Child development

Word count 156

"Babies being handled all over, talked to, and gazed at are not only being (made aware) of the human world outside themselves, they are (becoming aware) that they themselves exist." H. Schaffer (1992)

This assignment explores how children’s understanding of the world develops in the first five years of life and also looking at Jean Piaget’s theory(18898) and Bowlby’s theory(5454). Firstly looking at general evidence of babies development and then into more detail of Piagets Cognitive Development Theory followed by Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and summarising briefly what the theories both say.

Starting with various signs of babies development. According to Laura Berk who wrote the  development through the lifespan, New born babies start with many reflexes such as eye blink when bright light is shone near their eyes and also with a loud noise near their head like a clap. They also withdraw when the sole of their foot is pricked with a pin. They can Suck, if you place a finger in a babies mouth they will suck the finger rhythmically. They also grasp your finger when placed in the palm of their hand. There is also motor development, which is control over actions that helps children get around in the environment, such as crawling, standing and walking. In contrast there is fine motor development which is smaller movements, such as reaching and grasping. From six weeks old babies can hold their head steady, at two months they can roll from side to back this develops at four months from back to side. By seven months they can sit alone and begin to crawl.  At eleven months they can stand alone which soon develops in to their first steps. It is not until twenty three months a child can jump up and down.

Join now!

At two year olds children are into social play, although they are not the best at sharing they like to copy parents and imitate things like talking on the phone, cooking, carrying handbags, playing with keys. Their language is very minimal with one or two word sentences and they also repeat words. A two year old shows memory skills by pointing to things when asked.

We all have some knowledge of child development parents compare their children to others for example “ Well my son started walking at 10 months what about yours?” We notice the child that develops ...

This is a preview of the whole essay