1. Unit 18 Assessing Children’s Development Support Needs
Learning Aim: A

2. A - Understand patterns, principles and theories that contribute to an understanding of growth and development in children from birth to 8 years
A1 – patterns of growth and development
A2 – principles of growth and development
A3 – theories of development

3. Patterns of growth and development
Growth and Development are important for assessing whether a child is progressing at a typical rate.
Growth – increase in size and weight
Development – acquisition of skills and abilities over time

4. Patterns of growth and development
Growth – increase in size and weight
Determined by genetic inheritance, environmental issues and other influences
Babies are routinely weighed and measured to check that hey are making progress against an agreed set of norms
Development – acquisition of skills and abilities over time
Babies are born with certain reflex actions
Suckling and swallowing, hand grasp
As they grow they acquire other abilities and skills, usually in a specific order
Top to bottom (head first then body before legs and feet)
Inside to out (centre, to outer extremities – arms before fingers)
Simple to complex (babbling to using single words to speaking in sentences).
Hearing, eyesight, language acquisition, motor skills and cognitive abilities are checked and recorded at regular intervals

5. Developmental Milestones
Milestones – reference points (significant stages in development)
Task: use the websites below to create a table showing the expected milestones at different stages throughout infancy and childhood

6. Areas and Aspects of development
TASK: research the following areas and aspects of development, give a description of what each term means and explain how it can affect development
Physical development
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Locomotion
Balance
Coordination
Hand-eye coordination
Intellectual / cognitive development
Neurological and brain development
Development of abstract concepts
Thinking skills
Memory
Speech, Language and Communication
Emotional development
Self-identity
Self-esteem
Attachment
Independence
Moral Development
Social Development
Friendships
Cooperation
*For gross/fine motor skills, intellectual/cognitive and emotional development you will need to give examples of what children should be able to do at different ages through infancy and childhood

7. Rates of growth and development
Although they follow a definite sequence, there may be significant variations within the patter of rates of growth and development between children.
Significant delay in any area will be investigated and monitored over time as these could lead to developmental problems throughout the rest of their life.
Read the article on factors that can affect rates of growth and development

8. How growth can impact on each area of development
Physical
Growth is essential for the development of gross and fine motor skills
Development and growth of the tongue and lips (muscle) helps speech develop
Social and Emotional
If developing at the right rates, children feel secure and capable

9. Typical Development
Typical Development = showing the characteristics / achieving the milestones in sequence at the expected age Qu: Why is it important that children receive love, attention and interaction from adults, and have consistent approaches towards praise and behaviour?

10. Different areas of development advance at different rates
Here are some examples
Physical development
Children may have growth spurts where clothes suddenly don’t fit
Growth spurts are particularly noticeable in boys
Cognitive/intellectual development
A child’s brain develops rapidly and is ready to absorb new information, development of this depends on the influence of parents/carers, other people and experiences.
Language development
There’s a vocabulary explosion around 4/5 years, often when a child starts school and increases their social contacts and develop friendships
Emotional development
Around 2 years, children often have temper tantrums related to tiredness and frustration
This is closely linked to family life and experiences and how well a child can cope with emotional factors
They often stop when a child starts nursery and develops friendships with other children
Social development
This is very dependable on the amount of contact and interaction with other people (adults and children)

11. Development is Holistic
All aspect of development will require an accumulation of different parts together e.g.
Sorting objects into different colour categories will require
- fine motor skills to pick up the objects
- cognitive development to realise that all the same colour objects need to be put together
- hand-eye coordination to place them together
- appropriate level of language development to talk through the process
Task: Can you think of another example of an action and the predecessor actions that are required to be able to carry out the task

12. Atypical Development
Atypical = irregular, not usual for the group or type
global delay – delay in developmental patterns across all areas
specific delay – delay in one area of development (however this could then impact on other areas)
children who are gifted or talented or able in one or more areas of development – e.g. enhanced academic ability, greater memory, early reading/writing development, have a thirst for knowledge, may have a specific practical talent e.g. music, art and are extremely focused on it

13. Cognitive Theories of development
Jean Piaget
What is a Schema?
What are the 3 parts of the adaptation process?
What are the 4 stages of cognitive development
Lev Vygotsky
What is Vygostky’s theory also known as?
What did Vygotsky believe is fundamental to cognitive development?
What is the Zone of Proximal Functioning?
Information Processing Theory
What does the IPT compare the brain to?
What are the 5 components of the IPT?

14. Behaviourism Theories of development
What is behaviourism?
John B Watson
What did Watson believe about child development?
Describe the ‘Little Albert’ experiment
B.F. Skinner
What is operant conditioning?
Describe Skinner’s rat experiment
What are the 3 types of responses that can follow behaviour, and how do they affect behaviour?
Albert Bandura
What is Bandura’s theory known as?
What are Bandura’s 4 mediational processes?

15. Theories of Emotional and Social development
John Bowlby
What is an attachment?
What is deprivation?
Describe the 44 thieves study
According to Bowlby, what are the stages of attachment?
According to Bowlby, what are the different attachment styles?
Michael Rutter
What did Rutter believe about maternal deprivation?
Describe the ‘Genie’ case study
Describe the Czech Twins case study
Sigmund Freud
Describe Freud’s psychosexual stages of development

16. Theories of Emotional and Social development
Erik Erikson
Describe Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development
Abraham Maslow
Describe Maslow’s 5 stages of hierarchy of needs
Susan Harter
Read page 434 of book 2
- what factors affection self-image?
- What can help promote a positive self-image?
- what can lead to a negative self-image?

17. Theories of Moral development
Jean Piaget
- What are the 3 main aspects of children’s
understanding of moral issues?
- What are the 2 types of moral thinking?
- Describe Piaget’s 3 stages of moral development
- Describe Piaget’s research into moral development

18. Theories of language development
Noam Chomsky
What does Chomsky suggest about language acquisition?
Lev Vygotsky
What did Vygotsky believe about language development?
What roles does language play in cognitive development?