1. Understanding Infants

2. Who is an infant? Infancy is often defined as the time between birth and twelve months of age.

3. Physical Development Rapid growth and development during the first year of life. Requires lots of sleep and food!

4. Physical Development AgeMotor Development 2 monthsLifts head and chest when lying on stomach 4 monthsSits with support; reaches for objects; plays with hands 6 monthsGrasps objects; rolls over; plays with feet 8 monthsSits without support; thrusts arms and legs out and squirms to push self forward; pulls self up 10 monthsCrawls on hands and knees; walks with help of adult 12 monthsStands, sometimes walks alone; picks up small objects between thumb and forefinger; begins self-feeding

5. Intellectual Development Infants learn using their senses and motor abilities to gain information about the world Piaget called this the sensorimotor period

6. Intellectual Development At 9 months infants learn object permanence—the understanding that an object continues to exist even when out of sight.

7. Intellectual Development Language development begins at infancy. By 6 months children understand some spoken words By 1 year children usually speak several words

8. Intellectual Development Vocalization—sounds that imitate adult language. When adults respond to vocalizations, infants begin to learn that wants and needs can be expressed through language.

9. Emotional Development Bonding—forming a strong attachment to and preference for the primary caregivers. Children develop a sense of trust or mistrust based on needs being met The earlier they develop trust in others, the better their emotional health

10. Social Development During the first year of life, children’s thinking is egocentric—they see everything form only their point of view. Stranger anxiety—the fear of unfamiliar people. (starts around 9 months) Takes several years of social experiences to help children be more social

11. In groups of two, look through magazines to find 3 pictures of infants. For each picture, guess the age of the child by what the child is doing in the picture. Use the chart of motor skills to help you! For example, if a child is shown crawling on hands and knees, a good guess would be 10 months old. Each picture needs to be for a different age range. Use handout provided! Assignment