Normal development among children encompasses a concurrent physical, cognitive and social development. This implies how one expects children of various ages to have different levels of cognitions, social attachments and physical characteristics. However, the development of every child stands out unique and theoretically complex.
Various factors including environmental and experiences that children go through amongst others play key roles in influencing how they go through the sequences of development. Consequently, all children may fail to develop based on some predictable sequential development steps at the same time: normally divided in terms of years. The project seeks to make an observation of four-year-old and a seven-year-old child to unveil the conformance of the widely anticipated developments at the stages with the actual field observations.
Observations for a four-year-old
The child has intensive desire to know what cause some certain feelings such as sadness or anger. She talks out the causes of her sadness, for instance, claiming that her momma has beaten her up and attempts to deal with her anger by copping strategies such as drawing pictures.
The child interacts with his/her friends through plays portraying sympathy especially when the friends are hurt. She also attempts to suggest mechanisms of resolution of conflicts. The child was particularly interested in leaving the parent to explore the world with her friends.
However, she seemed concerned with the whereabouts of her parents. Physically, the child can run around as she involves her friend in hide and seek games. She also seems to have perfected galloping, hoping and jumping skills. She approaches the world with lots of curiosity and enormous imagination in an attempt to build on her abstract cognitive abilities.
Observations of a seven-year-old
Emotionally, the child has an enormous ability to understand his peers feeling. The child observed tended to set off from his friends when it comes to anger management through requesting the peer members to leave him alone. This is perhaps indicative of the desire to manage his emotions independently. Socially, the child participates proactively in games governed by rules. He/she also takes time to limit certain actions of his friends that he thinks would hurt his person.
Physically the child seems to have perfected combination of motor skills such as walking rhythmically according to musical beats. The child’s cognitive ability is concrete with the ability to identify numbers, sounds, words usage and association of music with moods. The child was able to identify objects within his environment with the capacity to extend his knowledge on three-dimensional objects.
Is the seven year old on track developmentally?
Children development experts posit various developmental anticipations of children at various ages. At seven years, one expects the child to have developed cute linguistic and mathematical abilities. The observed child, can recognize, sum up and perform various mathematical tasks. He/she can also identify words and attach meaning to certain sounds. Based on these criteria, the child is on track in terms of cognitive abilities. Emotionally, the child can appreciate his/her friends feeling.
He/she also considers independent resolution of his emotional turmoil. His/her involvements in games are more of dictated by rules, as he/she treats his/her friends in accordance to the rules of the game.
This is indicative of being in track developmentally. In terms of physical development, children development experts anticipate that children at the age of seven have a perfect ability to combine their motor skills such rolling after jumping. The observed child walked rhythmically according to musical beats indicating compliance with sequential development anticipation.