Development of Children and Young People Between Birth to 19

All children are different and develop at their own pace. The rate of development varies in children even though the pattern in which they will develop will be the same. Physical, social and emotional, intellectual and language are the areas of development.

Physical development

Physical development from birth to three years is a rapid process. A child by the age of six months is able to move their head when hearing sound and movement and able to reach for their feet when lying on their back. They try and grasp object. When given a rattle they hold and shake it. From six months onwards a child learns to sit up using support until they can manage without any support and eventually learning to crawl or shuffling on their bottoms. They are able to rollover from their tummies on to their backs and vice versa. They start to hold on to furniture learning how to walk along or by using the aid of a baby walker, up until they gain the confidence to walk alone.
Their hand and eye coordination improves as they learn to pass an object from one hand to another, and begin to show preference for one hand. They learn to play with bricks. Firstly banging them together to being able to build towers, eventually building larger towers.

By the age of two children will have learnt how to sit, walk, feed themselves and they will have moved from eating soft mashed food to eating solids, as sign of their teeth will be clearly visible. They will have learnt to kick and throw a ball. They will be able to grasp a pencil to make scribble on paper.

From three to seven a child is more independent. Learning how to jump, climb, catch and walk up and down stairs confidently. They learn to pedal and eventually ride a bike without support. Using their fine motor skills to hold and use a pair of scissors, able to gain control of a pencil. Increasing in their writing skill. Can also fasten and undo buttons and shoe laces.

From the age seven to twelve years a child will progress in running, jumping skipping and enjoying playing games as a team, even though they may misjudge their ability until the age of nine.

Between twelve and nineteen a child goes from childhood into adulthood. This is referred to the adolescences stage. This starts from the age of 11 up until the age of 19 or 20. It’s the stage that teenagers learn to detach from their parents and become more independent. Every child rate of growth is different.

Boys normally begin adolescence around the age of 14 year, which is later than girls, even though by the end they are usually bigger than girls. They will develop body hair as their body shape changes, their muscles begin to grow, increasing their strength. Their voice will change and become deeper. In the early stages to mid stages of puberty testicles and scrotum will begin to grow. Penis growth starts later but continues for longer.

Girl’s breasts start to swell from around the age of 10. They will also develop hair in the pubic region that will become dark and curly. Their body shape will change. Some girls may be physically mature by the age of 13. This is dependent on the age at which she begins puberty, which varies, ranging from 8 until late teens. The average age for girls of menstruation is around 13.

Social and emotional development.

From birth to about one year old a child mainly communicates through facial expressions such as smiling at familiar faces. A child of this is very dependant and requires comfort from an adult. They recognise familiar faces and get distressed when separated from a parent. They enjoy interacting and playing games such as peek-a-boo and they gradually develop a sense of identity and want to do things for them self. They easily get jealous when attention is not given to them and try to please adults. Temper tantrums start when not being given what they want or not wanting to share toys.

From three to four years a child is more self-motivated and is able to cope with unfamiliar settings and adults. They know how to share, becoming considerate and caring of other feelings. They enjoy playing with other children. Between four and seven a child is able to make friends but still finds it difficult to take turns and needs help resolving problems. By this age a child should have a stable environment and routine, they need to have limits set.

By the age of seven a child becomes less dependant. Starting to enjoy playing with other children. They become aware of their gender and develop understanding between right and wrong. By the age of eight they develop a close friendship and enjoy playing with the same sex. By twelve they can start to show arrogance and bossiness and are uncertain sometimes.

By the time a child reaches the teenage years they are very self-conscious. As their body shape is changing and odours make occur, acne may develop due to oily skin. They begin to follow peer groups in the way they dress having labelled clothing, collecting the same things playing the same games. They turn to their friend and not to their parents for approval. They begin to question certain aspects of life such as parental and community values and beliefs.

Intellectual development

A child between the ages of birth to three is more confident but still needs an adults support. They enjoy copying others and trying out different ways of behaviour in play. They realise that others are spate people from themselves.

From three to four a child learns to understand two or three simple tasks that they are given to do such as pick up the toys put them in back in the box and put the box where it belongs. They begin to realise the difference between objects, size and type and are able to group these together.
From five to seven they learn to understand that there is differences and sameness in various aspects in life and that differences can co exist side by side and are able look at things from different perspectives.

By the age of seven, children are able to read to themselves and will take a lively interest in certain subject by the age of nine.

During the adolescence stage the mind is maturing as young people begin to develop a sense of responsibility for their thoughts, words and actions. They begin to plan about their future and what line of work they want to be in? If they want to get married and have children? They gain the ability to make a link between different pieces of knowledge and the ability to make links of these with the world from their perspective. This stage depends on the guidance given to young people in respects to helping the brain. A young person learns to take the responsibility for his or her own fiancés, accommodation, employment and personal realationshops. This reaches completion as the responsibility from parent transfers to the young person.

Language development

From the early stages in life a child is able to make a lot different sounds. They begin to babble. Laughing and squealing when they are happy and cry to show emotion. They respond to music and sounds. Trying to imitate a parents face especially the mouth. Between one and two years a child learns to use single words to joining them up to make phrases. They begin to understand parents and try and copy them. By the age of two a child’s vocabulary can be anything from 30 to 150 words. By the time they are three a child can use words to form a sentence and begin to ask questions. They are able to memorise rhymes and songs and are able to join in and are able to scribble on paper.

From three to four a child starts to use past tense and is able to use a different pitch or tone of voice. Their vocabulary extends between 1000 to 1500 word.

From five upwards their questions become more complex as they use language to communicate their ideas. The pencil control improves. As they copy shapes and letters. By the age of seven they are able to speak fluently and make up stories. They begin to understand letters and link them to sounds.

A child of twelve years is able to describe complicated scenarios. They need help in tackling complex spellings and learning the different tense of grammar. They are able read out aloud.

From twelve on to nineteen years a young person begins to use sarcasm, joking and mockery as it is new and sophisticated language for them. They are maturing and enjoy using their thought to debate whether it is formal or informal.