There is an expected pattern in every child or young person’s development, nonetheless we can see different stages of development in different areas, (physical, speech, language and communication, cognitive or personal, social and emotional) in same aged children, this is what we call a milestone.
The physical development involves the control of the body. We can divide it in fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
• Fine motor skills refers to the control and coordination of hands and fingers to do things like painting or do up a zip.
• Gross motor skills refers to those that control bigger parts of the body as legs or arms to execute activities like jumping, running or riding a bike.
The speech, language and communication development are those skills that allow someone to understand others as well as to be able to respond them.
We can distinguish between two stages, the pre-linguistic stage that take place during the first year of a child and the linguistic stage that take place from 12 months onwards
The cognitive development, also known as intellectual development, refers to how children learn and think. Experiences that a child have can affect this area of development.
The personal, social and emotional development refers to how a child or young person is able to control emotions and feelings. It also involves relationships with others.