This means that parents
should constantly be teaching
their children and ensuring they
get the proper education because
learning is a very important
aspect of child development.
Child development covers the
growth of a child all the way up
until adolescence and this
development is very important to
society because of the
cognitive, educational, and
emotional development a child
undergoes in order to be a
productive member of society.
Studying how a child develops is
especially important since it
results in the creation of
developmentally appropriate
programs within school systems.
Even toy companies must know at
what point children are
developmentally at certain ages
so that they can make their toys
appropriate for the certain age
groups. One can't expect a two
year old to play video games
with numbers and letters, but
they can expect a 5 to 6 year
old to successfully play the
game.
These phases in which children
are learning to do things such
as read and write are considered
milestones. Even walking is
considered a milestone along
with various phases in physical
development and these milestones
become a huge focus in the
stages of child development.
Accomplishments such as hand-eye
coordination, talking, walking,
and learning how to solve a
problem are all milestones in
child development that must be
noted by parents.
When parents are aware of what
the age-specific milestones are,
they are able to keep track of
the child's development and know
that the child is either
exceeding or meeting where they
should be at specific points in
their development. Some of the
crucial parts of development
that needs to be monitored are:
problem-solving, social skills,
patience, and creativity.
Teaching these traits to
children at a young age and
practicing them frequently can
result in proper development of
these traits. If it is noticed
that despite the teaching the
child is not picking these
necessary traits up, that may be
indicative of a development
delay, which is a common concern
in child development.
If such a delay is occurring, it
can be helped through early
intervention in the form of
therapy and delay. Although it
may never be completely
eradicated since a developmental
delay is more or less a
life-long disability. The good
news is that the training and
education opportunities are
expanding as are the knowledge
of those teaching these
programs. There seems to have
been an increase in those
wanting to become involved with
aiding those with developmental
delays and helping them become
functional members of society
despite their disability.
So as you can see, child
development is very important
and knowing the phases of child
development and their milestones
is important for society to
understand. Anytime there is a
delay in activities such as the
transfer of objects from one
hand to the other at 6 months of
age, for instance, there is need
for further evaluation by the
parents and this information
should be presented to the
baby's pediatrician. If other
delays occur in development such
as not crawling by 9 to 10
months, something may be going
on that with early intervention
can become less severe in the
child's life.
Basically what it comes down to
is educating parents on the
stages of child development,
what to look for to identify a
developmental delay, and knowing
what to do if there is one.
Child development is very
important to the child and
society, so having the
appropriate knowledge is very
crucial in many ways.
