CYP Core 3.1 : Understanding child and young person development

Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth to 19 years
Children’s development is a continuous process. Although all children will develop at different rates and in different ways, the sequence in which they develop will be the same.
When looking at a child development, we need to consider all areas of their development, i.e. we refer to child and young person development as holistic. Children and young people’s development is affected by many factors, for example, maturation, social interaction, play opportunities, early learning experiences and special needs.
Development is broken down in ages and the aspect of development that children are measured on are physical, communication and language, intellectual and cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural and moral development.

Physical Development
0-3 years
Between births to 3 years old, a child physical development is very rapid. Within weeks of being born a child will start to smile and respond to sounds around them, but they will have little control over their bodies. They suck and grasp which are reflexes they need to survive. By one year, they learn to have more control over their bodies like crawling, shuffling, pulling on furniture to stand. They also start to sit unaided and they roll from their front to their back. Their muscles begin to develop and they hold objects which they put in their mouth. Their hand to eye co-ordination improves as objects are passed from hand to hand. Their first teeth start to appear and they try to feed themselves both with finger foods and with a spoon.
3-7 years
Between the age of 3 to 7 years children grow more confident as they are able to carry out more co-ordinated movements. They have more control over fine motor skills and so enable them to run, hop, kick a ball, cut, write and draw. Dressing becomes independent as they learn to do buttons and laces. The children’s confidence increases when playing outside in climbing, jumping from heights and riding a bike.
7-12 years
Between 7 to 12 years old, children will continue to grow and develop and will be refining many of their skills for example, having hobbies and interest like sport and dance. Girls will start to show early signs of puberty from the age of 10 to 11. In boys, puberty starts later.

12-16 years
Between the age of 12 to 16 years, young people will grow stronger. While boys will grow through puberty, many girls will have completed the process and have regular periods. So, between these ages there can be different height and strength.
16-19 years
The age between 12 and 19 years, between childhood and adulthood is referred to as adolescence. Some children may just beginning to mature physically, others may have already reached full physical maturity. Boys grow bigger than girls and their body shape change as their muscles grow and they develop body hair. Their strength increase and their voice become deeper. Girls may be physically mature by the age of 15 years and nearly at their full adult height.

Communication and Language Development
0-3 years
Usually, children’s language development begins in their three months. At this stage adults will try to communicate with babies as this will stimulate them. Where babies are neglected and do not spend time with adult, they will find it difficult to learn the skills of effective communication later. At this stage babies will enjoy songs and languages around them. At around 12 months, Babies will start to enjoy making different sounds and will display their feelings in crying, laughing and squealing. A child’s speech begins to develop at the age of two where they start to listen to more words and start to copy sounds such as their name. Between 2 to 3 years their vocabularies will increase quickly and they will start to use negatives and plurals.
3-7 years
Between 3 to 7 years, children become more social and begin to develop their