Page 4 - LESSION 6.pmd

Growth and Development

behaviour and attitude. It is difficult to measure or quantify development as these
changes are not quantitative. It is important to note that physical growth is
measurable quantitatively; however, certain changes such as cognitive and socio-
Notes
emotional maturity may not be measured in quantitative terms. These need to be
measured in qualitative terms.

Development is governed by certain principles. These are discussed below.

6.2.1 Principles of Development

Development is continuous and involves change
Do young children start walking suddenly or are there intermediary steps leading
to walking? You may have noticed that during infancy, while learning to walk,
infants first learn to crawl, then to stand with support, then to stand without
support and finally to walk. This points to the fact that development involves
changes at each step and continues to take place all the time. We may or may not
notice these changes on a day-to-day basis. But these changes in body and
behavioural pattern, which are indicators of development take place continuously.
At times, development is rapid and at other times, it slows down. But it is
continuous. It does not stop at any time. It is worth mentioning that changes
appear not only in physical features and body structure but also in the socio-
emotional and cognitive development of children.

Development is sequential
As already mentioned, children learn to stand before walking. Similarly, they
scribble before writing. These illustrate that there is a pattern in development.
This development is sequential. All children follow more or less similar
developmental patterns with one stage leading to the other.

Fig. 6.1 The Developmental Sequence
The sequential pattern of development proceeds in two directions. First,
development proceeds from upper part of the body to the lower part of the body,

78 EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION