Unit 2
E1- The age range I will be looking at would be three to seven year olds as I am currently in placement with children of this age. The first area of development I am going to look at for this age range of children is going to be Physical Development.
Children aged three to seven will be enhancing their physical development every day. According to the developmental milestones children aged three to seven should be able to do many things and use both their fine and gross motor skills. At the age of three children should be able to show more control and balance when completing movements such as walking, running, jumping and hopping this means less staggering and wobbling when these movements are happening. Although at this age children’s balance is improving they still may wobble when landing a jump as their hand-eye coordination is not yet completely developed. At three years of age children’s hand-eye coordination is steadily improving this means children of this age should be able to do things such as complete simple puzzles of about 5-10 pieces, thread large beads onto string and pour their own drink although they may spill some. By the time children have reached the age of five years old according to the developmental milestones they should be able to hold a pencil correctly using the tripod grasp and be able to draw a person including main features such as body, head, eyes and arms (etc.). By five years old children should be able to dress and undress themselves with none too little help from an adult. Children at the age of five will now be able to hop, skip and run with better hand-eye coordination and be able to complete these movements at ease, children will also begin ‘to be interested in games of chasing and running, and can incorporate travelling skills into a simple game (for example, ‘tag’).’- http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/physical_health_from_age_5_to_6_pbs.html/context/511
At the age of five children should be able to hold a knife and fork properly but will still have trouble when cutting up food correctly, the development of fine motor skill will start to show as children are able to form letters and write their own name as well as colour in pictures and complete jigsaws with around 20 pieces. By this age children should also have a clear preference of weather they are right-handed or left-handed. The developments of gross motor skills are also quickly developing for example children should now be able to run quickly with balance and void obstacles such as people or P.E. cones. As well as this children at the age of five should be able to throw and catch a large ball and skip with a rope.
By the time children reach the age of seven they should be able to start to join up their hand writing, cut out shapes accurately and produce detailed drawings all of which enhances their fine motor skills. As well as this their gross motor skills are also better as children are now able to balance on a beam, chase and dodge others and use a bike and other wheeled toys.
The second area of development I am going to look at for 3-7 year olds id going to be emotional and social development. At the age of three children should start to understand their own different emotions and tell people how they feel. ‘This may be through actually seeing someone express how they feel about something in person or on television or through reading a book.’- http://preschoolers.about.com/od/development/ss/Your-3-Year-Old-Development-And-Milestones_2.htm
Also at three years old children should be nice to other children and should engage in parallel play. At three children may still not want to be separated from parents as when they are with parents this is when they feel safest, even if they are at a familiar setting.
At the age of five years old children should now start to feel empathy for others such as saying “I’m sorry you are sad”. By doing this children are now realising forgiveness as they learn to say sorry and feel