Stages Of Development

Our development can be viewed as taking place in the successive stage that is related to age. We pass through the following five stages of development:

Infancy (birth to 2 years)
Early childhood (2 to 5 or 6 years)
Later childhood (6 to 12 years)
Adolescence (12 to 21 years)

Infancy period (Birth to 2 years)

We all a newborn receive a VIP treatment than the newborn. It fills the hearts of parents and is a perennial source of joy to everyone at home. Infancy extends from birth up to 2 years. It is a period of utter helplessness when the infant is totally dependent upon the mother for survival. One might even wonder how would it survive in this world.

Physical Development

Incomplete Development at Birth: The physical development of the newborn infant is far from bringing a fully formed and functioning human organism. For example, the bones of the skull are not fully joined together. These bones join together somewhere between 9 months and a year. The teeth are also incomplete at birth.

Rapid Physical Development: During the first year, the infant makes remarkable progress in physical development and motor coordination. By the end of 12 months, the baby has tripled his birth weight and height. Growth slows down gradually after that.

Head To tail Development: At the time of birth, the infant shows a few reflexes such as the startle and grasp reflexes. The development of this period illustrates the “ head to tail” direction of growth. The brain develops more rapidly than any other part of the body.

Rapid Motor Development: Motor development is very rapid during this period due to which the baby stands, creeps, crawls, and walks. After the child learns to walk, he enters into “toddler hold”.

Emotional Development

At birth, the infant only experiences a kind of general excitement. Only a few later it gets differentiated into varied types of emotional experiences. Until the age of one year, all emotions are connected with biological needs When the infant is well fed and kept warm, he is quite happy.

Mental Development

The newborn child hardly understands anything in the environment. The infant is attracted by bright and colored objects and is able to follow the objects when it is gradually mode.

Early Childhood (Two to Five years)

This period roughly spans between the end of the 2nd year and the end of fifth years. Early childhood is the period of consolidation. This is also called Pre-school period as the child would not be ready for final schooling.

Later Childhood (6 years to 12 years)

Later childhood covers roughly the period from six to twelve years at both beginning and end late childhood is marked by a condition that profoundly after the child’s personal and social adjustments