Lesson

 Large motor skills  Small motor skills  Heredity  Environment  Developmental tasks  Prenatal  Embryo  Fetus  Reflexes  Eye-hand coordination  Parallel play  Cooperative play  hormones

 Human Development is a process that continues through the life span.  Change is one of the constant features of life’s journey.  An understanding of human development also helps you relate to people at other stages such as your parents, older and younger relatives.

 Each person develops into a unique individual with his or her own appearance, abilities, and personality.  Five areas of development are: Physical development Intellectual development Emotional development Social development Moral development

 These changes include:  Appearance  Strength  Coordination Motor Skills:  Large motor skills- these include your large muscles in the arms and legs.  Small motor skills- these are the smaller body parts such as your hands, for tasks such as writing, and using tools.

 This area involves your ability to think, understand, reason, and communicate.  Young children first experience the world through their senses.  They learn to organize the information their senses give them and put it into words.

 Infants have a limited way of expressing their emotions. They cry if they are displeased and smile if they are happy.  As children mature they learn to recognize and express more complex emotions and to handle them in socially acceptable ways.

 Children start to develop social skills at an early age.  They learn to get along with other children, share, and make friends.  More complex social skills, such as cooperating, negotiating, and building different kinds of relationships, develop over time.

 Children learn to understand right from wrong.  Once they understand the difference, they develop a conscience that will eventually guide their behavior and help them develop moral standards.

 Heredity- refers to the set of characteristics that you inherit from your parents and ancestors. You inherit these characteristics through genes, the basic units of heredity that are passed on from parents to their children.  The genes determine physical traits such as eye color, hair color, height, and build.  The tendency to be easygoing or shy may be inherited.

 Environment- everything that surrounds you-also has a profound impact on your development.  Your environment includes family, friends, home, school, neighborhood, and community.  Home life influences children’s development as they grow.  A loving and supportive home environment will have positive effects on emotional development.  A family’s living conditions, economic status, culture, traditions, level of education, access to health care, and involvement in the community are other environmental aspects.

 Prenatal Development- begins with conception and ends with birth.  First 8 weeks the developing baby is called an embryo. -During the embryo phase the major body structures and internal organs form and the heart begins to beat.  From 9 week until birth the developing baby is referred to as the fetus. -During this period the bones harden, the muscles grow strong, and the body systems reach full development.  Healthy babies start with healthy mothers!

 Infancy  Changes and growth during infancy occur more rapidly than at any other stage of life.  Physical development-Newborns are entirely dependent on others, yet they have many inborn abilities that enable them to interact with their world.  Reflexes- automatic, involuntary responses.  Eye hand coordination-the ability to make price movements with the hands in relation to what the eyes see.

 Intellectual development  From the start they are eager to explore their world and learn about it.  They cry, babble, and point to show their ways of communication.

 Emotional development  Developing trust is an important emotional task.  Through daily contact they learn to develop trust with those individuals that give them a sense of security.

 Social development  Infants quickly develop social skills.  They smile around 3 months  They recognize familiar faces and voices by 7 months.  They also become fearful of people they do not recognize.

Growth slows as they become toddlers.  During this stage (1-3 years old) children master an amazing number of skills.  Physical Development  Most are walking by 15 months.  They enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together again.(repetition is fun)

 Intellectual development  Language grows from just a few words to putting phrases together.  Begins to grasp the concept of Cause and effect.  Learning about size and space. Smaller objects can go on larger objects.  Enjoy looking at books with colorful pictures with short repetitive sentences.  Points to familiar pictures and objects and names them.

 Emotional Development  As toddlers begin to do things themselves, they get a sense of self esteem that they can do anything.  Mood swings are random and emotions run wild during this time.

 Social Development  Toddlers tend to engage in parallel play, which is playing along side other children but not actually playing with them.  They are very independent and want to do things by themselves.  They often experience frustration at his stage.

 Toddlers begin to develop a sense of right and wrong.  They discover that some behaviors are acceptable while other behaviors are unacceptable.

 These are children between the ages of 3- 5 years old.  They are more independent and have better control over their bodies.

 Physical Development  Preschoolers’ large motor skills are well developed.  They can hop, run in even strides, pedal a tricycle, and throw and catch a ball.  Their small motor skills are also better developed. They can cut paper with scissors and draw letters and other objects.

 Intellectual Development  Most preschoolers begin to learn to count, identify colors and recognize the letters of the alphabet.

 Emotional Development  The preschoolers are less self centered and do not so easily frustrated.  They do experience emotions from fear and anxiety to joy and pride.  They may display many fears because they can’t always distinguish between fantasy and reality.

 Social Development  They move from the parallel play to cooperative play- which is playing together in small groups.  The playing helps them to take turns, share, and solve problems together.  Around age 4 or 5 a child is likely to choose another child as his/ her best friend.

 Preschoolers have a rigid sense of right and wrong. They know that adults set the rules and they get upset when someone doesn’t follow the rules.  They tend to know the concepts of fairness and justice.

 Begins to spend large periods of time in a structured setting away from home.  Interaction with other adults and with peers helps them build on their skills.

 Physical Development  Baby teeth are replaced by permanent ones.  They can ride bicycles and participate in games that involve more skillful running, jumping, and throwing.  They write and draw more precisely.

 Intellectual Development  School age children are curious about their world.  They ask many questions and acquire reasoning skills as they think about why and how things happen.  They use symbols such as numbers and letters, which enables them to read and do simple arithmetic.

 Emotional Development  They outgrow their preschool fears.  They have feelings of stress caused by academic stress and home life.  Children with high self-esteem and a supportive family are more likely to handle stress effectively.

 Social Development  They form peer groups and help them learn how to negotiate and compromise in group settings.  They share and consider the feelings of others.

 Moral Development  They begin to realize that many rules are flexible and can be changed.  They care about what people think and most want to be thought of as “good”.  Children’s consciences take on a stronger role at this stage.

 Adolescence is a time of exciting changes in all areas of development.  This the period in your life when you prepare for adulthood.  Responding to these changes in a positive way eases the transition.

 Physical Development  Adolescence begins the onset of puberty, the bodily changes that indicate sexual maturity in the physical sense.  These changes are triggered by hormones.  The shape of the body changes and acne occurs.  A sense of humor is helpful for dealing with the physical changes of adolescence.

 Intellectual Development  You develop the ability to reflect on the results of your decisions and to learn from your mistakes.  Able to think abstractly.  Able to consider different solutions to a problem, test new ideas, and form your own judgments.

 Emotional Development  Hormones affect emotions. Mood swings are common and many teens experience stress related the changes they are going through.  Adolescence also brings increased sexual awareness.

 Tips on coping with mood swings:  Recognize that mood swings are a normal part of adolescence.  Talk with friends and family about your feelings.  Do something that relaxes you or helps you let off steam.  Find tactful ways to let others know you would like to be left alone.

 Social Development  It is typical that you want to spend more time with your peers than with your family.  Friendships become deeper and more stable.  Romantic feelings often develop during this stage.  However many teens are not ready for one to one relationships and prefer to spend time with a group of friends.

 Moral Development  Most teens know the difference between right and wrong, but don’t always act accordingly.  Because you want to fit in and please others you may feel pressured to go along with the crowd.  One of the responsibilities of becoming an adult is to examine your beliefs and traditions and develop a strong value system of your own.

 This is an exciting time marked by many changes.  Individuals determine who they are and what they want to do.  These are the busiest years of your life, as you complete your education, establish a career, gain financial independence, and build long term relationships. 

 Physically young adults are at their peak.  They have finished growing and have the potential to enjoy a high level of fitness.  Young adults need to make an effort to stay active and fit to prevent later health problems.  This is often a very sociable time.  Many young adults begin to marry and raise families of their own.

 This is a period of reflection.  Many people at this stage take stock of their lives and reexamine their priorities.  Major life changes and events can occur such as divorce, remarriage, children leaving home, birth of grandchildren, or the illness or death of parents.  This stage can become a balancing act for many.  Sooner or later some physical changes associated with aging occurs such as gray hair appears and a need for reading glasses.

 People are living longer due to advances in health care and medicine.  Many folks in this stage continue to work because they want to or maybe they can not afford to stop working.  Physical changes do cause people to slow down and change the way they do things.  It is all in the attitude!

 There are those folks that have special needs or disabilities that require some adaptation to the typical pattern of development.  Some of these categories are:  Physical disabilities  Mental disabilities  Learning disabilities  Emotional disabilities It is so important to recognize and meet the special needs of the folks when they are in younger years, so that they can learn to reach their full potential.