Child development is the growth or change that occurs in children. It commences with infancy and continues to adulthood. Childhood development is a crucial stage that forms the foundation of learning and future well-being of a child. Research has shown that early childhood experiences can have a lasting effect on the personality, social, emotional and cognitive behavior of the child. Understanding childhood development is, therefore, important in order to create policies and programmes for young children, and to protect their right to develop full physical, emotional, social and cognitive potential.
Child development comprises of three main areas, i.e. physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development. Physical development is accompanied by physical body changes. The sequence of physical changes is relatively stable and predictable. It involves changes in vision, bone thickness, muscle and hearing. Changes in weight and size are also included in physical development. Physical changes fall into two main categories, i.e. gross-motor development and fine-motor development. Gross-motor development results to the improvement of skills that require the large muscles of the legs and arms. Such skills include running, riding of bicycles and skipping. Fine-motor development results to the improvement of skills that require small muscles of the hand and fingers. Such skills include holding, grasping, drawing and cutting.
Cognitive development is also known as intellectual development. It refers to the process through which a child gains knowledge. It includes thought, reasoning, language and imagination. A child will be able to perform cognitive tasks such as identify colors and numbers. The results of cognitive development are thought and language. Both skills are important for memory, problem solving and planning. As the maturation of a child progresses, it gains experience with the world and develops cognitive skills.
The social and emotional developments are closely related. Social development involves learning to relate to others. In emotional development a child learns to express its feelings. Fear, trust, confidence, humor, friendship and pride form part of socio-emotional development. Interest, timidity and pleasure are the other emotional traits. Most four month old infants have the capacity to express anger, joy, surprise and sadness. Fear is expressed between the fifth and seventh month. Primary emotions are developed during the first year of life. Social development leads to emotional attachment. The positive outcome of attachment is trust while mistrust is the negative outcome. The primary attachment of a child is the mother.
Research findings suggest that parenting skills and family structure influence the development of a child either positively or negatively. Good parenting skills are positively linked with the well-being and early achievements of a child. Parenting styles can be measured by family rules and how strictly the rules are enforced. Controlled activities include having meals, sleeping time, watching TV or playing video games. Families with high income are most likely to have favorable family routine, learning environment and psychosocial environment. Therefore, children from low high income families are less likely to experience difficulties in their socio-emotional development compared to those from high income families. The working of parents has a significant influence on the cognitive, social and emotional development of a child. Since the mother spends more time away from her child, she has little influence on the habits acquired by the child. In addition, spending time away from the child will make them shy and insecure. This occurs when the child feels it is not worthy of the parent’s attention. In divorced families, a child spends more time with the mother than the father. Research has shown that good father to child relations reduces the chances of a child to undergo emotional and behavioral difficulties in adolescence. It also results into greater academic motivation of the child. Poverty affects the quality of parenting a child receives. Despite a parent’s best efforts towards the child’s development, children from poor families remain quite disadvantaged compared to wealthier families.
Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development shows that children improved on certain health and wellbeing measures but dropped on other measures. The number of preterm deaths dropped for the fourth consecutive year. The rate of births among adolescents also declined. The average scores in mathematics for students between 4th and 8th grade improved. Violence and criminal activities among youths also declined. On a negative note the number of children living in poverty has increased. The number of children with at least one fully employed parent decreased.
Different strategies can be employed to by parents and care givers to ensure that children achieve full physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. For cognitive development, the parent can provide the child with toys or materials like stacking cups, or tunnels to crawl through to promote the comprehension of shapes and the use of space. Paints can be used to encourage the understanding of colors. For full physical development, proper nutrition must be provided for the child. Parents need to serve as role models by healthy eating. It is important to limit the amount of sugar, fat and salt used in cooking a child’s meal. Parents also need to encourage their children to play outdoors to develop strong muscles. Crawling toddlers should be encouraged to learn how to walk as soon as possible. Emotional development can be achieved by comforting unhappy babies, mirroring the facial expression of the baby, teaching the baby the socially acceptable ways of expressing their feelings and letting toddlers play and explore their environment.
References
Gullota, T. P. (2008). Family Influences on Childhood Behavior and Development: Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment Approache. London: Routledge.
Harwood, R., Miller, S. A., & Vasta, R. (2008). Child Psychology: Development in a Changing Society. New Jersey: Wiley.
NICHD. (2009, July 29). Understanding America's Children. Retrieved from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/news/resources/spotlight/Pages/spotlight-071009-AmericasChildren.aspx
