Name: Muhammad Taqi

Roll No. 3
Course: Child Development
Submitted to: Miss Shafia
Growth and Development
It is important to possess a vast understanding of growth and development. This knowledge is
crucial in helping you formulate ideal learning styles to disseminate various learning concepts.
Remember, each child is unique based on their IQ and cognitive development. By understanding
such differences, you can break down your workload based on how you intend to ensure that
content is understood with ease.
Understanding the differences between growth and development is also important when
identifying appropriate disciplinary measures when your child is misbehaving. You can make a
behavioral assessment plan and implement it based on your child’s mental and cognitive skills.
Growth refers to an increase in size evident through physical change. Growth is also used to refer
to consistent growing and an increase in value. When your child increases in height and weight,
then they are experiencing a growth process.
On the other hand, development refers to a process of gradual transformation. It is an
improvement in the level of functioning based on the acquisition of skills. Development isn’t
easily identified from a glance but only through a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s
performance on various skills and memory retention.
Difference Between Growth and Development
1) Growth mainly focuses on quantitative improvement while development is associated with
both qualitative and quantitative improvement. For instance, growth is associated with
measurable changes in weight and height. When your child’s weight increases from 35 kilograms
to 40 kilograms, then the 5 kilogram increment is attributed to growth.]
On the other hand, development is identified when substantial changes in IQ are recorded in your
child’s brain power. For instance, your child’s IQ level is relatively low during childhood but can
improve significantly into adulthood. Your child’s IQ level can improve from 50 to 90 after
honing their creative and critical thinking skills.
2) Growth ends at maturation while development continues until an individual’s demise. As a
teacher or parent, it is important to note that growth ends at maturation. Your child will
experience various changes associated with growth between childhood and maturation at
adolescence.
This means that your teaching approach will be different at age 6 and age 15. At 6 years, your
child needs simplified information that they can understand because their brain can only process
basic information. At 15 years, your child’s brain has improved significantly, and they are in a
unique position to grasp and retain complex information based on their improved information
processing skills.
Development is a consistent process and continues throughout life. Your child has the unique
potential to absorb as much knowledge and skills to handle various life challenges into
adulthood. Even at 50 years, they can exhibit advanced skills such as oratory and problem-
solving skills based on their vast experience.
3) Growth is dependent on cellular changes while development is dependent on organizational
transformation. Growth begins at conception and progresses into adulthood. From conception,
your child’s body experiences massive changes based on changes in cellular growth. An increase
in cellular size and number indicates that your child is undergoing growth.
Development is often witnessed at a home or school environment when your child experiences
skillset changes. This simply means that any skills learnt such as reading or arithmetic are
indicative of your child’s development changes. The older they get, the more likely they are to
understand complex skills associated with computation and reasoning.
4) Growth is associated with the progressive physical change from one stage to another. On the
other hand, development is the gradual transformation of behavioral and skill set changes.
Differences in body size that are evident in clothing size changes reveal the growth changes
experienced by your child. Also, you might have noticed that your child consumes more food
than before. This can only mean that they are growing.
Development is usually characterized by behavioral and skillset changes. Your child might
outgrow certain childish behavior as they approach adolescence or acquire advanced writing,
oratory and computation skills. These changes aren’t out of the ordinary but only attest to the
development changes experienced by your child.
5) Growth is external while development is internal in nature. Regardless of your location or
occupation, you can observe your child’s growth based on visible external features. These
features include increased body parts sizes such as hands, legs, ears, and much more. These
changes usually manifest over time based on improved nutrition and general wellbeing. It is
important to note that family instability can also affect your child’s proper growth. Too much
stress from domestic strife subjects your child to stunted growth.
Unlike growth, development is an internal process and isn’t visible by the naked eye. Instead, it
requires a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s reasoning, creativity and innovation to
ascertain their development status. This can be achieved by setting various tests designed to
evaluate your child’s IQ in relation with creativity and reasoning. Based on their performance,
you should be in a unique position to accurately determine their development level and the
changes that ought to be made to rectify the situation.
Issues in the Field of Child Development
Child Development
Child development, the growth of perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and behavioral capabilities
and functioning during childhood. The term childhood denotes that period in the human lifespan
from the acquisition of language at one or two years to the onset of adolescence at 12 or 13
years.
Issues
1)Emotional or Behavioural Delays
A child with autism may display this behavioural delay.
They are unable to pick up on some of the emotions around them as a child their age would. This
means if they are having a two-way conversation with a child their age, the reaction is not going
to be as expected. In fact, they may respond totally different to what one would assume is going
to happen.
This is all about understanding the delay and seeing how they talk to those around them.
In fact, some children will even start to throw tantrums because they don’t recognise what is
happening to them. As they get older, the tantrums will get worse and worse, which is why it is
essential to get a read on their emotional delay as soon as possible.
2) Expressive Language Disorder
This is the second type of speech development issue that comes up from time to time.
For example, a person may notice their child is unable to come up with larger words based on
their age. They may be able to say a few things such as “Ma!” but that is about it. Even as they
get older, this is where their development will get stuck.
This is a common sign in many children as they grow up.
It’s important to work with the child and a specialist to make sure they can piece together larger
words.
3) Speech Production
The final developmental delay when it comes to speech involves speech production.
This entails a child not having the ability to generate the words due to their physiological
structure. For example, the child may have a weak jaw or are unable to move the tongue as
required to make words. This can require appropriate assessment from a professional to make
sure they’re able to speak as needed.
In general, this can be easy to point out if the child can pick out words but isn’t able to say them
as they get older.
4) Cognitive Delay
In general, this can manifest in multiple ways.
In some children, this is about understanding learned concepts, while others simply lack the
intellectual awareness to piece information together. Children with these delays are known to
find it hard to keep up in school as their peers learn.
There are a few reasons for this delay including shaken baby syndrome, an early bout of
meningitis, and Down Syndrome.
As always, it’s best to set up a plan, so the child can develop at his/her own pace without getting
bogged down as they get older. It’s important to do this immediately.
5) Gross Motor Delays
This is one of those common issues in child development that are noted by many parents around
the world.
This is when a child is unable to coordinate his/her large muscles or even their small muscles.
This can be something like their arms or their legs. In general, parents will notice this when their
child is unable to hold something or may not be able to walk as quickly as others.
Even picking up a toy becomes a challenge for these children as their brain doesn’t make the
connection. It’s best to work on them so that they can work on the link.