Work with babies and young children to promote their development and learning

A child develops through its whole life. They can develop; physically, linguistically, intellectually, socially and behaviourally. “Physical development is the way in which the body increases in skill and becomes more complex in its performance” [Meggitt, 2000, Page 2]. Twenty five days after conception; the body of the chid has developed immensely from the small fertilised egg. Up to birth the foetus mainly develops physically however once the child is born the child then begins the long process of development. Not only do the gross motor skills and the fine motor skills develop on the baby, but the sensory development also widens on the child.

|Theory. |their second year they will start to walk and be able to |Social, emotional and behavioural development – Slower to |

Babies at birth – most are born at 40 week and premature babies more often need a little more time to reach the same level of development as babies born in and after the 40th week. Most are born with just reflexes for survival at first. These would be swallowing, sucking reflexes to help feed. Rooting reflex baby will move its head if the cheek is touched to find a nipple or teat. Grasp reflex babies will grip objects touching their palm. Startle reflex they will often move arms outwards and clench fists is a sound movement or light suddenly startles them. Walking reflex when babies are held upright with their feet on a

From around 3 many children become more confident around people they do not know well and find it easier to be separated from their parent/carer they enjoy being with other children and gain enjoyment from playing with them. They will need some physical contact but will look for more verbal reassurance and approval. This is because their language has developed;

|12-18 Months |to things. Holds a beaker with |Learns different objects and points |entertain themselves. Likes to be |

|Physical |At 24months children can now run safely avoiding obstacles and are very mobile, this has developed from the unsteady first tentative steps taken at around 12 months. | |

By 1 year they could be sitting alone without support, reach out for toys and could also be mobile through crawling or shuffling. By this age a child will have started to show hand preference, can click two cubes together and will place the cubes in a box when shown how to. At 18 months a child may be able to walk alone, will push and pull toys when walking and are able to kick, roll and throw a ball. Some children are capable of using a spoon, turn a handle of a door and pull off their shoes.

Children at this age are exploring climbing to get to things they may want e.g. moving chair to climb on and get things. They will try to peddle tricycles and use their feet if they find it too difficult. They will become able to walk up stairs using alternate feet. Their cutlery skills will increase and will star to use knife and fork possibly cutting softer foods for themselves. During this period children generally learn to potty train and are usually quite independent by 4

All babies are individual and will develop at different rates all babies will not develop to the same stage at the same age. A baby at the age of 3 months will be expected to be able to hold a rattle for a few seconds but they usually can not look at the rattle at the same time. By being able to do this the baby has developed on their physical skills. Within the next two months of their lives the baby will be expected to develop to the next expected milestones. At the end of four months the baby can now roll from their back to front. By being able to do this the infant has developed on their motor skills. Also the baby can now push up on his forearms and lift their head and chest 90 degrees when lying on their stomach this position only

Babies at 6months- they have learnt many skills by now and are very alert to noises and things going on around them and will turn their heads to see what is going on around them. They so enjoyment smiling, laughing or making noises and can now reach to grab an object. They can have a focused attention on certain objects that seem interesting to them and will explore ways to hold them or uses them. They also begin to show a simple understanding of what they are being told and try to communicate with them.

Their development in these first few months revolves around their increased understanding of their surroundings. This leads to their consequent displeasure when removed from a familiar setting. They recognise adults and sounds and now begin to react to a greater degree. They have favourite objects and show happiness around the people they recognise.

Physical: By the age of 5 children can start to walk up the stairs unaided, hold a crayon or pencil to draw and write. By the age of 8 children can start to learn to catch and

| 0-3 Months: * Tries to lift head. * Begins to hold objects when placed in hand.3-9 Months: * Establishes head control * Begins to sit with support from about 6 months un-supported.9-18 Months: * Is now very mobile e.g. crawls, bottom-shuffles, cruises, walks.18 Months - 2 Years: * Walks well and tries to run but has difficulty stopping.2-3 Years: * Kicks a ball, learns to jump and may learn to somersault.

0-2 years: From the birth to three months babies have the ability to focus on objects up to few inches away from themselves. Up to six months they will begin to develop their co-ordination, enjoy bright colours and shiny things.

During the first few months a child will learn eat,sleep,talk/make sounds. In the 1st year a child will learn the gross motor skill, which is the basic motion of When he/ she moves about pretty quickly by grabbing hold of furniture or other objects. They will also feel the need investigate objects around them. Anything that will either shake and bang will entertain them and keep them occupied for hours (L.C.C. 2015). During the first year they will also learn things like feeding themselves,beginning to scribble with a crayons or pens, covering and uncovering jars or boxes, tearing up paper and throwing it around, putting items into containers and taking them out again, turning rotating handles (eg. on a jack-in-the-box toy) and finally playing with items together eg keys or plastic plates and bowls to create different sounds.The child will be able to find hidden objects,manipulate items to get a response (shake a maraca, bang the bottom of a bucket. The child will be able to understand proper use for things as they watch you use things for example they will learn how a fork or spoon is used because you show them accordingly. As the child grows it will be able to indefinitely their name and there limbs