Childhood to Adolescence: Development Stages (PPT)

Welcome back to another scholar week! This blog post will break down the developmental Stages from before birth to Adolescence. While most of us are aware of the different stages, not all of us know what to take note of. Sometimes children fall a bit behind or get too head in their development and we must know when it is a sign for concern and intervention. With this being said, we must always keep in mind that each kid is different and develops at their own pace.

Pre-Natal

Conception to Birth
Key stages:
Germinal Stage (Conception-2weeks)
Embryonic (3-8 weeks)
Fetal (9weeks-Birth)

The pre-natal period is essentially the time of conception through birth. Key stages during pregnancy are the germinal stage, which begins with the fertilization of an egg cell, called a zygote. During this stage, cells begin multiplying at a rapid speed to form the blastocyst and implementation, eventually the zygote becomes the blastocyst and implants itself into the uterine lining. During the embryonic stage, the blastocyst turns into an embryo and the neural tube starts to form along with vital organs, head, limbs, and eyes. After about 9 weeks, the tissue and organs mature, by the 14th week the sex can be determined most of the time, and by week 16 the mother can feel fetal movement. (Cleveland Clinic, 2024)

Infancy

Birth- 1year
Key Milestones:
Rolling over
Crawling
Development of fear and shyness
Response to simple requests
First words
Curiosity and exploration of surroundings and objects

During this stage, children begin to sit up with support, they begin crawling and reaching for objects. Some social development includes being shy around stangers, showing fear in certain situations, and they begin playing simple games such as ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘pat-a-cake’. Cognitively they begin to imitate spoken language, and some even say their first word during this stage, they can follow simple direction such as “come here” or “pick it up”. (Psychology Today, n.d.)

Toddlerhood

1-2 years
Key Milestones:
First steps
Throwing items
Affectionate towards familiar people
Copying behavior
Pointing to items or people
Follow one to two step instructions
Sorting shapes and colors

During toddlerhood children gain a wide range of skills socially, physically, and cognitively. This the stage where they beging throwing things such as balls or other items, they begin to copy others’ behavior, and start showing excitement. Cognitively, their vocabulary begins to expand rapidly to words such as yes, no, please, red, car, girl, boy, dog, house, etc. In this stage they also start doodling and develop a sense of favorite items or people. Some children begin favoring a dominant hand too. (Psychology Today, n.d.)

Early Childhood

3-8 Years
Key Milestones:
Likes and dislikes
Counting to 10 and up
Remembers names and addresses
Play pretend
Follow multi-step instructions
Running
Learns Familiar songs
Telling stories

Between the ages 3 through 8, children experience a lot changes and they begin to remember names of family members and friends. They begin learning numbers and later on how to do basic math such as 1+1 or 2+2. In this stage they also begin playing pretend with other children and they can use the playground. They also begin to tell stories and memorize songs they like. (CDC, 2024)

Middle Childhood

8-11 Years
Key Milestones:
Gained muscle strength and lung capacity
Growth spurts
Problem solving skills
Attention span increase
Acquisition of body language
Use of metaphors and slang
Expression of defiance
Struggle to ‘fit in’

During muddle childhood most moms realize they don’t have babies anymore, their children start growing quickly, they have the ability to solve problems and imagine ‘what if’ scenarios. At this stage they also begin to get self-conscious and might experience trouble fitting in. At the same time they begin using more complex language such as figures of speech, slang, and nicknames. (Morin, n.d.)

Adolescence

12-18 years
Key Milestones:
Puberty
Abstract thinking skills
Questioning things
Ability to maintain satisfying relationships
Explore Sexual identity
Struggle for independence

Appearances and peer pressure

Adolescence is a stage of many more changes than the previous ones. During this stage children’s body begin to change drastically in height, weight, and appearance. Girls get their period, boys’ voices begin to change, and both start exploring their sexuality. Cognitively, they can understand more complex ideas, they develop moral philosophies, and they begin developing a worldview with a basic set of values. Socially they are very self-conscious about their body and appearance, the begin to understand the concept of intimacy, and they begin to advocate or argue about their independence and freedom. (Allen and Waterman, 2024)

Focus: Early Childhood

Physical Milestones:

Games like catch and hot potato
Running
Play around with children and by themselves
Cognitive Milestones:
Sorting and naming shapes and colors
Story re-telling
Remembering names and addresses

Socio-emotional milestones:

Playing pretend games
Making friends
Multi-step instructions
Linguistic Milestones:
Speak in complete sentences
Use of verbs and plural words
Answering questions
Reading

During early childhood, children continue to develop their vocabulary to include verbs, plural words, and complete sentences. They also develop the ability to answer questions, and they begin to read. Physically, they are able to play games such as catch, hot potato, musical chairs, tag, and hide and seek. Socially they begin making friends and including other kids in the games, they can also follow multi-step instructions such as ‘Go to mom’s room, grab the phone on the nightstand, and bring it to me’. (Stanford Medicine, 2024)

Inherited v.s. Acquired characteristics

Inherited/ Genetic:

Eye Color
Hair color and Texture
Height potential

Acquired/ Learned:

Language Skills
Social Skills
Emotion regulation

Characteristics such as eye color, hair color and texture, and height potential are determined by genetic inheritance. On the other hand, language and social skills as well as emotion regulation are characteristics they learn from other people and are heavily influenced by their environment. (Cherry, 2023)

Learning needs by milestones

Language milestones needs:

Language exposure and practice

Socio-emotional milestones needs:

Interaction with ‘outside’ people
Emotional Guidance

Cognitive milestones needs:

Intellectual challenges

Physical milestones needs:

Fine motor skills practice
Gross motor Skills practice

Supporting Childhood development

Play-Based Learning:

Allows exploration, experimentation, and discovery
Reading-aloud:
Bedtime stories, street signs, posterboards
Socio-Emotional Guidance:
Emotion Identification, coping mechanisms, cooperative play.

Physical development is best supported through outdoors exploration and games. This also supports other areas of development such as social skills and emotion regulation, when they play games with other children. To support language development, it is highly encouraged to read to children and with them, simple things such as reading road signs as they ride the bus or in the car, and reading posterboards and signs in stores can really help them practice and increase their language skills. Lastly, children need guidance in learning and managing different emotions, they also need to be taught coping mechanisms for intense emotions. Peer interaction, cooperative play, and problem-solving really help support this aspect of development. (NAEYC, 2024)

References

NAEYC (2024). Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform Practice. NAEYC. Retrieved from: Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform Practice | NAEYC

Cherry, K. (2023). How Genes Influence Child Development. How Genes Influence Child Development (verywellmind.com)

Stanford Medicine, (n.d.). Age-Appropriate Speech and Language Milestones. Stanford Medicine. Retrieved from: Age-Appropriate Speech and Language Milestones - Stanford Medicine Children's Health (stanfordchildrens.org)

Allen, B. and Waterman, H. (2024). Stages of Adolescence. Healthy Children. Retrieved from: Stages of Adolescence - HealthyChildren.org

Morin, A. (n.d.). Developmental Milestones for Middle-schoolers. Understood. Retrieved from: Developmental milestones for middle-schoolers (understood.org)

CDC (2024). CDC’s Developmental Milestones. Center for Disease Control. Retrieved from:CDC’s Developmental Milestones | CDC

PT Staff, (n.d.). Understanding Childhood Development. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: Child Development | Psychology Today

Cleveland Clinic (n.d.). Fetal Development. Retrieved from: Fetal Development: Week-by-Week Stages of Pregnancy (clevelandclinic.org)