Level 3 Diploma for Children and Young Peoples Workforce

Workbook 1

Unit 1

Q1. (1.1) Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth – 19 years.

Expected development rates: Theses are approximate ages at which children will achieve developmental milestones, any significant delays in development could mean children need extra support.

0 – 3: At birth babies are completely dependent and communication to convey hunger, tiredness or distress is via crying, babies will spend more time asleep than awake. Over the next few months babies learn to move their head to watch others, imitate sounds, turn themselves over, can hold objects and pass from hand to hand. At about nine months they will learn to sit on the floor, they will begin to crawl and walk if both hands are held, they will also be able to pull themselves into a standing position using furniture for support, string babbling sounds together to imitate speaking and their first word can be spoken – usually ‘no’. They will later learn to clap their hands and to throw toys intentionally. By eighteen months babies can walk independently, throw a ball, use door handles, they have a greater vocabulary and use people’s names, and begin to dress themselves including doing up buttons. They can name some objects and turn the pages of a book. They still have no fear and take risks. By two years of age children can identify happy and sad faces and are more responsive to the feelings of others, vocabulary increases and they can string two words together, they can complete simple jigsaw puzzles and draw circles, lines and dots.

3 – 7: Children now start to understand bodily experiences such as being unwell or tired and feelings of hunger and can convey these feelings to others. Vocabulary begins to improve and they can string sentences together, they ask more questions such as what and why? As vocabulary increases they begin to enjoy stories and rhymes. They can understand the concept of saying sorry and ‘making up’ as they begin to understand the consequences of their behaviour. They have better motor skills can run faster, balance and perform simple athletic tasks such as skipping, hopping and jumping. They can take instruction better, they have developed a better sense of fear and take fewer risks. They can complete puzzles as they have become more adapt with numbers, colours and letters. They will write letters and draw with their preferred hand. They can also use the toilet, wash their hands and begin to dress themselves. By age four most children’s speech is clear and they can be understood by those who don’t know the child, they can be patient when waiting to have their needs met by carers, as imagination grows they can become frightened by the ‘dark’ or of ‘monsters’, can show caring behaviours to peers and is more likely to be able to share without prompting, responds well to encouragement and responsibility. By age five physical development begins to slow down while coordination increases, children can ride a bike with stabilisers, can dance and has some rhythm and can write short familiar words, vocabulary grows and they begin to learn to read and memory skills increase. Most children at this age are at school so they learn rules of game playing and of social conduct though they are keen to ‘win’ and be ‘right’ they can take care of most of their physical care needs on their own and they will feel guilt or shame when adults disapprove of their behaviour. By age six children become influenced by what they learn at school and will begin to consider what they learn at school beside what they learn at home and draw their own conclusions, confidence increases as does reading and writing ability, children can tell jokes as use of language is refined and can do simple mathematical calculations, though at this age they can also begin to doubt themselves and may say or think ‘I can’t do it’. Solid friendships can be formed and cultural identity begins