CHILDHOOD PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

CHILDREN’S PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

There’s one thing for sure – babies and kids will grow. But physical development is
about more than just hitting the right percentiles on a height chart.

All babies grow in the same order but at completely different rates. One seven-
month-old might be crawling around and chattering madly. Another might be playing
silently on his playmat. One five-year-old can look like he’s still only four, while
another can look like he belongs with the seven-year-olds.
Developmental achievements are often called ‘milestones’ and there are certain
physical milestones.

 Gross motor skills involve the coordination and control of large muscles and
skills like walking, sitting and running.
 Fine motor skills (or manipulation) involve the coordination and control of
small muscles, and skills like holding a rattle, picking up crumbs and scribbling
with a pencil.
 Vision is the ability to see near and far, and to interpret what’s seen.
 Hearing is the ability to hear, listen to and interpret sounds, whereas speech
is the ability to produce sounds that form words. Language is something
different again, but also important.
 Emotional and social behaviour and understanding is your child’s ability to
learn and interact with others, including skills for play and communicating with
other people and children.

Physical development provides children with the abilities they need to explore and
interact with the world around them. A young child's physical growth first begins as
muscles gain strength and children gradually develop coordination. The
development of muscular control is the first step in this process.
Think about the words physical development. They encompass so many different
tasks and abilities. The term motor development refers to physical growth, or growth
in the ability of children to use their bodies and physical skills. Motor development
often has been defined as the process by which a child acquires movement patterns
and skills.
Genetics, size at birth, body build, nutrition and culture can all influence motor and
physical development.
 WHAT TO EXPECT OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Physical development by six months
He will show basic distinctions in vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching,
temperature and perceiving pain. He will also lift his head when on his stomach and
possibly show squeals of delight as well as grasp objects and roll over.
Physical development by 12 months
He can control his torso and hands, sit without support, crawl and has growing
control of legs and feet. He may stand or creep across the floor.
Physical development by 18 months
Can creep or crawl up stairs, possibly walk, draw lines on paper with crayon and will
show growing physical independence.
Physical development by age two
He can go up and down steps, run, sit self on chair, use a spoon and fork, turn single
pages in a book, kick a ball, attempt to dress himself, build a tower of six blocks, kick
a ball and has bowel and bladder control (though he may not care to show it and be
toilet trained!).
Physical development by age three
He can run well, march, stand on one foot briefly, ride a tricycle, feed himself (with a
bit of mess), put on his own shoes and socks (though not tie laces!), unbutton and
button.
Physical development by age four
He can skip on one foot, cut with scissors, wash and dry his own face, dress himself,
throw a ball overhand and other skills to show growing independence.
Physical development by age five
He can hop and skip, dress without help, has good balance and smoother muscle
action, skate or ride a scooter, print and write simple letters, establish whether he is
left or right handed. Girls' fine motor skill development is likely to be about one year
ahead of boys.
Physical development by age seven
He can stand on one foot with eyes closed for three seconds, walk on a line in heel-
toe fashion, skip on both feet, possibly ride a bicycle without training wheels, jump
rope, catch and bounce a tennis ball and tie shoelaces.
Physical development by age nine
He has the capability to roll, bat, kick and throw a ball, which makes him able to play
organised sports such as soccer, cricket and basketball. His strength and
coordination will continue to develop with practice.
Physical development by age twelve
Puberty can start to appear at this age, which is why you’ll see kids developing at
different rates between the ages of eight and 18. With growth spurts come
clumsiness and a lack of coordination. If your child is not athletic, help him find a
sport or physical activity he enjoys. At this age, kids who don’t excel athletically are
tempted to avoid all physical activity.

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO PHYSICAL

DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN

Speech and language are the tools humans use to communicate and share
thoughts, ideas, and emotions. For babies and children, they come to know these
tools and develop at a varying rate.
Language differs from speech in that language is the set of rules, shared by the
individuals who are communicating, that allows them to exchange those thoughts,
ideas, or emotions. Speech is talking, one way that a language can be expressed.
Language may also be expressed through writing or things like signing.
The most intensive period of speech and language development for humans is
during the first three years of life, a period when the brain is developing and maturing.
These skills appear to develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and
consistent exposure to the speech and language of others.
There is increasing evidence suggesting that there are “critical periods” for speech
and language development in infants and young children. This means that the
developing brain is best able to absorb a language, any language, during this period.
An infant's first ability to express his needs begins with crying during the first days of
life. As jaw and mouth mechanisms develop, he is gradually able to make and mimic
sounds and words. By eighteen months, he should have a vocabulary of at least
eight to 10 words. He will eventually be able to express his needs, desires and
thoughts as he grasps the concept of word and object association.
Typical speech and language skills in childhood development

Children vary in their development of speech and language. There is, however, a
natural progression or "timetable" for the mastery of these skills.

The milestones below are identifiable skills that can serve as a guide to normal
development. Typically, simple skills need to be reached before the more complex
skills can be learned. There is a general age and time when most children pass
through these periods.

6 months

 Vocalises with intonation.

 Responds to her name.
 Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning her head and eyes.

12 months

 Uses one or more words with meaning - often mama or dada.

 Understands simple instructions, such as bye-bye or bed.
 Is aware of the social value of speech.

18 months

 May have a vocabulary of between five to 20 words

 May repeat a word over and over again, often called echolalia
 Is able to follow simple commands

24 months

 Can name familiar objects.

 Combines words into a short sentence.
 The majority of what they say will be intelligible and the vocabulary might be
150-300 words.
 Rhythm and fluency of speech won't be great - neither will their volume and
pitch.
 Can use pronouns correctly - I, me, you, although me and I are often
confused.

By 3 years

 Should be using some plurals and past tenses.

  Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name.
 Handles three word sentences easily.
 Has a vocabulary of 900-1000 words.
 About 90% of what child says should be intelligible.
 Verbs begin to dominate the speech.
 Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and
activities.
 Should be able to state her sex, name, age.
 Should not be expected to answer all questions even though she
understands.

By 5 years

 Can use many descriptive words spontaneously - both adjectives and

adverbs.
 Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heave-light, etc.
 Has number concepts of four or more.
 Can count to ten.
 Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems.
 Should know his age.
 Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after,
while.
 Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and
some complex sentences.
 Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct.

By 6 years

 She will have mastered tricky consonants such as: f, v, sh, zh, th, l.
 Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful.
 Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing
relationships between objects and happenings.

By 7 years

 Should have mastered consonants like s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the
soft g - as in George.
 Should understand complex opposites like: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-
swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour.
 Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc.
 Should be able to tell time to the quarter hour.
  Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words.

By 8 years

 Can relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at

some time in the past.
 Complex and compound sentences should be used easily.
 Should have few lapses in grammatical constrictions.
 All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established.