Child Development: Knowing My Baby and Toddler

Rhoda Bacmeister said "Long before your child gets to algebra, he is learning by means of the three X's - example, experience and explanation, all of them vital.  As children grow, they see the cultural standards that are valued and practiced by the members of their families, by their friends, by the heroes they admire, and the inner voice of their love and their admiration cries, 'I, too, must be like that." (Smoth, 1960).

I can't imagine how fast time has gone. I have 5 children, the oldest is now almost 11 years old and the youngest is almost 3 years old. Wow! I then started thinking that soon I would be having a teenager - a new challenge for a mom whose growing older, hopefully, wiser too. 

Raising children of different ages is a challenge. I remember that I studied a subject in the Masters in Christian Education degree (one which I was not able to finish) that taught about the different stages of a child's life. 

As parents, I know that we've gone through all those stages before. But we need to refresh ourselves with the things that characterize those stages, so that as our children go through each of them in their lives, we can understand them better and respond to them appropriately, lovingly and patiently.

So, in the next couple of blog posts, I will be sharing here about the Different Stages of a Child's Growth. To give an overview of the child development stages, these are:

• Infancy and Toddler (0-2 years old)
• Preschool / Nursery (2-3 years old)
• Early Childhood / Kindergarten (4-5 years old)
• Middle Childhood / Primary (6-8 years old)
• Later Childhood / Junior (9-11 years old)
• Early Adolescence (12-14 years old)

Now, on to the first stage ... 

Infancy and Toddler (0-2 years old) - Foundation Years

My Angel at 2 months old

Physically

An infant grows rapidly in size. As days pass, he grows to become a better doer of activities like stretching, kicking, waving his arms and legs, moving his eyes, blinking, and grasping. Soon, you'll see him sitting, crawling, walking, and quite eager to feed himself, too. 

 

Mentally

He likes to discover the world around him. He learns to understand things by using his senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. 

Socially and Emotionally

His world is limited to his immediate surroundings and family. Because of this, he feels afraid when he sees strangers and goes to unfamiliar places. Notice how he retreats to his mother's arms when he feels frightened. (I know this scenario very well. Because of this, I developed big arm muscles every time I need to carry them at this stage.)

Sometimes, the child throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. Parents need to know their child's language or maybe baby sign language since the child still has limited speech. No wonder the child feels frustrated for not getting what he wants. But then, he can begin to learn as well that certain types of behavior are acceptable and others are not. 

Spiritually

Is there a God? The child's first introduction to faith depends on what is the attitude of dad and mom towards God. A child this young can learn about God through hearing Bible stories, songs about God and saying prayers. 

Would you like to share something about your baby and toddler? 

The next post will be about the Preschool/Nursery stage.