Portfolio Part 1 – Infants
Heather Sherry
The University of Arizona Global Campus
ECE 332 Child Development
Ann Guy
December 23, 2024
During Infancy, children undergo a vast number of changes as they learn about and interact with the world and the people around them. These changes include growth, brain development, sleep patterns, physical development, cognitive development, and emotional and social development. These changes can be affected by genetics and environmental factors and can vary in age for each child.
Although children develop and reach milestones at different ages, certain milestones can be observed at or near certain ages. During the first month of infancy, a child spends much of their time eating and sleeping. They can focus on their caregivers' faces and exhibit the rooting reflex. This can be demonstrated by stroking a newborn's cheek. The rooting reflex causes the infant to turn their face toward the person's hand and attempt to suck on their finger. During this stage, infants are also able to grasp onto their caregiver's fingers. In the first month of infancy, babies communicate their needs by crying and learning by listening to the voices around them.
Around two months of age, an infant is able to be alert for longer periods of time, can visually track people or stimuli horizontally, can lift their head and chest when placed on their tummy, and smiles in response to social stimuli.
Around four months old, an infant is able to roll over, look around, laugh, and make sounds to communicate. They can hold on to a toy and bring their hands to their mouth. During this time, infants learn by using newly developed sensorimotor skills to explore the world around them.
Around six months, infants can reach for people and objects. They explore everything by bringing it to their mouths. They play by banging objects on surfaces. The infant progresses from cooing and gurgling sounds to babbling during this stage.
Around nine months, infants have learned to crawl and start pulling themselves up using furniture around them. They begin to take sideways steps while holding onto the furniture (cruising). They can say “mama” and “dada.” An infant can pull food and objects toward them during this stage. They can drink from a cup without a lid with the help of an adult. They also begin to understand object permanence, the idea that a person or object still exists even if it disappears from view.
A child begins taking their first steps at around one year of age and uses a pincer grasp to pick up small objects. They can point and make sounds to let adults know they want something. They can also respond to gestures and simple commands (OPENPediatrics, 2021) (Virtual Lab School, n.d.)
Erik Erikson is a prominent developmental theorist. He categorized the human life span into eight stages and believed each stage involved a challenge or crisis that had to be solved positively or negatively. He believed that each stage was built upon the outcome of the previous stage, and to develop successfully, each stage’s challenge had to have a successful outcome. The challenge in infancy, according to Erikson, is trust vs. mistrust. Because infants depend on their caregivers for everything they need, he believed that if an infant learns that they can trust their primary caregiver, the infant will learn to trust others and be better developed socially and emotionally. In contrast, if an infant lacks love and care, they will distrust people around them and feel unworthy of love. He believed that the effects of the outcome of this challenge would last through a person’s lifetime (Jensen, Arnett, 2020).
Infant Case Study
Chloe is six months old. She lives with her mother and father; however, her father is in the Air Force and serves in another country nine months out of the year. Chloe’s mother is a nurse at the local hospital. During the weekdays, Chloe attends Early Head Start. When not at school, she spends most of her time with her mother. Chloe enjoys it when her mother tickles her, and she laughs a lot. One of her favorite things to do is imitate her mother sticking out her tongue. Chloe also has many board books that she likes to put in her mouth. Chloe likes tummy time and rolls back and forth from her back to her stomach.
Chloe appears to be achieving the expected milestones of infancy at the appropriate age. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Optimal early childhood development has consistently been linked to Family Strengths and Protective Factors– Parental Resilience, Social Connectedness, Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development, Concrete Support in Times of Need, and Social-Emotional Competence of Children. These factors are known to reduce the negative impact of risk factors or adverse experiences, build resilience, and support environments that allow children to thrive (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2022)”. Although her father is away serving in the Air Force for nine months out of the year, her mother seems to be coping well. Because her mother is a nurse, she has a strong knowledge of the importance of prenatal care and human development. This would lead to the belief that she most likely received appropriate prenatal care, took prenatal vitamins, and maintained a healthy lifestyle during her pregnancy, creating an optimal situation biologically. This would also provide Chloe with access to health care and routine check-ups. Environmental factors that may have positively affected Chloe’s development include having access to early childhood education where she can connect socially with others and receive support in her cognitive and physical development while her mother is at work. This also provides her mother with the community support she needs to maintain her career and trust that Chloe is safe and healthy while she works. Chloe’s healthy development also shows that she receives supportive and responsive care from her mother.
To support Chloe’s physical development, small pillows could be used to support her while she learns to sit up. Toys, such as rattles, could be placed slightly out of her reach during tummy time to encourage her to roll and eventually crawl to reach them. Playing with the rattles can help to develop her fine motor skills. To support her cognitive development, books should be read to her, and pictures in the books should be pointed out and spoken about. It is never too early to start talking about numbers, colors, and shapes while talking to her. These activities will also help her with her linguistic development.
Chloe can roll back and forth from her back to her stomach. This directly relates to her gross physical development. As she learns to be more mobile through rolling to get to things and then crawling, she can explore and interact with more toys, objects, and other materials in her environment. This will affect her cognitive development. While in Early Head Start, this also allows her to interact with more children, and while at home, she can get to her mother when she wants to. These abilities affect her social-emotional development. Chloe’s ability and interest in imitating her mother, sticking out her tongue, is related to physical and social-emotional development. Being interested in imitating those around her can also encourage her interest in imitating sounds, affecting her linguistic development.
Infancy encompasses many important milestones in an infant’s development. During this time, infants learn about the world through sensorimotor exploration. Although development is affected by both genetic and environmental factors, it is important to provide a stimulating, developmentally appropriate, supportive, and responsive environment for infants to stimulate all areas of development and teach infants that they can trust the people and the world around them.
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2022, July 11). Assessment of Social Emotional Development and Protective Factors. https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/early-childhood/early-relational-health/assessment-of-social-emotional-development-and-protective-factors/
Jensen, L.A., & Arnett, J. J. (2020). Child development worldwide: A cultural approach (3rd ed.). Pearson.
OPENPediatrics (2021, April 21). Developmental Milestones by H. Hodges, B. Shagrin [Video]. YouTube. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=developmental+stages+of+infancy&mid=2F1631F961C0E6682FF82F1631F961C0E6682FF8&mcid=ECB1859FCB32402383D3574294270C81&FORM=VIRE
O’Sullivan, A., Monk, C. (2020). Maternal and Environmental Influences on Perinatal and Infant Development. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1293581.pdf
Virtual Lab School. (n.d). Infants and Toddlers. https://www.virtuallabschool.org/infant-toddler
Portfolio Part 2 – Toddlers
Heather Sherry
The University of Arizona Global Campus
ECE 332 Child Development
Ann Guy
January 13, 2025
A child’s brain is approximately 25% of its adult size during infancy. At the age of three, their brain will have grown to 80% of its adult size, and each neuron in the brain will have formed 15,000 synapses, totaling one quadrillion (Coverthree.com, Kids Brain Development). This rapid stage of brain growth supports and interconnects with a toddler’s rapid development and milestones in linguistics, number sense, approaches to learning, physical development, and social-emotional development.
In the early stages of toddlerhood, children use sounds, gestures, and simple, familiar words to communicate. They are just beginning to develop a sense of empathy and interest in others. During this time, they can crawl, sit from a standing position, and move around by holding onto furniture. They thrive on routine and predictability and are easily upset by change. Their attention span allows them to focus on one thing briefly (All About Young Children).
By the age of three, toddlers have undergone remarkable growth in all areas of development. Socially-emotionally, they begin developing a sense of self and exercise this by using the word no. They want to and can do many more things independently or with help. They can share with others but are still possessive. They begin modeling what they see adults do and are able to help with some easier clean-up tasks. Toddlers learn about emotions and how to express them and may develop fears at this stage. They are also better able to handle the emotions that come with separation from their parents. Although they may still cry when their loved one leaves, they can be quickly redirected to an enjoyable activity (All About Young Children).
Cognitively, in terms of number sense, toddlers learn that numbers represent something. By age three, they can hold up their fingers to represent their age and can count to five with some errors. They understand quantities such as more, bigger, and smaller. Also, their approaches to learning have developed. They have better problem-solving skills. A three-year-old toddler’s growing attention span allows them to focus on more than one thing at a time. In the area of linguistics, they have learned to speak in simple sentences with some grammatical errors (All About Young Children).
Physically, by age three, a toddler is now running, jumping, climbing, throwing, catching, kicking, navigating stairs without holding onto anything, and able to walk on their tiptoes (All About Young Children).
The studies of Arnold Gesell contributed significantly to the field of child and human development. During his research, he introduced the use of film to record his observations. This allowed him to share his observations and theories with others and refer back to the recordings. He also pioneered using one-way mirrors to observe children unobtrusively. “Gesell and his research team established norms for infant and child development, resulting in standards for evaluating both normal and abnormal development. Gesell identified 34 stages of development between birth and age 10, which led to the field of developmental testing to determine if a particular child was with, ahead, or behind growth norms (clarknow.clarku.edu)”. He was a pioneer of special education and pushed for pediatricians to monitor a child’s development as well as health. His theory was known as the “theory of maturation,” in which heredity and environment are intertwined in the outcome of a child’s development. He believed that although physical and mental growth follow predictable sequences, each child is different and develops at their own pace. In addition, he believed that development occurs beginning from the head and proceeding down to the feet (cephalocaudal) and that skills start from the center of the body and proceed out to the fingers (proximodistal).
Toddler Case Study
Jeremiah is two years old and lives with his mother and stepmother. Jeremiah’s mother is a kindergarten teacher, and his stepmother works for a local gardening store. Jeremiah also has a younger sister, who is five months old. Jeremiah and his sister are not in contact with their father. You have heard rumors that there may have been abuse when they visited their father last, but you don’t know for sure. While their mother and stepmother are working, Jeremiah and his sister are cared for by their maternal grandmother. Jeremiah is very caring toward his sister; each time she cries, he gives her a hug. Jeremiah loves to sit in his grandmother’s backyard and watch the birds. You often hear him excitedly saying, “Look birds, look birds!” Jeremiah likes to drink from a sippy cup and takes the lid off the cup when finished with his juice or milk. On Fridays, Jeremiah, his grandmother, and his sister go to the local park. While at the park, Jeremiah likes to run and kick a soccer ball.
Jeremiah appears to be exhibiting typical development for his age. The CDC describes one of the milestones in the area of cognition as holding an object in one hand while using the other hand. The example they list is “holding a container and taking the lid off (cdc.gov).” They also note that a two-year-old typically notices the feelings of others; however, they consider Jeremiah’s response of hugging his sister to be a milestone that occurs at four years old (cdc.gov). Although Jeremiah may have experienced abuse during his last visit with his father, protective factors, such as his relationship with his mother, stepmother, and grandmother, appear to have protected him from adverse effects. Jeremiah’s linguistic development is also typical for his age, given that he uses two-word phrases with familiar words. He is also showing typical physical development for his age. Jeremiah’s environment has most likely had a positive impact on his development. His mother’s knowledge of early childhood development and her career as a kindergarten teacher has prepared her to attend to Jeremiah’s needs in all areas of development.
Although Jeremiah is developing within the normal expectations for his age and is developing ahead of expectations in some areas of social-emotional development, his development should continue to be monitored with the possibility of trauma-induced adverse factors in mind. Caregivers should use positive reinforcement to encourage and continue Jeremiah’s social-emotional development. Active reading can further Jeremiah’s social, emotional, and linguistic development. Active reading can be used to build his vocabulary and teach sentence structure. Caregivers should talk to Jeremiah frequently and expand on his sentence structure by repeating or acknowledging what he says in complete sentences. Outdoor play is an excellent way to foster physical development. He could also be encouraged to refill his sippy cup from a small pitcher and put the lid back on. He can also help with simple tasks, such as helping at mealtimes and picking up and putting away toys through modeling or help from an adult.
Playing outdoors in his grandmother’s backyard and at the local park fosters Jeremiah’s physical development. While outdoors, Jeremiah can develop cognitively and linguistically by talking about and learning about the birds and other things in the world around him. This provides a perfect opportunity for caregivers to engage in conversation about the things that interest Jeremiah. While outdoors, he can also learn to play with other children, encouraging his social-emotional development.
References
All About Young Children. (n.d). Information on Children Ages 8 months to 18 months. https://allaboutyoungchildren.org/english/8-months-to-18-months/
All About Young Children. (n.d). Information on Children 18 months to 36 months (3 years). https://allaboutyoungchildren.org/english/18-months-to-36-months/
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). CDC’s Developmental Milestones. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/
Cover Three. (n.d). Kid’s Brain Development. https://coverthree.com/blogs/brain-health/kids-brain-development
ClarkNOW. (2024, October 17). Arnold Lucius Gesell: Child Development. https://clarknow.clarku.edu/2024/10/17/arnold-lucius-gesell-child-development/
Jensen, L.A., & Arnett, J. J. (2020). Child development worldwide: A cultural approach (3rd ed.). Pearson.
Virtual Lab School. (n.d). Infants and Toddlers. https://www.virtuallabschool.org/infant-toddler