CHILD DEVELOPMENT – Basic

concepts & principles

Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand the basic concepts of growth and
development
2. Discuss the basic principles of child
development
3. Compare & contrast between growth &
development from the physical, cognitive,
emotional and social aspects (tutorial)
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 Introduction
Every child is unique and special
- no two persons who are completely the same
- identical twins have the same physical
features but they are still very different in
terms of rate of development,
characteristic, personality and behaviour.

Every child goes through stages of growth and

development.
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 CHILD

Growth Development

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 Growth vs. Development

Any difference between growth &

development?

What are the differences?

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 Growth
- A process that involves
changes that
can be observed and measured from
one stage to another.

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Basic concepts of

GROWTH

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1. Growth involves changes that can be
observed and measured

- Changes that are quantitative

- Changes in height & weight, increase in the
number of teeth, the size of the brain &
internal organs, etc.
- Changes that take place in stages

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2. Growth ceases when individual reaches
maturity / adulthood
- Determined by the nature and nurture
factors

3. The rate of growth various from one

individual to another
- Eg. The height and weight of Year 1 pupils
varies although they are all 7 years old.

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 3

Development

- A process that involves changes that

can be observed but cannot be
measured

- Children experience an increase in

their capabilities to carry out various
tasks
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 Basic concepts of

Development

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1. Changes that can be observed but
cannot be measured
- Changes that are qualitative
- Eg. Language acquisition skill, critical
& creative thinking skills, socializing
skills, etc.

2. Development is a continuous
process
- From birth until death
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3. The rate of development differs from
one individual to another
- Influenced by genetics, environment,
maturity and the individual’s state of health

4. Changes are stable, orderly &

progressive
(Eg: child recognises object, names object,
learns letters and words, relates
object with words)

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The Principles of Child
Development
Principle = a fundamental
basic truth
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 The Basic Principles of Child
Development
 Atan Long (1988) mentioned 8 principles
of child development.

Group Activity:
1. Form 4 groups.
2. Each group shall present two principles
of child development.
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Principle 1
Development follows a specific
direction:

a) Downward direction (from the

head to the legs)
This is known as cephalocaudle
principle
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A child gains control of the head,
followed by the body and later the legs.
We can see that an baby is able to lift its
head within first two months of
birth. Later, it is able to roll its body and
by the age of 6 to 12 months, it is ready
to control its legs. At this time the child
can crawl, stand or walk.

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b) Outward direction (from the center of the
body to the fingers and toes)
 This is the principle of proximodistal
development.
 The spinal cord actually developed first
before the outer part of the body.
 So the baby uses its arms first before using
its hands and fingers and so do the legs first
before the feet and toes.

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 Principle 2
Development follows an
orderly manner
 We can see that infants need
to know how to sit then only
they can start crawling and
standing.
Similarly, before they start reading they
need to know the alphabet then the
phonetics of the alphabet.
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Principle 3
Development proceeds from general/simple to
specific/complex
 Children start of with simple matter rather than
complex in the process of cognitive development.
 In the beginning children learn simple things such
as 1, 2, 3 or a,b,c when they started off at
preschool.
 As time passes by, their cognitive skill increased
and started to gain more understanding so they
are taught how to add and minus and even solve
problems.
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 The development of motor skills also begins
with general to specific. Infants begin with
grasping item. Development occurs from
large muscle movements (gross motor skill)
to more refined (smaller) muscle movements
(fine motor skill). As they gain older, they are
able to hold an item using only a few fingers.

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Principle 4
Development is a continuous process
 As a child develops, he or she adds to the
skills already acquired and the new skills
become the basis for further achievement
and mastery of skills.
 Most children follow a similar pattern. This
can be proven from the sequence of physical
development of child where a child begins to
sit then crawl and stand. This sequence will
not stop and will continue to grow.
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Principle 5
Development takes place at different
rates
 Eg. A 4 years old pre-schooler may
know how to count until 50 while
another pre-schooler of the same age
may only be able to count until 10.

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Principle 6
The development of various body parts
are interrelated
 Eg. Writing activity
- The development of the eye (sight – to see)
- The development of the hand (fine motor
skill – to hold the pencil and write)
- The development of the brain (cognitive – to
think)
Can you give another example?
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 Principle 7
Development occurs in stages
Stage Development
1. Infancy stage Development in language, physical
(0-2 years) & emotional skills

2. Early childhood Rapid language development, social

stage (3-8 years) skills, increase in imagination while
playing & increase in psychomotor
abilities
3. Childhood stage Foster relationships with peers &
(9-11 years) understand rules
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 Stage Development

4. Early adolescence Abstract thinking &

stage (12 – 15 years) increase awareness of
physical changes

5. Adolescence stage The desire to be

(15 – 20 years) independent

Stages in Child Development

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Principle 8
Development depends on maturation and
learning
 Maturation refers to the sequence of
growth that is determined by our genes.

 The biological changes occur in sequential

order in the brain and nervous system and
give children new abilities. These changes in
the brain and nervous system help children
to improve in thinking (cognitive) and motor
(physical) skills.
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Learning also affects development
Learning = result of practise, effort,
identification, experience

Example, a child is physically matured.

However, he will not be able to swim if
he first does not learn how to do so.

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 Recall

1. What is growth?

2. What is development?

3. What are the principles of development?

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 Conclusion
1. Every child is unique and goes through
stages of growth and development in the
physical, cognitive, emotional and social
aspects.
2. Although children’s sequence of growth
may be the same, the rate of their
development differ with one another. This
leads to individual differences.
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