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0 ACADEMIC ESSAY

Studying and understanding child growth and development are important parts of teaching
young children. No two children are alike. Children differ in physical, cognitive, social, and
emotional growth patterns. Even identical twins, who have the same genetic makeup, are
not exactly alike. They may differ in the way they respond to play, affection, objects, and
people in their environment. Development refers to change or growth that occurs in children.
It starts with infancy and continues to adulthood.

Although each child is unique, the basic patterns, or principles, of growth and
development are universal, predictable, and orderly. Through careful observation and
interaction with children, researchers and those who work with children understand the
characteristics of the principles that follow: a) Development tends to proceed from the head
downward. This is called the cephalocaudal principle. According to this principle, the child
first gains control of the head, then the arms, then the legs. Infants gain control of head and
face movements within the first two months after birth. In the next few months, they are able
to lift themselves up using their arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants start to gain leg
control and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk; b) development also proceeds from the
center of the body outward according to the proximodistal principle. Accordingly, the spinal
cord develops before other parts of the body. The child’s arms develop before the hands,
and the hands and feet develop before the fingers and toes. Fingers and toes are the last to
develop and; c) development also depends on maturation. Maturation refers to the sequence
of biological changes in children. These orderly changes give children new abilities. Much of
the maturation depends on changes in the brain and the nervous system. These changes
assist children to improve their thinking abilities and motor skills. A rich learning environment
helps children develop to their potential. Children must mature to a certain point before they
can gain some skills, 4-4. For instance, the brain of a four-month-old has not matured
enough to allow the child to use words. A four-month-old will babble and coo. However, by
two years of age, with the help of others, the child will be able to say and understand many
words. This is an example of how cognitive development occurs from simple tasks to more
complex tasks. Likewise, physical skills develop from general to specific movements. For
example, think about the way an infant waves its arms and legs. In a young infant, these
movements are random. In several months, the infant will likely be able to grab a block with
his or her whole hand. In a little more time, the same infant will grasp a block with the thumb
and forefinger.

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 Development starts from the head and works down the body. A new baby cannot
hold up his or her head alone. Yet, within a few months, the baby will be able to sit alone.
This is because control of the spine and central nervous system develops from the top of the
head down to the base of the spine. You can see this control developing in a baby as he or
she starts to hold the head without support. Similarly, a new-born baby waves his or her
arms around vaguely, yet in nine months’ time will find the tiniest crumb or piece of Lego
easy to pick up with the thumb and finger. This is because the nervous system also develops
from the spinal cord out to the extremities (hands and feet). 2 All development happens in
the same order, but can occur at different rates. A baby has to hold his or her head up, learn
to sit with support, and then without support, before he or she can stand by holding on to
furniture and then eventually walk alone. No baby can learn to walk before sitting up. But it is
perfectly normal for one baby to walk at ten months and another not to learn this skill until
the age of 18 months. 3 All areas of development are linked together. A baby cannot start to
finger feed until he or she can sit up and is developing the ability to pick things up between
the fingers and thumb. The speech development of a child is affected if the child has
difficulties in hearing clearly or if no one talks directly to him or her. A child who does not
receive love and attention may fail to grow and develop.

Figure 1: Personality Development in Childhood

Emotional learning begins at a young age and the learning grows with their age. In
infancy, infants express their feelings through non-verbal communication and depend on
caregivers to recognize their cues. Their expressions are related to their ability to regulate
their emotions. Emotional expression is closely related to both social and cultural influences

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of family and the surroundings. A child’s relationship with the caretaker gives it the ability to
express both positive and negative emotions in a socially and culturally acceptable manner.

Many factors may affect the way children express their social skills or emotional
competencies or the rate at which children acquire social skills or emotional competencies.
These factors include environmental risk factors such as living in an unsafe community,
receiving care within a low-quality child care setting, lack of resources available in the
community or lack of Influence policies supporting children and families. Based on the
situation, Alia is a child from poor family background. She is raised with low care and love.
She doesn’t get much attention and care, which makes her feel like she is not important.
Thus, she develops a low-self esteem and self confidence. She feels uncomfortable to be
social with her friends because she often feel loneliness in her family environment.

Besides, other social development factors include family risk factors such as
maternal depression or mental illness in the family, parental substance abuse, family
violence, poverty. Alia who is raised in a family with poverty had limited playing environment.
Most of the time she wouldn’t get what she wants like her other friends. She might feel
embarrassed in front her friends and this could lead her to isolate herself from her friends.

John B. Watson, an American psychologist, has stated that children learn from
conditioning. An experiment was conducted on a nine-month-old baby, who was shown a rat
to the child and a lot of noise was made in the background. Later it was observed that baby
started crying by merely looking at the rat. Likewise, if there is an expression of physical love
in the family, the baby also expresses her love by contact, kisses, or hugs. Children who
have sound health can control their emotions in a better way while those who remain weak
show irritability, excitement and unstable emotions. Intelligent children are also emotionally
stable. Those with low intelligence are low in stability as well. Alia who is left out in the
classroom might have low intelligence level. This will make her the reach the maturity level
slower. Alia does not get care and attention from her family, so she was unable to express
her love to her parents.

According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual

stages.' In "Three Essays on Sexuality" (1915), Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal,
phallic, latency and genital. Each stage involves satisfying a libidinal desire and can later
play a role in adult personality. If a child does not successfully complete a stage, Freud
suggested that he or she would develop a fixation that would later influence adult personality
and behavior. Alia who is now developing a very low self-esteem, could face some problem
in her personality development which could affect her studies, career and life. Her behaviour

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of being quiet and temperamental could lead her to be left out of many things. This is
because she is unable to point out her opinion and idea.

Theorist Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory
encompassed human growth throughout the entire lifespan. Erikson believed that each
stage of development was focused on overcoming a conflict. For example, the primary
conflict during the adolescent period involves establishing a sense of personal identity.
Success or failure in dealing with the conflicts at each stage can impact overall functioning.
During the adolescent stage, for example, failure to develop an identity results in role
confusion. Alia might face much confusion in her such as why she is being isolated from
others and why she is not getting enough attention. These confusions would affect her
identity development.

All of these factors need to be taken into careful consideration when gathering
information to fully understand and support children's social and emotional health through a
comprehensive, ecological approach.