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From the FREEP
Developmental Milestones
I have been asked to write to you about child development, one of my favorite topics. To be specific, the request was to provide some information about developmental milestones that pertain to the ages represented at SRV, which actually incites some ambivalence.
On the one hand, it is critically important to have a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the scope and sequence of child development. As parents and teachers, this knowledge allows us to form reasonable expectations of each age range and allows us to have a better understanding of the social, emotional, physical, and family dynamic phenomena that emerge at a given point in time. We can then see when there is a developmental trend that is out of sequence, occurs precociously, or is lagging behind. Educators and other professionals use this information to inform curricula, and to know when to intervene.
On the other hand, rigid adherence to developmental norms can create unnecessary anxiety and cast judgment in a way that is not always helpful or even true. It is so easy to get sucked into thinking there is only one way to progress through the various stages, and only one acceptable timeline. When I received a book about the developmental milestones of toddlers, I remember how much I delighted in my son's early acquisitions ("He knows 30 words!"), and was plummeted into despair about his apparent lags ("What?! He still can't jump!"). Of course, neither of these reactions resulted in any meaningful actions or epiphanies, and often led to worries that were premature at best. It is true that some routes are more advantageous than others, and it is important to act when obstacles occur. Parents, educators and other professionals must find a balance between knowing and applying the information, and avoiding the hyperfocus and judgment that often goes hand in hand with this kind of specificity. We must also grapple with the differences between precocity and strength, delay and weakness, even when the related support to be provided would look the same. Finally, developmental expectations must be tempered with knowledge about a child's vast experience, personality, interactional dynamics within a family or classroom, and gender, to name a few equally important factors.
In truth, there is no way to provide you with a full set of developmental milestones within the scope of one article. Child development is a vast field of study that has been researched to the most inane levels of detail. As a result, there is a wealth of readily available information, and we can find developmental maps dedicated to most any area that comes to mind. At SRV, we have made use of scope and sequence maps within the realms of language development, social development, physical development, emotional development, reading, writing, and math, among many others. We also use some resources that summarize many of these areas in a quickly accessible way. Our current favorite is Yardsticks by Chip Wood. So, instead of attempting to capture this information here, I will list some resources and volunteer to consult with any of you who would like further guidance. If you need something beyond the resources listed here, please see me.
Good General Resources:
- Yardsticks by Chip Wood
- Your Five-Year-Old Child by Louise Bates Ames and Carol Chase Hunter (one for each age, perhaps more accessible to parents than the Yardsticks book)
Cognitive Development:
- Mel Levine's work (set of milestones provided in his Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders book)
- Your Child's Growing Mind: A Guide to Learning and Brain Development From Birth to Adolescence www.childdevlopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml
