Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 8, 1993 TAG: 9307070460
SECTION: PARENT'S GUIDE PAGE: PG-15 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BECKY HEPLER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The way children develop and the implications of that for parents have generated immense amounts of research, discussion and TV talk shows subjects. Newspaper headlines scream of 5-month-old babies with math skills. We hear of 2-year-olds playing the violin. All around us is evidence of superior babyhood.
It certainly makes it unnerving to be a parent. In this highly competitive world, we all want our children to excel, to have every advantage.
On the other hand, what happens to little children who are pushed to excel too early? Do they become creative geniuses or do they just do this amazing thing early, only to have their peers catch up with them at 14 years? It is no wonder parents are unsure of what to do and what to expect.
The first thing they can do, said Janet Sawyers, head of the Child Development lab at Virginia Tech, is to relax. There are stages of development that every child must go through, physically, emotionally and intellectually. He or she will go through each stage of each domain, in the same order, just like every other child. The only variable is the amount of time the child will spend in each stage, and that can vary as much as five years.
The theories describing these stages were created by the giants in the field of psychology, using observation. Jean Piaget's theory on intellectual/cognitive development came from observing his own and many other children. This was done in the 1920s and 1930s, and while it wasn't translated to English until the 1960s, recent brain research has validated his work.
Piaget said there is a built-in drive to acquire more complex thinking skills. From birth till about 2 or 3 years of age, children's intellectual development concentrates on learning the skills needed for walking and talking. The primary way for learning about the world is through the senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. That is why everything a baby picks up goes immediately into the mouth. It is one way of knowing something.
The second stage of intellectual development, lasting usually from 2 or 3 to around 6 years of age, is a breakthrough, because the child is developing language and can begin to acquire a symbolic view of the world. He or she is no longer tied to the immediate sensory environment and can begin to imagine and dream.
The third stage, usually from 6 to 12, sees the beginning of logical thinking and a literal-mindedness that can drive parents around the bend. Only until the child is an adolescent, in the final stage, can real abstract thinking be accomplished.
Erik Erikson came up with a similar schema to explain emotional/social development. Chilren's personalities develop more complexities as they get older, and they deal with the issues in a similar matter, learning first trust (birth to about 24 months), then autonomy (2 to 3 years), initiative (3 to 6 years), mastery (6 to 12 years), and identity (adolescence). He traced additional development that occurs during adulthood, but the early phases are what parents will be watching.
Sawyer pointed out that these domains are separate and in fact, a growth spurt in one can delay development in another. For example, a child may be making remarkable progress with his or her speech, then plateau, while growing physically. "It's as if all the energy is being concentrated in one place," she said.
Each child will develop at his or her own rate. So if your son or daughter is not doing something that a similar-aged child is, don't automatically assume there is a problem. He or she could be a little slower, or the other child could be faster. Barring any problems on your child's part, most likely he or she will catch up with the other child eventually.
This is not to say that parents should do nothing. The first three years are times of incredible growth and development. For example, just between 2 and 3 years of age is the time when there is the most rapid development of language, and parents can do a great deal to encourage that, such as reading and talking to the child, naming things, answering any questions the child may have. Anything that exposes the child to language will aid that development.
In the early years, children make incredible strides physically, intellectually and socially. Sawyers pointed out that there are many good parenting books that can help track these developments so parents know what to look for, and to find out how to encourage that particular development.
The point is, however, don't get caught up in meaningless comparisons or inappropriate expectations. It's frustrating for both the child and the parents.
"Milestones can cause concerns for parents if the child isn't matching it," Sawyers noted. "The best advise is to figure out if that milestone is what is appropriate for that age and remember that there are great variations within age groups."
by CNB