Childhood Development in the Early Stages of Life

Introduction

Parents begin teaching their children in the early stages of life, even while they are still infants. Establishing a schedule for feeding, sleeping, bath time and playtime are the first things babies learn and come to depend on. Providing mobiles that play music, toys that entertain, even parents who sing to their babies are ways in which help them develop into curious toddlers, and this is why the first and best teachers are parents. As babies enter the toddler stage, they demand attention and are very eager to learn.

Parents encourage them to walk, teach them to drink out of a cup, and consequently, as a child grows, parents are the most important and constant influence in a toddler's life. They become to depend on parents for everything and learn through observance as well. Good habits take form in the early stages of a child's life.

Parents encourage early learning by setting aside time for their children. Reading a book to them every day stimulates word recognition, and soon they are able to tell you the story, word for word. They will look forward to this time and this, therefore, teaches them to be dependable. The way in which parents communicate with their children and show interest in what they are doing teaches them social skills. When parents inquire about their day, engage in conversation at the dinner table, as well as while driving in the car makes children feel important, and parents are teaching their children to be compassionate, while also showing them the importance of caring for others.

I chose the place or a play place inside of a local mall, it was very easy to observe every part of child development such as cognitive, social-emotional, language as well as physical at the same time. I performed the observation on October 28, 2018, from 1 pm to 3 pm. Dallas an African American boy. He has curly medium length black hair with dark brown eyes and thin black eyebrows. His height looked around 35.5-36 inches that he may be a little taller than other early childhood children. He looks thin and has a full set of teeth inside his mouth, full cheeks, and a small button nose. When he first arrived in the room he used his hands to try to undo his zipper on his jacket, but he was having difficulty so I encouraged him to continue to try and unzip it before he grew frustrated and solicited my help, so I stepped in and helped him.

He also understands the concept of counting and knows a few numbers. During meal time, his caregiver was trying to feed him balanced nutrient, but he seemed to have a habit which was eating only what he wants. Despite his caregiver mixed all the foods for avoiding his picky eating, he had remaining foods left on his plate, except for what he liked to eat. When discussing how children develop and the many phases and stages they go through, it is determined that there is more complexity to this field of study than one may think. A child's development can be broken up into different categories and age ranges.

Dallas, a two-year-old would fall into the second stage of psychosocial development autonomy vs. shame/doubt. Having given Dallas this classification, one can use the accompanying guidelines and characteristics that are usually associated with Autonomy versus shame and doubt, in order to determine how his actions and behaviors, gathered through observation, correspond.

Looking at development in terms of the social-emotional branch, Erik Erikson is a person who studies child development, and has classified children like Dallas, who are in early childhood development, as undergoing a time period of Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. As explained in the textbook, a child who is classified under the category of autonomy, is explained as being able to think and do for themselves. On the other hand, a child who is classified under the category of shame/doubt, is explained as they beginning to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, they become overly dependent upon others, lack self-esteem, and feel a sense of doubt in their abilities. Dallas's behaviors are more so of autonomy rather than shame/doubt.

When asked to perform an assigned tasks if he does not feel like it he will definitely let it be known. Dallas also has a way of letting it be known that he is full, not hungry or just plain tired. His vocabulary and use of words is hit or miss, he's not an on cue type of toddler but when he needs to talk he will.

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