DEVELOPMENTAL

SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT

EDUC 84 EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT FROM BIRTH TO SIX
DECEMBER. 1. 2015

DREW GREGORY

3 months 12 months 18 months 3 years 5 years

Pictures From: My Virtual Child.
Retrieved November 24, 2015

Drew Gregory
Drew Gregory

Developmental Milestones Summary

Birth to 6 months:

An infant Birth to 6 Months of age can be very fussy but can also amaze you with the
things they are capable of doing at such a young age; such as sitting up and recognizing
familiar people. At birth having a connection with you child for secure attachment is a
very important thing for proper development over the years with you child. Infants form
a connection with you once they are born relying on you to be their centre of support.

A newborn is endowed with a set of reflexes, they are unlearned responses triggered by
a specific from of stimulation. Some of the reflexes found in newborns are Babinski,
Blink, Moro, Palmar, Rooting, Stepping, Sucking and Withdrawal. Some reflexes for
newborns are to prepare them to get the nutrients they need to grow (rooting and
sucking) while other reflexes are protecting the newborn from things in their surrounding
environment (blinking and withdrawal) (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. p. 125,126).

Locomotion in infants changes from a person with limited movement into an upright
standing individual. An infant at birth starts out in the fatal position, with their knees
tucked up under their belly and their bum sticking up in the air. At one month they can
lift their chin up off the ground trying to look around at their surrounding environment.
At two months old an infant can start to lift their chest up, building their strength to fully
lift themselves up. At three months infants will try to reach for something and miss,
fascinated with the things such as toys in their environment. An infant at four months will
sit with support, say on a mothers lap leaning on them to help support them sitting. At
five moths they will sit on your lap and try to grasp objects, with less support needed and
finally at six months old an infant can sit in a high chair, and grasp dangly objects in front
of them being able to support themselves sitting in the high chair (Kail, R., & Zolner, T.
Chart located on page, 127).

Posture and balance in a new born and young infant, such as a six month old is almost
impossible due to the shape of their body. An infants body tends to be top heavy
meaning the top of the child develops before the rest of the body (such as the legs), the
infants brain is the first thing to develop. As soon as an infant starts to loose balance they
will tumble, it is not until the muscles in infants legs develop can they maintain an
upright position, happening after six months old.

Social: An infant birth to six months old should be able to observe things in their
surrounding environment such as adults, animals and noises. This is an example of
Infants social interests, observing their peers (Infants, Social- 1.1 Social interests. P.18).
Emotional: Infants can recognize familiar adults, and be soothed by them in a time of
distress, Self-regulation- Becoming calm and comforted by familiar adults (Infants,
Drew Gregory

Emotional- 2.2 Self-Regulation. p.19) and also beginning to distinguish between known
people from strangers (Infants, Emotional-2.3 Sense of Self. p.19).
Communication, Language and Literacy: Infants can recognize familiar voices from other
sounds, this is a good thing when you are familiar to the child, it can help sooth them.
Recognizing voices is an example of Receptive Language Skills Responding to human
voices and distinguishing familiar voices from other sounds (Infants, Communication- 3.2
Receptive Language Skills. p.20).
Cognitive: Infants tend to keep trying over and over again to achieve a goal such as
reaching for a rattle. They can try and try again not being able to reach it but eventually
move themselves enough to reach. This is a good example of repeating actions to
achieve them and also solving problems with actions by trial and error (Infants,
Cognitive- 4.2 Problem solving and 4.3 Cause-and-effect exploration. p.22).
Physical: We all know infants love throwing things like food when they are sitting in a
high chair. Infants six months of age are capable of picking up objects and throwing them
on the ground. This is an example of Releasing Objects dropping and throwing objects
(Infants, Physical- 5.1 Gross Motor, Releasing Objects. p.24).


With a young infant being there for them is the most important thing you can do. Give
them a secure safe place from within you they can recognize and be comfortable with. Sit
with them and make eye contact so they can learn to recognize you. From my virtual
child, my child Liam smiles at familiar people and toys and is able to laugh at surprising or
funny things, such as a little dog. Also at three months of age Liam is able to focus his
eyes on me. He spends a lot of time studying my face and the faces of anyone who comes
close to him. This is an example of an infants social interest- Smiling at adults and
observing peers Liam smiling at the adults in his life he is laughing at the little dog.
(Infants, 1.1 Social domain. p.18) and also infant Cognitive, Memory- Recognizing
Previously seen faces and objects Liam is using his memory and recognizing the familiar
faces when he smiles and examines them he is also recognizing and laughing at the little
dog. (Infants Cognative-4.8 Memory. p.23). The best way to support an infant is to be
their social emotional base, they need to depend and trust you, knowing you will always
be there for them. This allows the infants to feel free to express themselves without
worry.











Drew Gregory

6 Months to 18 Months:


According to Piagets sensorimotor stages, infants 8-12 months are using means to
achieve ends (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. Substage 4, p. 153). This means that infants use
deliberate, intentional behaviour because the action (mean) and the goal (end) become
distinct. Infants 12-18 months old use experimenting, meaning they like experiment with
new objects. Infants of this age use what Piaget calls Tertiary Circular Reaction, which
means using old schemas with objects of different kinds. Infants try to understand why
different objects have different outcomes; they discover this by experimenting (Kail, R.,
& Zolner, T. p.154). An example of Piagets theory of an infant 8-12 months of age would
be watching a toy being covered up by an adult, knowing that they still wanted to play
with the toy they move the blanket and take the toy back. In class we watched a video on
this example, realizing the difference between younger infants, where if you were to
cover a toy up, it would be completely gone. When infants develop a couple of moths
later they have the cognitive skills to realize the toy is still under the blanket it was just
covered up.

At 7 months old an infant should be able to sit up alone, without support. Followed by
standing up with the help of others. Eventually by 9 months an infant should be able to
stand up grasping furniture as support. 10 months they can creep across the floor, pulling
themselves up with the support of furniture happens at about 12 months old, then
climbing the stairs at 13 months. At 14 and 15 months of age an infant can stand alone
than learn how to walk alone. Then you have to watch them very closely making sure
they dont fall down any stairs or put themselves in dangerous situations now that they
are mobile (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. p.127).

Communication: If an adult were to place their hand over an object, an infant between
8-12 months should be able to move their hand to play with the toy, this is an example of
intentional communication- using gestures with the intention of meeting goals the
infant is using the gesture of moving the adults hand in order to reach the goal of getting
the toy back and play with it (Infants Communication, Language and Literacy 3.1 non-
verbal communication. p. 20).
Cognitive: An infant 12-18 months old might drop different items on the ground to see
what outcome will come about of it. They notice that heaver objects make louder noise
such as a toy and smaller lighter objects wont be as loud such as a teddy bear. This is an
example of cause and effect exploration- repeating actions to produce outcomes. The
infant is repeating the action of dropping things on the floor but using different objects
each time to figure out the outcome (Infants Cognitive 4.3 cause and effect exploration.
p. 22). This could also be an example of spatial exploration- looking for dropped toys if
the infant was to look and pick up the dropped toys they were playing with (Infants
Cognitive, 4.4 spatial exploration. p.22).
Drew Gregory

Physical: At this age infants should be able to grasp a cup with two hands which is
improving their gross motor skills, this is an example of reaching and holding- reaching
and holding with palm grasp (Infants Physical, 5.1 Gross Motor. P.24).
Social: They can also imitate little sounds such as clapping. Imitating an adult is an
example of imitation - imitating adult behaviour by copying what the adult is doing in
this case clapping then they realize they are capable of doing it themselves (Infants
Social, 1.2 Imitation. p.18).
Emotional: Infants enjoy being physically close to their mothers or caregivers and may
panic when they are out of sight; this is example of expression of emotion- showing
anxiety at separation of parents (Infants Emotional, 2.1 expressing emotion. p. 19).


In my virtual child, Liam had testing done at the end of his 19-month period. He is slow
to warm up to new situations and is at the appropriate level for communication.
Sometimes it is hard to understand what he is saying. Some tools and activities I believe
you could do to help a child the same age as Liam would be talking to him clearly and
asking a lot of questions that have more than a yes or no answer even if it hard to
understand what they are trying to say. Children need to always work on their
communication skills, and as a parent you could help them by having conversations with
them all the time. Liam was using one word to communicate with me, and sometimes it
would be the same word I would say repeated. This is an example of Communication,
language and literacy, one word- using one word to communicate (Infants
Communication, Language and Literacy, 3.3 expressive Language Skills- one word. p.21).
This also is Social Imitation- imitating adult behaviour. Liam is imitating what gestures I
make and the words I say when I am talking to him (Infants Social, 1.2 Imitation. p.18).
Liams gross motor skills are where they should be, but it is a good idea to always
encourage physical movement in your child. I suggest that going outside to play or even
playing little activities indoors would be a good thing to keep the gross motor skills where
they need to be. It is a good thing for you to observe what you child enjoys doing, so in
the future you know what they are interested in to motivate them for physical activity.
(My Virtual Child. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.myvirtualchild.com/feedback/1/1)













Drew Gregory

18 Months to 2 Years, 6 Months:

Toddlers that are 18-24 months old are in substage 6 according to Piagets sensorimotor
stages. In substage 6 toddlers should be able to think about what is happening around
them without having to physically explore the situation. They also become better at
working through problems and start to use pretend play. Piaget describes make- believe
play as being a result of deferred imitation, acting out events or behaviours seen at an
earlier time (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. p.154). For example a child who is 18 months old
could possibly be playing with dolls, pretending to be a parent. She could treat the doll
with the same characteristics you treat the child; this is how she believes she should be
parenting because she has learned from you.

After children learn how to walk independently around 15 months by 18 months most
can run as well. Running becomes more complicated than a faster version of walking
because they briefly become airborne, to progress past walking to running toddlers must
learn to propel themselves into the air which requires a lot more balance. Once children
learn how to walk after 15 months they are constantly working on their gross motor skills
eventually being able to do a lot more in a short amount of time with their body.

Social: Starting to pretend play is an example of Social Imitation itself. Taking part in
pretend play with simple scenarios like caring for dolls (Infants Social, 1.2 Imitation.
p.18).
Cognitive: Pretend play is important to a childs development. They are using their
imagination and their memory to recall things that have happened and are acting them
out, this is a part of Imitating adult actions because toddlers tend to incorporate things
that have happened to them before (events) or behaviours that have been shown before
in their pretend play. (Infant Cognitive, 4.7 symbolic thought, representation and root
skills of literacy. p.23).
Communication, Language and Literacy: At 18 months old many children experience a
naming explosion, when they learn new words (objects or names) they learn them much
more rapidly than before. They can also learn 10 or more new words each week, when
they hear the words being repeated, this is an example of Vocabulary, beginning to
repeat overheard words (Infants Communication, Language and Literacy- 3.3 Expressive
Language Skills. p.21). This could also be an example of Words with Gestures, beginning
to speak with more words than gestures this could be true because an infant who
doesnt know a lot of words will use gestures to try and communicate, now that the
infant has learned more words they can use what they have learned to communicate
rather than gestures (Infant Communication, Language and Literacy- 3.3 Expressive
Language Skills. p.21).
Physical: At 2 years of age (24 months) they use the same motion as adults do to feed
themselves, they are capable of placing a spoon in their dish and bringing it up into their
mouth when eating, using utensils and cups independently (Toddlers, Physical- 5.2 Fine
Motor. p.35).
Drew Gregory

Emotional: At 18 to 24 months of age a child starts to feel more complex emotions, such
as guilt embarrassment or pride. By the age of 2 (24 months) a child can express both
basic and complex emotions. Expressing their feelings is a part of the Emotional domain,
Expression of feelings- beginning to show self-conscious emotions (shame,
embarrassment, guilt, pride) (Toddlers Emotional-2.1 Expression of Feelings. p.30).


Toddlers between the age of 18 months and 2 years 6 months love being involved in
pretend play. A way of interacting with this child is being involved in their pretend play,
be apart of their imagination. They want to show you the creative ideas they have come
up with in pretend play but you as an adult could be paying attention to the emotions
they are expressing. You also may want to watch how they are reacting to situations in
pretend play, because of what I said earlier in this developmental stage, children like to
mock the different events and behaviours that have been presented to them and that
they have witnessed in the past. If you see the child getting very angry and yelling or
hitting things you may want to reflect on the situations you have exposed that child to
and see what a better way for you to be reacting in the future. Another strong
developmental tool that would be positive for a toddler is telling them stories, even using
pictures to help about that childs life. This is going to help the toddler to identify self
and relation to others. You could use open-ended questions when you are showing the
pictures such as if it was a picture of the child at the park you could ask what do you do
at the park? this way you are helping the toddler see their place in relation to others,
realizing they are an important part to the family (Toddlers Emotional, 2.6 Identifying
Formation. P.31). When the child is listening to the stories you are telling, they are also
using their Receptive Language skills Listening to stories (Toddlers Communication,
Language and Literacy, 3.1 Receptive Language. p.32).


















Drew Gregory

2 Years, 6 Months to 3 Years, 6 Months:

The average 2 year old weighs about 13 kilograms and is about 85 centimetres tall.
Growth in preschoolers stays stable, which makes it better to predict how tall they will be
as an adult. Weight is harder to predict in the early years because weight has a lot of
other weighing factors in adulthood. Also in the preschool years rapid growth in the brain
happens. A childs brain has reached 80% of its mature weight by the age of 3 (Kail, R., &
Zolner, T. p. 213). After children learn how to walk and run in the preschool stage, they
can learn how to do much more complex motor skills such as swinging, which requires
more coordination and timing due to the large cognitive development from infancy to
preschool kindergarten age. A toddler who is swinging on a swing is using their Gross
motor skills in increasing in coordination, speed and endurance (Preschool Physical, 5.2
Gross motor skills. p.52). A child in the preschool age range is ready to take on the world
with the skills they have developed and the tools they have learned, now that they have
developed much more they have a wide variety of things they can do such as more
games.


Emotional: When it comes to preschoolers sleep is one of the most important things for
them. To help them have to best sleep possible is getting them into a steady routine, a
good routine can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to complete. To help the child
learn the routine you do it in the same order and can ask them after the first task is done
what comes next? until they are settled into bed awaiting another day. A child feels a
sense of accomplishment when they complete a task, as an adult it is a good idea to
encourage them to do their best in remembering what the next task is and completing
that task, so they can feel happy with themselves. When completing the task they feel
Positive attitudes towards learning, expressing satisfaction and joy when accomplishing
tasks (Preschool Emotional, 2.6 positive attitudes towards learning. p.41).
Cognition: When a child gets the hand of the routine they have every night, they are
identifying patterns of events they learn the patter of every night before they go to bed
and know that they need to complete it before going to sleep (Preschool Cognition, 4.7
reflecting and reaching conclusions. p.47).
Social: If you have cared for a preschool kindergarten child, you know that when it comes
to bedtime, they never want to go. They have a fear of missing out on things and they
have energy to continue playing all night, usually you can say five more minutes and then
you start you nightly routine. When the child expresses that they dont want to go to bed
yet they are Sharing emotions, communicating and expressing feelings with adults and
peers (Preschool Social, 1.7 Empathy. p.38).
Communication, Language and Literacy: Children love singing; the more you sing the
better. I find you can turn tasks into fun jobs if you add a song such as when it is time to
tidy up you can start singing the tidy up song when a child sings along with you they are
using verbal and non-verbal communication, sharing songs and stories in home
Drew Gregory

language (Preschool Communication, Language and Literacy, 3.1 using verbal and non-
verbal communication. p.42).
Physical: Preschool children are Beginning to gain the ability to control their movements
this is what they would be doing in one of their nighty routines when brushing their
teeth. They are learning how to use the movement of picking up their toothbrush,
putting toothpaste on it and brushing their teeth all on their own. Feeling a sense of
accomplishment when they can do it on their own (Preschool physical, 5.1 Increasing
levels of activity, endurance and variation in types of activates and skills. p.52).


In class we have talked about finger puppets, I think this is a great way to help build
childrens development in the brain. By crossing your hands back and forth over the
middle part of the body you are letting a child build its corpus callosum. The Corpus
callosum is important because it allows the hemispheres to communicate more
efficiently with each other. As we have learned in our physiology class, the right side of
the bran controls the left side of your body, and the left side of your brain controls the
right side of the body. By letting a child play finger puppets with you and crossing over
the middle axis of your body you are letting the children use both sides of their brain,
helping them with brain development. When you are playing finger puppets a good idea
would be to ask the child o pick different emotions for each puppet you use, this is to
help them with their own emotions, and seeing how to express them. Using regulating
attention, emotion and behaviour, increasingly expressing emotions appropriately and
also focusing attention is involved in finger puppets (Preschool Emotional, 2.5 regulating
attention, emotions and behaviour. p.41). Also if you are an adult leading the finger
puppets the children are using Interacting with adults, engaging with adults in activities
in positive ways by following and interacting with you while playing (Preschool Social, 1.9
Interacting with Adults. p. 39).

















Drew Gregory

3 Years, 6 Months to 5 Years:

According to Piagets theory, children between the ages of 2 and 7 are in the
Preoperational stage, meaning they are in the stage of cognitive development during
which children use symbols to represent objects and events (Kail, R., & Zolner, T.
p.235). They use common symbols such as words, gestures, graphs, maps and models.
Preschool thinking is still very limited compared to school age children due to three
characteristics: Egocentrism (seeing the world primarily from the perspective of self,
rather than other people), Centration (Narrowly focused thought) and appearance as
reality. At the preschool age children are getting better at expressing their emotions to
adults. Some still need to learn how to regulate their emotions for example talk about
what is bothering them instead of having a temper tantrum and not explaining what they
are feeling. They are learning to Increasingly Express Emotions Appropriately (Preschool
Emotional, 2.5 Regulating attention, emotions and behaviours. p.41).

Cognition: In our textbook Piaget has explained some theories of biology for a 4 year old.
Her example stated that children can understand that animals cam move themselves but
inanimate objects can be only be moved by other objects or people. When preschool
children watch an animal and a toy jump across a table, they know that the animal is the
only one that can do it on their own (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. 239). A pre-schooler who is
explaining this is using cognition, making logical connections they are making logical
connections to what they have seen and learned previously to be able to make that
statement (Preschool Cognition, 4.9 Reasoning logically. p.48).
Social: By the age of 4 children understand that their own behaviours and other are
based on beliefs about events and situations even when they believe those beliefs are
wrong. These children are using a theory of mind when being able to distinguish the
difference between themselves and other people, they are using Empathy, beginning to
see the world from other perspectives and respecting that in play (Preschool Social, 1.7
Empathy. p.38). The theory of mind is necessary in pretend play and is suggested in our
textbook that cognitive abilities involved in executive functioning include attention,
concentration, planning, organizations and reflecting on ones own thoughts and
behaviour (Kail, R., & Zolner, T. p.241).
Communication, Language and Literacy: Parent of preschool age children are
encouraged to get their children to think about the past by asking questions that relate
to who, what, when, where and why. For example if a parent is picking up a 3 and half
year old child from preschool, they might ask what games did you play today? getting
them to think back on the day and reflect using there memory and describing to you
what happened. If a child responds to you they are using descriptive language to explain,
explore and extend, using sentences to describe objects and events (Preschool
Communication, Language and Literacy, 3.5 using descriptive language to explain,
explore and expand. p.43).
Emotional: In the preschool age range children are exposed to new situations with more
children if they attend preschool. These children are taught o be nice to one another to
listen and respect everyone in the classroom. Children need to learn how to focus their
Drew Gregory

attention to what is happening in the classroom setting along with using language to
communicate needs and regulate emotions to the caregivers around. Having a temper
tantrum around other children in the classroom setting is unacceptable and children will
learn that with time to come (Preschool Emotional, 2.4 Regulating Attention, Emotions
and Behaviours. p.41).
Physical: When a child is off to preschool almost every program has outside time
everyday. This allows children to build up their gross motor skills though play. Some are
learning how to ride bikes and swing on swings. There are great examples on how to help
your child build their gross motor skills, allow them to explore outside and try new things
they are constantly developing and have more coordination than when they were infants
allowing them to me more capable of new tasks children who are trying new things such
as running, jumping and riding bikes are pedaling and steering riding toys, increasing
control over own movement skills and also becoming expressing though movement
(Preschool Physical, 5.2 Gross Motor Skills. p.53).


In class we watched a video of a preschool child having two full glasses of liquid in front
of them in the same container. They believed that each container had the same amount
in it, after they expressed what they were thinking the adult took the liquid from one
container and poured in into a much taller, skinner container. As adults we know that
there is the same amount of liquid in the container but when we ask the child, they
believe that the skinner container has more liquid in it. This is a study Piaget came up
with called a conservation task. Piaget wanted to determine when children realize that
important characteristics of objects remain the same despite changes of their physical
state. As a parent you may want to conduct this experiment whit your preschool ages
child. You can go though all the steps with them and let them express what they feel and
think about it but maybe you could go to the experiment again explaining what is really
happening helping them develop Centration. They look at things in a narrowly focused
thought in the preoperational stage, this will help them look at things in a different
perspective and see objects in a different way. The children who participate in the
experiment are using Conflict resolution and social problem- solving skills, Beginning to
express what they want and what they are thinking and feeling they are expressing what
they think happened to the liquid and how they believe the amount moving from one
container to the next changed (Preschool Social, 1.2 Conflict Resolution and social
problem- solving skills. p.37). They are also expressing Self-concept, Identifying what
they can do and what they have yet to learn. A Preschool child is telling you they can see
that the object (liquid) has changed and they still have yet to learn even though the
physical state looks different they amount inside is still the same (Preschool Emotional,
2.1 Self-Concept. p.40). If you really wanted to take the experiment further the second
time when you are explain how things really work you could have the child dump the
liquid from one container to the next, so they can really see and feel that nothing has
changed except for the shape. This child would be using their Gross motor skills,
increasing coordination because it does take coordination to move things from one
container to another (Preschool Physical, 5.2 Gross Motor Skills. p.52).
Drew Gregory

Reference Page
Title Page Pictures:
My Virtual Child. Retrieved November 24, 2015, from
http://www.myvirtualchild.com/dashboard

Birth to 6 months:

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2012). Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers. In
Children a chronological approach (pp. 125-127). Pearson Toronto.

My Virtual Child. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from

http://www.myvirtualchild.com/feedback/1/1

Learning, B. (2014). Early Learning for Every Child Today A Framework for
Ontario's Early Childhood Settings. (pp. 18-20, 22, 24). Toronto: Government of
Ontario.

6 Months to 18 Months:

EDUCARER.org WORLD OF INFANTS - AGES & STAGES - 6 - 18 MONTHS.
Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.educarer.com/as-6-18.htm

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2012). Cognition in Infants and Toddlers. In Children a
chronological approach (p. 153,154,127). Pearson Toronto.

Learning, B. (2014). Early Learning for Every Child Today A Framework for
Ontario's Early Childhood Settings. (pp.18-20, 22, 24). Toronto: Government of
Ontario.

My Virtual Child. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from

http://www.myvirtualchild.com/feedback/1/1

18 Months to 2 Years, 6 Months:

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2012). Cognition in Infants and Toddlers. In Children a
chronological approach (p. 154). Pearson Toronto.

Learning, B. (2014). Early Learning for Every Child Today A Framework for
Ontario's Early Childhood Settings. (pp.18, 21, 23, 30-32, 35). Toronto:
Government of Ontario.
Drew Gregory

2 Years, 6 Months to 3 Years, 6 Months

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2012). Physical Growth in Preschool Children. In Children
a chronological approach (p. 213). Pearson Toronto.

Learning, B. (2014). Early Learning for Every Child Today A Framework for
Ontario's Early Childhood Settings. (pp. 38, 39, 41, 42, 47, 52). Toronto:
Government of Ontario.

3 Years, 6 Months to 5 Years:

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2012). Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers. In
Children a chronological approach (pp. 235, 239, 241). Pearson Toronto.

Learning, B. (2014). Early Learning for Every Child Today A Framework for
Ontario's Early Childhood Settings. (pp. 37, 38, 40, 41, 43, 48, 52. 53). Toronto:
Government of Ontario.