Developmental Milestones
Developmental Milestones of Preschoolers
September 26, 2011
Once a child reaches the age of 2 they are considered preschoolers or early childhood and this period lasts until they reach the age of six (Rathus, p. 133) During this period in their life their growth begins to slow down compared to infancy and they become taller as well as stronger and faster. The different developmental milestones that preschoolers experience are cognitive, motor, social and emotional, and language. In this paper I will discuss each milestone and give examples to allow parents for some guidance along with some activities to better master these milestones.
Motor development which deals with the movement and manipulation of different parts of the body is broken down into two groups at the preschool age: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are skills that employ the large muscles used in locomotion (Rathus, p. 136). This refers to the physical activity that a child does on a day to day basis. Between the ages 2 and 6 a child becomes more coordinated and allows them to start multitasking. Children at this age should be able to stand on one foot by themselves, skip, and climb stairs as adults do. The different activities that will enhance motor development would be practice anything physical that would enhance muscle tone such as trying to balance on the curb, hop on one foot, kicking a ball forward and by doing these different activities it will work on building their coordination. By working on different activities at home as well as at school it builds their muscle tone and allows for them to gain a more stable coordination. Without having proper muscle tone or coordination the child could become clumsy and allow for injury to happen more frequently. As for activities at home that focus on fine motor skills a child can draw freely with whatever colors they want and just allow their imagination flourish. Another activity that could be used to
September 26, 2011
Once a child reaches the age of 2 they are considered preschoolers or early childhood and this period lasts until they reach the age of six (Rathus, p. 133) During this period in their life their growth begins to slow down compared to infancy and they become taller as well as stronger and faster. The different developmental milestones that preschoolers experience are cognitive, motor, social and emotional, and language. In this paper I will discuss each milestone and give examples to allow parents for some guidance along with some activities to better master these milestones.
Motor development which deals with the movement and manipulation of different parts of the body is broken down into two groups at the preschool age: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are skills that employ the large muscles used in locomotion (Rathus, p. 136). This refers to the physical activity that a child does on a day to day basis. Between the ages 2 and 6 a child becomes more coordinated and allows them to start multitasking. Children at this age should be able to stand on one foot by themselves, skip, and climb stairs as adults do. The different activities that will enhance motor development would be practice anything physical that would enhance muscle tone such as trying to balance on the curb, hop on one foot, kicking a ball forward and by doing these different activities it will work on building their coordination. By working on different activities at home as well as at school it builds their muscle tone and allows for them to gain a more stable coordination. Without having proper muscle tone or coordination the child could become clumsy and allow for injury to happen more frequently. As for activities at home that focus on fine motor skills a child can draw freely with whatever colors they want and just allow their imagination flourish. Another activity that could be used to
References: Rathus, S.A. (2011). CDEV 2010-2011 Edition. Bellmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.