While there have been many theories about child development, contemporary theory follows the bio-social model. The bio-social model of child development is based on the belief that the interaction of biology and genetics, physical and social environments, and culture affects a child’s development. Understanding what is “normal” for each stage of development is crucial in identifying children who may need mental health services.
The following stages can be used as a guideline for monitoring your child’s physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional development.
Infancy (ages 0 - 1)
Physical/Motor Development
Physical and motor development is most rapid during infancy. Brains develop rapidly as children gain the increased capacity to regulate arousal, emotions, and physiological functions. Infants become oriented to their new external world and begin integrating and developing their senses. They roll, sit, crawl, stand, walk, reach out and grasp things, pinch with fingers, put hands to their mouth, and start developing hand-eye coordination.
Cognitive Development
Infants need to be stimulated by and explore their environment. They explore using sensory-motor actions and experiences (e.g., putting objects into their mouths). Infants mimic others, anticipate familiar events (e.g., bedtime or feeding rituals), begin goal-directed behavior (e.g., crawling to a preferred toy), and discover and repeat pleasurable experiences. They also start understanding that objects still exist even when they can’t see them, a concept commonly referred to as object permanence.
Language Development
Infants cry or smile to communicate, turn their head toward sounds, babble, vocalize, imitate others’ vocalizations, learn conversational turn-taking, look and point to things, understand single words and labels, and, by the end of infancy, start following simple directions.
Social-Emotional Development
Infants begin developing their attachment style based on a combination of their temperament (e.g., anxious vs. happy/calm) and caregivers’ ability to meet their needs (e.g., comfort them when upset, feeding). They rely on caregivers to decrease arousal, regulate emotions, and, by the end of infancy, respond to limit-setting. Infants smile responsively, play simple games (e.g., peekaboo), initiate play, develop joint attention (e.g., looking at something in response to someone getting their attention and pointing), are cautious with new people, and start developing a sense of self.
Tips for Parents of Infants
To encourage healthy attachment and normative development, be sensitive and responsive to cues, follow your child’s lead and engage in joint attention, adapt to your child’s ongoing development, provide a variety of appropriate stimulation and experiences, correctly label body parts to increase body awareness, and provide both verbal and physical affection.
Toddlerhood (ages 1 - 2)
Physical/Motor Development
Toddlers start standing and walking independently, imitate behaviors, climb steps while holding onto something, stand on one foot, and use tools such as crayons and eating utensils.
Cognitive Development
Toddlers are typically very curious in exploring their environment, including object properties and functions. They observe and imitate others to learn how to respond to the world. They develop expectations based on prior experiences and have difficulty understanding that others’ perspectives and experiences may be different from their own. They use objects to represent things other than their intended use and begin creating goals and plans.
Language Development
Toddlers typically imitate single words, use single words to communicate needs, and combine words and gestures. By the end of toddlerhood, they may have a vocabulary of 10 to 100 words and use two- to three-word sentences.
Social-Emotional Development
Toddlers start learning to balance their needs for closeness to caregivers and for independence and exploration. They play independently and parallel to others (e.g., sitting next to one another while coloring). They imitate others, role-play daily events (e.g., a tea party), and start understanding social expectations. Toddlers begin to become self-assertive and express needs and emotions using gestures and words. Toddlers typically have difficulty controlling themselves (e.g., bodily functions, emotions), but may recover quickly when upset. Toddlers may also hit and bite their peers.
Tips for Parents of Toddlers
Provide opportunities for your child to explore and engage in physical activity. Talking to them and describing their actions helps foster independence, particularly during play. Setting limits helps them learn cause-and-effect of behaviors, and distraction is often a good form of discipline because toddlers cannot inhibit impulses well.
Preschoolers (ages 2 - 4)
Physical/Motor Development
Preschoolers hop, skip, jump, throw balls, dress and undress themselves, learn to tie shoes, and copy shapes when drawing.
Cognitive Development
Preschoolers develop greater memory capacity, allowing for improved information processing and storage. They start understanding real vs. make-believe by using pretend play and their imagination. They also start understanding rules and consequences.
Language Development
Language skills develop rapidly in preschool, including word pronunciation, grammar, and speaking in phrases and sentences. By age 5, their vocabulary contains 1,500 to 2,500 words. They also follow three-step commands, use four-word sentences, ask questions, describe experiences to others, and tell stories.
Social-Emotional Development
Preschoolers start playing in groups, form friendships, play cooperatively, and use positive social behaviors (e.g., sharing), often interacting appropriately with peers and adults. They start internalizing caregivers’ standards for them, use language to communicate emotions, and follow rules. They also use words to help control impulses.
Tips for Parents of Preschoolers
As a caregiver of a preschooler, set and maintain expectations. Preschoolers learn by observing others, so modeling desired behaviors, appropriate emotion expression, and healthy relationships is important. Preschoolers need consistent daily routines and for you to be a good listener.
School-Age Children (ages 5 - 12)
Physical/Motor Development
School-age children maintain slow and steady growth, develop improved hand-eye coordination, and develop enough body position-spatial awareness and gross and fine motor skills to participate in sports.
Cognitive Development
School-age children can maintain attention, be persistent, and engage in enough goal-directed behavior to participate in formal schooling. Their ability to store, retain, and retrieve new information from memory increases. Their perception of reality becomes increasingly accurate, they start understanding cause and effect, and begin analyzing events. Skills like problem solving and sustained attention improve. At about age 7, children undergo a cognitive growth spurt, resulting in improved auditory processing, understanding seriation (the ability to arrange things in a series or orderly sequence), orientation to time, and spatial and visual organization abilities.
Language Development
School-age children express themselves using written language and they increasingly use language to remember the past, solve problems, and express ideas, feelings, and plans for the future.
Social-Emotional Development
School-age children develop a more consistent sense of identity (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, personal characteristics). They may base their self-esteem on perceived competency and status within their peer group. They begin internalizing values, rules, and norms, and look to caregivers as role models, though peers become increasingly important. School-age children understand alternative viewpoints, tolerate uncertainty and ambivalence, and use thoughts to regulate internal arousal, manage impulsivity, and reach goals.
Tips for Parents of School-age Children
Maintain consistent expectations, encourage and model independent problem-solving, and be a good listener and role model. Monitor and supervise your child’s activities and interactions with friends. Additionally, set clear rules and expectations as your child starts developing romantic interests and discuss how to identify and respond to specific safety concerns (e.g., abuse, harassment, bullying).
Understanding Your Child
As you read through these developmental stages, remember that children are individuals, and no two children will develop at the same rate. However, if your child is deviating significantly from developmental behaviors that are normal for their age range, consider consulting a physician or mental health professional for guidance. Keeping your child on track during their early years is monumentally important to fostering their independence in the future.
Amanda Schwartz is a third-year Clinical Psychology PhD student at University of North Dakota. Once graduated and licensed, she would like to work as a clinical psychologist in a residential setting, like Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch.