,st or
e,and use i nformation.As
mentionedi ntheintroduction,quant
if
y i
ngcogni tiv
echangei sabi ttri
cky .We
do notcountt he numberofnew neur ons ormeasur et he amountof
connectionsbetweensy napsesandcomeupwi t
hav er
agesfordi f
ferentages.
Rather,wer el
yont heor i
es,suchasPi aget '
sstagesofcogni ti
vedev elopment ,
Eri
ckson'spsy chosocialst ages,andBr onfenbrenner'
secol ogicalmodelt o
gi
veusawayt ounder standandt omeasur echi l
dren'sment alandsoci al
developmentandpr ogression.
Accordingt oPi aget,chi
ldreni nthePr eoper
at i
onalst
ageofdev elopmentbui l
d
onski l
lslearnedandmast ereddur i
ngt heSensor i
motorstage.Forar eviewof
Sensor i
mot or dev el
opment ,please  click here.During this stage,y oung
chil
dren'spl aybecomesi ncreasinglyi maginaryandf i
ll
edwi thfantasi
es.As
chil
drendev el
opcogni t
ively
,theirpl aywi l
lmov efrom si
mpl emake- bel
ieveto
plotsinvolvi
ngmor echar actersandscenar ios,gameswithsophisticat
edr ul
es,
etc.Accor di
ngt oPiaget,playingi sn'tjustfun;iti
sani mportantpartofbr ai
n
development .

ThePi agetianmi lest

onesdescr i
bedint hi
ssectionar etypi
calorav eragef or
youngchi ldrenages2- 7livi
ngi nWest erncount r
ies.Onceagai n,howev er
,
eachchi l
di suni queandwi llgrow inhisorherownt imeandway .Aswi th
physicalmi l
estones,ifcaregiv
erssuspectt hat"somet hi
ngisn'tr
ight"ort hat
theirchil
di sfaili
ng to completemaj ordev el
opment altasks,theyshoul d
discusst heirconcer nswi t
h apedi at
rici
an orf ami l
ydoctor.Somey oung
chil
drenmayhav edev el
opment aldel
aysorchal lengesthatcanbei dent i
fied
andsuccessf ul
l
yaddr essedifcaughtearly
.

5
DI
STINGUI
SH BETWEEN TODDLER AND
PRESCHOOLER:
A. TODDLERS
Somepeopl esayt heager angeofat oddlerisbet ween1- 4yearsol dwhi l
e
otherssayitis1- 3y earsold.Dur i
ngthisstageofl ife,toddlersarebusy
becomi ngmor emobi least heylearntowal k.Theyar edev el
opingot her
grossmot orskill
s, suchaski ckingabal l
,runningawayf rom you,cli
mbi ng
everypieceoff urnitureinsight,andbalancingont hingst heyshouldn’tbeon.
Theyar everyinterestedi nexplori
ngt hewor l
dar oundt hem.Toddl erswant
tobei ndependent ,butarest i
llverydependentonmommyanddaddy .

Toddler
sarelearningtotalkatthisstageofl i
fe.Theyof t
enspeaki nphrases,
l
ike“morewater,”thatdevelopint
oshor tsent ences, l
ike,
“Iwantasnack. ”
Toddler
sarelearninghowt oexpresst heiremot ions;theyaretryingtofi
gure
outtheappr
opriatereacti
onsf orwhent heyar emad, sad,ti
red,angry,et
c.
(Sowhentheybur stoutintearsthatyougav ethem gr eengrapesi nst
eadof
purpl
eremembert hattheyar esti
lll
earninghowt oreacttothisfeeli
ng.)
Toddler
soft
eni mitatethepeoplearoundt hem, sobecar efulwhaty ousay
anddo.

Toddl ersareabletof oll

owsi mpleinstr
ucti
onsatt hisage,suchas“ Handme
thet oy,pl
ease,”“Puty ourshir
tinthehamper ,or“Let’
sputy ourshoeson.”
Toddl ersenjoysimplegames, songs,andactivi
ti
es.Theycanbegi nt ol
ear
n
theircolors,shapes,andl et
tersatthisage.Toddlersoftenti
mespl ay
alongsideot herchil
dren,butdonoti nter
actwiththem andt hisi
scalled
parallelpl
ay.

6
B. PRESCHOOLERS:
Ithoughtapr eschool
erwasachi l
dthatactuall
yattendedpreschool,Ididn’
t
knowi twasanager angeofy oungchildr
en.Apr eschoolagedchildr anges
from age3-5y ear
sold.Apr eschool
erisverycuri
ousaboutthewor ldar ound
them,andwi l
loftenaskaTONofwhyquest i
onst ohelpthem learnabout
thei
rwor ld.Sowheny ouhav ebeenaskedy our89thquest i
onint hepast
hour,takeadeepbr eath,andr ememberthatwi t
heachquest i
ont heyask
theyarelearni
ng.

A pr eschoolerhas mor e dev el

oped f ine motorski l
lst han a toddl
er.
Therefore,theyareabl etodr esst hemsel v
es,useaf orkpr operl
y,begi
nto
cutpaperwi t
hscissors,anddr awmor edet ai
ledpict
ures.Dur i
ngthisagea
preschoolerisbeginningtolearnmor eli
feskill
s,l
ikeexpressingthei
rneeds,
dressingt hemselves,brushingt heirteeth,blowi
ngt heirnose,put t
ingon
thei
rshoes,et c.Developi
ngt hesel if
eski ll
shelpsthem t obecomemor e
i
ndependent ,
whichiswhatt heywantatt hisage.

Preschool ersspeakwel lenought obeunder stood.Thishelpsthem tohave

mor ei nt
eract i
vepl aywi t
hot herchildrenandadul t
s.Youmi ghtoft
enf i
nd
yourpr eschool erpretendingdur i
ngt heirplayti
mewhet hert
heyhav ecreat
ed
ani maginaryf riend,play i
nghouse,f ightingoffthedragonsf r
om thecastle,
calmi ngacr yingbabydol l,orcrossingt hefini
shlineinthei
rracecaritisall
helpingdev elopt heircreativethi
nking.

Preschool
ersalsobegi ntodev el
opasenseofti
me.Theybecomeawar
eof
dayfrom ni
ght,theirdail
yrouti
ne.Theymayevenbegi
ntolearnt
heday
sof
theweekandmont hsoft heyear.

7
THEGROWTHPATTERNI
NEARLYCHI
LDHOOD:
Physicalgrowt hreferstoani ncr
easei nbodysize(lengthorheightand
weight)andi nt hesizeoforgans.Fr om bir
thtoaboutage1or2y ears,
chi
ldrengr owr apidly.Aft
erthisti
me, growthslows.Asgr owthslows,
chi
ldrenneedf ewercal or
iesandpar entsmaynot i
ceadecr easeinappet ite.
Two-year-oldchi l
drencanhav ever
yer rat
iceat
inghabitsthatsomet i
mes
makepar entsanxi ous.Somechi l
drenmayseem t oeatv irt
ual
lynot hingyet
conti
nuet ogr owandt hri
ve.Actuall
y ,
theyusuall
yeatlit
tleonedayandt hen
makeupf oritbyeat ingmor ethenextday .

Duri
ngt hepreschoolandschoolyear
s,growt
hinheightandwei
ghti
sst
eady.
Chil
drentendt ogrowasimilaramounteachyearunt
ilt
henextmaj
orgr
owth
spurtoccursinearlyadol
escence.

Differ
entorgansgrowatdi ff
erentr at
es.Forexample,ther
eproducti
ve
system hasabr i
efgrowthspur tjustaft
erbir
th,t
henchangesv eryl
it
tl
eunti
l
j
ustbef ore 
sexualmaturati
on (
puber ty)
.Incontr
ast
,thebraingrowsalmost
exclusi
velyduri
ngtheear l
yyear soflif
e.Thekidney
sf unct
ionattheadul
t
l
ev elbytheendofthef i
rstyear.

Chil
drenwhoar ebeginni ngtowalkhaveanendeari
ngphysique,wi
ththe
bell
yst i
cki
ngforwardandt hebackcur
ved.Theymayalsoappeartobequi t
e
bow-legged.By3y ear
sofage, muscl
etoneincr
easesandtheproporti
onof
bodyf atdecr
eases,sot hebodybeginstolookl
eanerandmor emuscular.
Mostchi l
drenarephysicall
yabletocontr
ol t
hei
rbowelsandbladderatthi
s
ti
me.

Doctorsreporthowchi l
drenaregr owinginrelati
ontootherchildrentheirage
andmoni torthechi
ldren'
swei ghtgaincompar edtothei
rheight.From birt
h
until
2y earsofage,doctorsrecordallgrowthpar ameter
sinachar tbyusing
standard 
growthcharts f
rom theWor ldHealthOr gani
zati
on( WHO) .Afterage
2,doctorsrecordgrowthparamet ersbyusing growthcharts 
from the
CentersforDiseaseCont r
olandPr eventi
on( CDC) .

8
Lengt hi
nchil
drenwhoar etooy oungt ostandismeasuredwhi l
echildrenlie
ont heirbackonasui t
abledev i
ce,suchasameasur i
ngt able(call
eda
stadiometer
).Heighti
nchildrenwhocanst andismeasur edusingav erti
cal
measur i
ngscale.Ingeneral,lengthi nnormal-
terminfantsincr
easesabout
30%byage5mont hsandmor et han50%byage12mont hs.I
nfantstypical
ly
growabout10i nches(25cent imeters)duri
ngthefir
styear,andheightat5
yearsi saboutdoublethebi rthl ength.I
n boys,halftheadul theighti s
attai
nedbyaboutage2.I ngi rls,heightat19mont hsisabouthalftheadul t
height.
Nor mal-term newbornst ypical
lylose5t o8%oft hei
rbir
thweightduri
ngt he
fi
rstf ewday sofl i
fe.Theyr egainthi
swei ghtbytheendofthefir
st2weeks.
Aftert hisper i
odoft ime,newbor nstypical
lygainabout1ounceperday
duringt hef i
rst2mont hs,and1poundpermont haft
erthat
.Thisweightgain
typicall
yr esult
sinadoubl i
ngofbi rt
hwei ghtbyage5mont hsandat r
ipl
i
ng
by1 y ear.I nrecenty ears,mor echildren hav
edev el
oped 
obesit
y.Some
chil
dr enbecomeobeseatanear lyage.

9
Headcircumferencei smeasur ementar
oundthelargestareaofachild'
s
head.Doctorsplacet hetapemeasureabovetheey ebr
owsandear sand
aroundthebackoft hehead.Thismeasurementisimportantbecausethe
si
zeoft heheadr eflectst
hesizeofthebrai
n,andthismeasurementl et
s
doctor
sknowwhet herthechi
ld'sbr
aini
sgrowingatanor mal r
ate.Head
ci
rcumferenceisr outinel
ymeasuredunti
lchil
drenare3y ear
sold.

Atbir
th,thebr ainis25%ofitsf
utureadul tsi
ze,andheadcircumferenceis
about14i nches( about35cent
imet ers)
.By1y earofage,t
hebr ai
nis75%of
i
tsadultsize.By3y ear
sofage,thebr ai
nis80%ofi tsadul
tsize.By7y ear
s
ofage,thebr ainis90%ofitsadultsize.

Thet i
mingoftoot
her upti
onvari
es,mai
nlyf
orheredi
tar
yreasons.Howev
er,
toot
her upti
onmayalsobedel ay
edbydisor
derssuch
as r
ickets,
 
hypopi
tui
tari
sm, hy
pothy
roi
dism,or
 Downsyndrome.

Lowerf rontteethusuall
ybegintoappearbyt heageof5t o9mont hs.Upper
frontteethusuallybegintoappearby8t o12mont hs.Onav erage,i
nfants
hav e6t eethbyage12mont hs,12teethby18mont hs,16teethby2y ear
s,
andal l20oft hei
rbaby( deci
duous)teethby2½y ears.Babyteethare
replacedbyper manent( adul
t)t
eethbetweent heagesof5y earsand13
years.Per manentteethtendtoappearearli
eringir
ls.

THEDEVELOPMENTOFGROSSMOTORSKI
LLS
10
I
NEARLYCHI
LDHOOD:
Theter
m" gr
ossmot or"developmentr ef
erstophy
sicalski
ll
sthatuselar
ge
bodymovements,normal l
yinvol
vingtheenti
rebody.I
nt hesenseusedhere,
grossmeans"l
arge"ratherthan"disgust
ing.
"

Betweenages2and3y ears,
youngchi ldr
enstop" t
oddli
ng,
"orusingt
he
awkward, wi de-l
eggedr
obot-
li
kest ancethati
sthehallmarkofnewwalker
s.
Astheydev elopasmoothergait
,theyalsodeveloptheabil
it
ytorun,j
ump,and
hop.Childrenoft hi
sagecanparticipat
einthr
owi ngandcatchi
nggameswi t
h
l
argerballs.Theycanalsopusht hemsel v
esaroundwi t
htheirf
eetwhil
esi
tti
ng
onar i
dingt oy .

Chil
drenwhoar e3t o4y earsol
dcancl imbupst ai
rsusingamet hodof
bri
ngingbothfeettogetheroneachst epbef oreproceedingtot henextst ep(i
n
contr
ast,adul
tsplaceonef ootoneachst epi nsequence) .Howev er,young
chi
ldrenmayst i
ll
needsome" back-
up"assi stancetoprev entfall
sincaset hey
becomeunst eadyinthisnewskill
.Childrenoft hi
sagewi llal
sobest umped
wheni t
'sti
met ogobackdownt hestairs; t
heyt endtoturnar oundandscoot
downt hestai
rsbackwar ds.3to4y earol dscanj umpandhophi gherast hei
r
l
egmuscl esgrowst ronger.Manycanev enhopononef ootf orshortperiods
ofti
me.

Alsoatt hisage( 3t o4y ears),

chil
drendev elopbet terupperbodymobi l
it
y.As
ar esult,
theircatchingandt hrowingabi li
tiesi mpr oveinspeedandaccur acy.
Inaddi ti
on,theycant ypi
call
yhitast ati
onar ybal l
f r
om at eewi t
habat .As
whol ebodycoor di
nat i
onimpr oves,childrenoft hisagecannowpeddl eand
steerat ri
cycle.Theycanal sokickal argerbal lpl
aceddi rectl
yinfrontofthei
r
bodi es.
Byages4t o5,childrencangoupanddownt hest air
salonei ntheadult
fashi on(i
.e.
,takingonest epatat ime) .Thei rr unningcont i
nuest osmoothout
andi ncreaseinspeed.Chi l
drenofthi sagecanal soskipandaddspi ntothei
r
throws.Theyal sohav emor econtrol whenr idingt hei
rtri
cycles(orbicycl
es),
andcandr ivethem f aster
.

Duringages5t o6, youngchi ldrencont i

nuet oref
ineear lierskills.They'
re
runningev enfasterandcanst arttori
debi cycl
eswi thtrainingwheel sfor
addedst abil
ity.I
naddi tion,t
heycanst epsi deways.Childr enoft hi
sagebegin
mast eri
ngnewf ormsofphy sical pl
aysuchast hejunglegy m, andbegi nto
uset hesee- saw, sli
de, andswi ngont heirown.Theyof tenst artjumpingrope,
skating,hi t
ti
ngbal lswi t
hbat s,andsoon.Manychi ldrenoft hisageenj oy
l
earni ngt oplayor ganizedspor tssuchassoccer ,basket ball,t-
bal l
or
swimmi ng.Inaddi ti
on, 5t o6y earoldsof t
enl i
ketopar t
ici patei nphysical
extr
acur ricularactivi
ti
essuchaskar ate,gymnastics,ordance.Chi ldr
en

11
conti
nuetor
efi
neandi
mpr
ovet
hei
rgr
ossmot
orski
l
lst
hroughage7and
beyond.

12
THEDEVELOPMENTOFFI
NEMOTORSKI
LLSI
N
EARLYCHI
LDHOOD:
Fi
nemot orskil
l
sarenecessarytoengageinsmall
er,
mor epreci
se
movement s,
normall
yusingthehandsandf i
nger
s.Fi
nemot orski
ll
sar
e
di
ff
erentthangrossmotorskil
lswhichrequi
rel
esspreci
siontoper
for
m.

Byages2t o3y ears,chil

drencancreatet hingswi t
ht hei
rhands.Theycan
buil
dtowersoutofbl ocks,moldclayintor oughshapes, andscribblewitha
crayonorpen.Chil
dr enofthisagecanal soi nsertobject
sintomat chi
ng
spaces,suchasplaci ngroundpegsintor oundhol es.2to3y ear
-oldsoften
beginshowingapr eferenceforusi
ngonehandmor eof t
enthant heother,
whichisthebeginningofbecomi ngleftorr i
ght-handed.

Aroundages3t o4y ears,childr

enst ar
tt omanipulateclothingfast
eners,
like
zippersandsnaps, andcont inuet ogaini ndependencei ndressingand
undressingt hemselves.Bef oret heyent erschool
, mostchi l
drenwill
gainthe
abili
tytocompl et
elydressandundr esst hemselves(event houghtheymay
takeal ongt i
met of i
nishthet ask).Att hisage,childr
encanal sobeginusing
scissorstocutpaper .Caregi versshoul dbesur et ogivechildr
enblunt,
round-
edged" kid"scissorsforsafet yreasons!

3t o4y ear -oldscont inuet or ef i

net hei reatingski ll
sandcanuseut ensil
sli
ke
forksandspoons.Youngchi l
dr enatt hi sagecanal sousel argerwr iti
ng
i
nst rument s,likefatcr ayons, inawr i
tinghol drat hert hanj ustgr aspingthem
witht heirf ist
.Theycanal souseat wi stingmot ionwi tht heirhands, useful
for
openi ngdoorknobsort wistingl idsof fcont ai
ner s.Becausechi l
drencannow
opencont ainer swithlids, car egiversshoul dmakecer tainthathar mf ul
subst ancessuchascl eaner sandmedi cat i
onsar est oredoutofr eachi na
l
ockedar eat opr eventacci dent al poisoni ngs.
Dur i
ngages4t o5y ear s,childrencont i
nuet oref i
nef inemot orskill
sandbui l
d
uponear lierski l
ls.Fori nstance, theycannowbut tonandunbut t
ont hei
r
clothesbyt hemsel ves.Thei rar ti
st i
cski ll
simpr ov e,andt heycandr awsi mple
stickfigur esandcopyshapessuchasci rcles,squar es, andl argeletter
s.
Drawi ngmor ecompl exshapes, howev er,mayt akel onger .

5-7y ear -
oldsbegi
ntoshowt heski l
l
snecessaryf
orst art
ingorsucceedi ngin
school ,suchasprint
inglet
tersandnumber sandcreat i
ngshapessuchas
tri
angl es.Theyareabletousepai nt
s,penci
l
sandcr ayonswi thbettercontr
ol.
Childrencanal socompleteotherself-
caret
asksbey onddr essi
ngand
undr essing,suchasbrushi
ngt heirt
eethandcombingt heirhair
.Childr
enof
thi
sagecanal soi
ndependentlyfeedthemselv
eswithoutanadul t
'simmediate
super visi
onorhelp.

13