Lessons in Family Literacy - Child Development

Child Development - Birth to Age 5
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Standard 2 / Indicator 2.1

Demonstrate changes in home environment that support literacy and child development.
Understand child development processes relating to their child(ren).

Materials:

Pencil or pen

Family Literacy Journal (view instructions here)

Vocabulary list - Print this list and keep it close to you while studying this lesson.

Activity Handout - Use this paper to complete the activity.

Lesson:

In order to truly understand your child(ren), it is important that you understand how children develop. Through out life, from the moment of conception beyond college years, children go through many stages. Each of these stages is very important in raising a healthy child.

There are many areas of development in a child:

physical - crawling, walking, running, kicking, drawing, writing
language - cooing, responding, speaking, understanding
communication - talking, understanding, conversation
intellectual - thinking, problem-solving
social - behavior, cooperation, sharing
emotional - confidence, self-esteem, coping

There are also many things that you can do as a parent to help your child(ren) learn the skills they need in each of these areas to be successful in life.

The first three years of life are when a child needs the most parent contact and interaction. Infants and toddlers grow and learn very rapidly, and you are their first teacher. Older children also need guidance and support from parents in order to grow into healthy adults.

Below you will explore different levels of child development from birth to age 8. Take special note of the stage that includes your child(ren).

Each time you click on a link below, a new window will open. To return to this page, close the new window.

Activity 1:

Click on Stages of Development. Read about the different stages of life from Birth to age 8.
Answer the questions on the activity handout.

Check Answers

Activity 2:

Click on Ages and Stages and read about your child(ren)'s development.
1. Choose the age group for your child.
2. Read about the development in each category (language, spatial, logic/math, body movement, musical, social and self)
3. Go to the assessment below and describe one activity for each category that you can do with your child.

Assessment:

For assessment with a mentor, share your lists for Activity 2.

Or email the assessment below to your mentor.

Birth to Age 5 journal entry [Word format to email] or [Adobe format to print] get adobe acrobat

For more information:

To see customized information for your child's development go to Family Fun.com. Just find your child's age.
For more information on different areas of child development like sleeping, eating, movement, communication and weight go to KidsHealth.com and see Growth and Development http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/growth/
What is your Child Development IQ? Find out how much you know.
Research shows that many of the skills developed in the first three years are most important. Babies develop rapidly, so it is important to get them off to a good start. For more information about infants to age three, visit Zero to Three