A Toddlers Life Span - Essay Example

A Toddler’s Life Span Developmental Stages Order No. – 171996 No. of pages – 7 Premium – 6530 Introduction: The Toddler age is one of the most beautiful stages and the opportune time for good growth and development. Introducing a toddler to various concepts really helps a lot to develop his intelligence, interests and personality which would automatically show up as the child grows, even into adulthood. The Toddler age which is from 1 to 2 years, is the most impressionable age of a child when he is ready to learn things with ease. The Toddler should be constantly exposed to activities such as music, art, creativity, poetry, math and exercise. Though the attention span and the retention of a toddler is quite limited, yet this constant exposure would tend to get seated in the child’s brain and slowly but surely changes would take place. In order to make a child love to learn things, it is imperative that you present things in a fun manner. Playing should be the centrifugal point around which all else revolves. A child loves to play and therefore the easiest way to train a child’s learning abilities, thoughts and emotions would be only through play. Moreover, the person handling the toddler be it a parent or a person from child care has to show interest when playing and teaching the child or else the child would lose interest in the activity. The development of a toddler is slow and gradual. He not only develops physically but also mentally, socially and emotionally. Biological Issues of development: Toddlers develop at an amazing rate. They seem to be on a mission to grow faster than you think. Sometimes it becomes a bit difficult to keep pace with them. They are constantly growing and developing and thereby changing their activities from time to time. Therefore it is necessary that we provide the space and atmosphere which is conducive to this development. After having passed through the infant stage, a toddler develops physically and is able to stand up by himself and walk around finding his own way. He is steadier on his feet and as times passes he would run around the place. The person looking after a toddler should never leave him alone as it could be quite dangerous and the child may hurt himself. As his legs become stronger, his wobbly walk changes and becomes steadier. At this point he does not like going in a pram or being carried- he wants to enjoy his new found freedom and prefers to walk by himself. He may also learn to pedal a tricycle. Another biological development in the toddler would be the “attachment theory” researched by an English psychiatrist (John Bowlby) and an American psychologist (Mary Ainsworth) According to the “Attachment theory” formulated by them after their extensive research it is based on the belief that the bond of mother and child is the primary force in Infant development which includes personality and relationship development 1.. Attachment can be defined in both ways –behavioral and emotional. This attachment bond protects the child from fear and harm and assists in the safe exploration of the world 2. For some picking up a language is the easiest thing but for some it is the hardest. Many factors are responsible for this such as genetic factors and factors relating to family background, experiences and exposure. A toddler’s speech patterns change drastically as he moves from monosyllables to short sentences. Imitation is a part of a child’s learning curve and therefore the people who are in constant touch with the toddler should mind the way they speak to him because he will pick up their speech patterns easily. As time goes by he is capable of picking up at least 10 new words a day. His vocabulary increases drastically and he is able to express himself and make himself well understood. For toddlers it is not necessary to teach them a language, it occurs naturally by instinct. Cognitive Issues of development: There are many aspects to the development of a toddler and cognitive development is one of them and one of the most important of them. Cognitive development has everything to do with a child’s thinking processes that a child goes through when learning something. A lot could be done to kindle, encourage and develop a child’s cognitive skills. According to Jean Piaget, a Swiss Philosopher and Developmental Psychologist, who was famous for his study of the cognitive behavior of children says that “Object Permanence” (Jean Piaget) is a cognitive development testing that, can be carried out to check whether a toddler has developed this skill as yet or not. While helping to mark some intelligence test papers Piaget noticed that Toddlers made the same pattern of mistakes that older children and adults did not and so led him to frame the theory that everyone has a set pattern of behavior, during the different stages in their lives. "Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves” (Jean Piaget) For example, a ball could be shown to the child and then hidden away. If he looks for the ball again, it means that he has developed the skill of cognitive object permanence for he understands that even though the object is out of sight, it still exists. If he does not look for it, he is still to acquire the skill. As the child develops cognitively, more activities such as comparing and contrasting, puzzles, classifying objects according to size, color and shape, sorting and pairing could be introduced to develop their cognition. According to Michael Tomasello, a cognitive psychologist who uses a socio-pragmatic approach through social cognitive processes that involve “joint attention” says that Communication plays a major role by binding human beings together and proving that we are unique in comparison to our animal counterparts.(Michael Tomasello) We humans communicate in order to express our feelings, desires and emotions. Therefore it is crucial that the other participant picks up these signals of communication and respond to it, thereby creating a “communicative channel” which encourages further communication and development of the child’s cognitive pattern. Piaget describes a child at this juncture as the “young scientist” conducting pseudo experiments to discover new methods of meeting challenges. (Gruber, et al., 1977) Another important factor on the development of cognitive behavior patterns is that we should never push or rush a child into learning something beyond his capacity. Learning for a child should be gradual and not sudden. If a child is forced or repeatedly shamed or physically punished, it amounts to “abuse” because the child is still not ready to assimilate these concepts. A child forced to perform more than his limits will lose interest and become backward and withdrawn. Children should not be given stress but on the other hand be given “hands on” experience by exploring the world around them in order to develop their intellectual capabilities to the maximum. Psychological/ Emotional Issues of development: The toddler is as vulnerable, as he is still finding his way through the maze of his surroundings. All preschoolers are developing individuals who are acquiring new forms of social awareness and understanding. In the light of this development, they are faced with a lot of stress, anxiety and mental set backs. They struggle to manage their emotions and this very much depends upon the understanding and care given by the parent or the care taker. Understanding the influences and developments that take place with regard to social, emotional and personality development of a toddler would help to guide and enhance his mental growth in the right perspective (Thompson, 2006). Toddlers comprehend the intentions, desires and emotions of the people who look after them and they try to assimilate these psychological aspects as they grow older. The right achievements are very important to good mental health and social competence. If there is a lack of social competence, then the key feature would be mental disorders faced by the child. The traditional view points out, that a toddler is self- centered and egocentric because he is so preoccupied by his small world surrounding him that he has limited comprehension of the feelings, desires and emotions of those around him. But on the contrary, contemporary developmental scientists are amazed by the fact of how early and successfully, a child is able to understand and grasp the mental states of other people, even though the desires, emotions and beliefs are different from that of the child. When looking after a toddler, if a mother or caretaker responds in a normal way, the child becomes more friendly and responsive. In case the mother or the care person is depressed and doesn’t exhibit any interest or emotion, the child too, becomes withdrawn, unresponsive and unusually quiet with frequent bouts of negative display like crying, yelling and kicking about. They exhibit atypical frontal brain activity related to emotion. (Dawson, et al., 1999) Owing to difficult or bad relationship experiences the child’s social skills and social accomplishments would get retarded leading to other mental problems. It is therefore very necessary, that during the toddler stage utmost care and understanding should rendered in order to avoid complications later on in life. In order to achieve this, greater parental monitoring and right interventions are key factors that play major roles for the correct emotional or psychological development of a child. The developing theory of mind is expanded by the toddler who comprehends how people’s actions are guided by their emotions, actions and desires. Since these psychological states are multi-determined motivators of behavior and are invisible, it becomes a challenge for the child to understand them, but yet they do. By the time they are 18 months of age, the toddler is able to compare and contrast with what one person wants with what another desires. (Bartsch & Wellman, 1995) By age two, the toddler begins to spontaneously talk about emotions because by this age they regard emotions as psychological conditions that are subjective and can vary between people by contrasting it with their own. These insights not only help young children comprehend the origins and consequences of other’s feelings, but also contribute to children’s understanding of their own emotions and how to manage them. (Thompson, 1994) Implications for Social Work: Social workers play a major role in trying to put back on the right track things that might have gone wrong. Their first and foremost duty is to bridge the gap between the toddler and the caretaker forming good relationships which is imperative for the all round development of the child. The social worker checks to see that the child is properly looked after and not neglected in any way. In case it is felt that a child needs some help or support either emotionally, psychologically or socially, a social worker would be of great help to make arrangements for a thorough check up by a physician and the following course of action that is to be taken. Another instance where a social worker could be called in would be if child abuse is detected. In such a case, the incident is filed and a complaint is registered. After this is done, authorities take necessary action by investigating the case and taking strict action against the offender. Conclusion: These are the many factors that go to make up the all round development of a child. We can accomplish a balance between all these factors by not only learning about the developments that take place at different stages in a child’s life, but by incorporating a lot of fun ideas, games and creative activities to hold a child’s interest. In the course of teaching a child a lot of play and exploratory activities could be introduced. In order to achieve the best results we should respect a child’s feelings and never abuse him. We should gain a child’s trust by encouraging him and making him feel very secure. All these factors go to build a strong foundation for the wholesome development of a child. References: The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition – Harvard University Press www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/TOMCUL.html The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition by Michael Tomasello www.2think.org/humancognition.shtml Piaget www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/piaget.html Key Theorists/ Theories in Psychology – Jean Piaget www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Piaget.htm Child Development www.earthskids.com/childdevelopment.aspx Social Development www.guilford.com/excerpts/luby.pdf Social/ Emotional Development in Young Children www.michigan.gov/documents/Social_Emotional_Development_in_Young_Childr... Journal of Social Work- Values and ethics- Professional Boundaries www.socialworker.com/jswve/content/view/25 Review of Research Literature. www.childtrends.org/what_works/youth_development/doc/MEHealthTables.pdf The Science of attachment – The Biological Roots of Love (Journal) www.naturalchild.com/guest/lauren_lindsey_porter.html Read More