The study of how children master new skills. Child Development is… The study of how children master new skills.

Why study children? To Understand Children To Gain Skills Better understand why they do what they do Understand the importance of caregivers To Gain Skills To Understand Yourself To Build for the Future

Areas of Child Development P.I.E.S Physical —the increasing ability to control and coordinate body movements Gross (large) Motor Fine (small) Motor Social-- learning to relate to other people Interactions w/ others Expressing self Emotional —the process of learning to recognize and express feelings Express feelings Establish identity Intellectual—the process of learning to think, remember, understand, reason, and use language Learning Language Moral Personal beliefs Right and wrong

Developmental Tasks Challenges met at a particular stage of life. 1. Childhood 2. Adolescence 3. Adulthood YOU ARE HERE!

Adolescence You must: Find your identity Become independent Plan for your life’s work

Influences on Development Heredity (Nature) Passing on certain characteristics Eye color, blood type, etc. Environment (Nurture) People Places Surroundings

Characteristics of Development Development is…. similar for everyone builds on earlier learning proceeds at an individual rate interrelated continuous throughout life

Development is similar for everyone. Children go through the same stages in about the same order. Examples— all babies lift their head before they lift their bodies all babies stand up before they walk

Development proceeds at an individual rate. Children follow a similar pattern of development, each child is an individual. The rate of growth differs from child to child Examples When did you first say dada? When did you first crawl/walk?

Development builds on earlier learning Development follows a step by step pattern or a sequence The skills a child learns at one stage build directly on those mastered earlier. Examples— Before a child learns to run, he/she has to learn to walk.

Development is continuous throughout life. The rate of development changes, sometimes it is fast and sometimes it is slow. Development never stops!

The different areas of development are interrelated PIES

Write four words or draw four pictures that describe you in each area of development. You can only use something one time.