Developmental Milestones Summary

EDUC 84 S01
Cheryl Herder
December 4th, 2015
Julia Hughes
Birth to 6 Months
From the time children are conceived, and even after birth, children are
always developing. They will continue to develop in the five most important
domains; physical, emotional, communication, social and cognitive. Kail and
Zolner (2015) wrote, Terry and Mabel were dismayed when they realized
that, after wearing the outfits just a couple of times, Sophie had already
outgrown them. With her knack for math, Mabel figured out that Sophie had
doubled her birth weight by 3 months age. If she continued growing at that
rate, shed weigh nearly as much as a jet airliner! Thankfully, Sophies
pediatrician told Mabel and Terry that Sophies growth was normal and that
infants typically triple their weight by their first birthday (pg.109). When
children are first born they grow very fast but eventually their growth will
slow down, which is part of their physical growth.

Social At about 2 months, infants start to make social

smiles when they see another human face. (Kail, and
Zolner, 2015, pg.180) Smiling could be the infants
way to express pleasure when they see another
person.
Infants (birth to 24 months), 1.1 Social Interest,
seeking adults for play, stretching arms to be picked
up. (ELECT, 2014, pg.18)
Emotional Fear emerges about 6 months. Stranger wariness (Kail
and Zolner, 2015, pg.181)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 2.3 Sense of Self,
sucking finger, observing own hands. (ELECT, 2014,
pg.19)
3 months Jesse smiles at familiar people and toys
(Virtual Child, 2015)
Communica Cooing and babbling. A typical 5-6 month old might
tion say dah or bah, utterances that sound like a
single syllable consisting of a consonant and a vowel.
(Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.168)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 3.2 Receptive Language
Skills, by six months, distinguishing sounds of the
home language. (ELECT, 2014, pg.20)
Cognitive Infants learn to adapt because reflexes are modified
by experiences. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.153)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 4.4 Spatial Exploration,
tracking moving objects with eyes. (ELECT, 2014,
pg.22)
3 Months Jessie is able to focus his eyes on you. He
spends a lot of times studying your face and the faces
 of anyone who comes close to him. (Virtual Child,
2015)
Physical At about 4 months, infants can successfully reach for
objects (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.130)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 5.1 Gross Motor, Lifting
upper body, lifting upper body while lying on the floor.
(ELECT, 2014, pg.24)

As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of children from

birth to 6 months, I would play peek-a-boo with them. By playing such games
it will foster their social skills (Excerpts; pg.18, Social 1.3 Simple Turn Taking)
by interacting with child. It would also foster their cognitive (Excepts; pg.23,
Cognitive 4.6 Object Permanence) by hiding yourself from the child during
peek-a-boo, the child will want to search for you, then you will come back
and say peek-a-boo
6 months 18 months
By the time a child turns 6 months they are starting to pick up on things and
can actually do a lot. In the textbook, Kail and Zolner wrote about a girl
named Sophie. They wrote, As Sophie grew, Mabel and Terry noticed that
she spent a lot of time watching other people. While other babies would run
right into the group, Sophie liked to take her time, hovering around the
edges and looking at what all the children were doing before cautiously
approaching and picking up one of the toys. (2015, pg.178) While Sophie is
doing this she is developing her social and emotional skills.

Social Begin peer interaction and observing peers (Kail and

Zolner, 2015, pg.195)
Infant (birth to 24 months), 1.2 Imitation, imitating
adult behaviour (ELECT, 2014, pg.18)
Emotional 6-7 month olds begin to distinguish facial
expressions associated with different emotions. (Kail
and Zolner, 2015, pg. 182)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 2.3 Sense of Self,
beginning to distinguish known people from
strangers. (ELECT, 2014, pg.19)
8 Months Jesse has typical emotional reactions for
his age, such as fear of total strangers, separation
anxiety, and a quick, loud cry when upset or in
pain. (Virtual Child, 2015)
Communicat Begin talking, extensions of advanced babbling. At
ion about 1 years, children begin to combine
individual words to create two word sentences.
Researchers call this kind of talk telegraphic
speech (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.250)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 3.3 Expressive
language skills, vocabulary, beginning to repeat
overheard words (ELECT, 2014, PG.21)
At nine months old, Jesse began to understand a few
words and point to something he wanted. At twelve
 months old, Jesse now clearly understands a couple
of dozen words. In fact, Jesse just recently
pronounced his first clear word and pointed at the
object in questionit was a dog. (Virtual Child, 2015)
Cognitive 7-8 month olds can listen to sentences and
recognize the sound patterns that they can hear
repeatedly (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.167)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 4.3 Cause and effect
exploration, repeating actions that produce
outcomes. (ELECT, 2014, pg.22)
Jesse enjoys throwing every toy out of his crib and
watching what happens. Jesse seems to expect you
to keep putting them back! (Virtual Child, 2015)
Physical Stand with help, walk when led (Kail and Zolner,
2015, pg.127)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 5.1 Gross Motor,
strength, increasing strength in gross motor skills.
(ELECT, 2014, pg.25)
Jesse learned to walk early, and even knows how to
climb. (Virtual Child, 2015)

As an early childhood educator supporting children aged 6-18 months I would

have a child sit with a bunch of toys around them. Then when they pick up
one have them say the colour such as blue or red. Or ask them if it is a little
or big toy. This will foster their physical development (Excerpts; pg.26,
Physical 5.2 Fine Motor, Palmar Grasp) because they will be picking up and
holding different sized toys. It will also foster their communication
development (Excerpts; pg.21, Communication 3.3 Expressive Language
Skills One Word) because the children will be telling you the colour or the
size.
18 months 2 yr. 6 months
At around the age of 18 months and on children start talking a lot more. Which is
normal for their development. In the Virtual Child (2015) it noted, Jesse [was] a
regular chatterbox now. He ha[d] over 50 words at his command, and some really
cute two-word sentences such as "Mama up" and "Doggie outside. They start by
using one or two word sentences and as they go on they will get to know more
words for their vocabulary.

Social Toddlers no longer just watch one another at play. In

simple and social play, youngsters engage in similar
activities, talk to or smile at each other and offer
each other toys. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.196)
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 1.1 Social Interests,
observing and imitating peers. (ELECT, 2014, pg.29)
Jesse was somewhat hesitant in the group of
children and spent a few minutes watching them
before joining in. After a while he latched on to a
couple of the other children and had a good time. By
the end of the session they were smiling and
imitating each other. (Virtual Child, 2015)
Emotional Internalized some of the controls imposed by others
and they are capable of some self-control in parents
absence. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.299)
Infants (birth to 24 months), 2.1 Expression of
Emotion, expressing anger, anxiety, fear, sadness,
 joy, excitement (ELECT, 2014, pg.19)
Jesse tends to be slow to warm up to new people,
but is outgoing and friendly with familiar people
(Virtual Child, 2015)
You notice that Jesse has some new emotions over the
past few months. Some things you have noticed are shy
smiles when asked to be in photographs, looking guilty
when he breaks something, and embarrassment when he
has a potty accident (Virtual Child, 2015)
Communicat At about 18 months, children experience naming
ion explosion. Which is a period of language learning
when children rapidly acquire new words. (Kail and
Zolner, 2015, pg.170)
Toddler (14 months to 3 years), 3.2 Expressive
Language, sentences, using simple sentences.
(ELECT, 2014, pg.32)
Jesse's scores on measures of language
comprehension and production were in the average
range, and he was beginning to show more
consistent use in conversational speech of
grammatical markers such as past tense, plural,
etc. (Virtual Child, 2015)
Cognitive By 18 months child have full understanding of object
permanence. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.155)
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 4.9 Sorting, sorting
and labeling objects by characteristics, such as hard
and soft, or big and small. (ELECT, 2014, pg.34)

Jesse also seems to be aware of basic categories,

such as big or little, and blue or red. You can tell
because of the way he is sorting his toys. (Virtual
Child, 2015)

Physical Hurried walk, hopping, swinging, jumping (Kail and

Zolner, 2015, pg.215)
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 5.1 Gross Motor,
Walking and Running, balancing and coordination
increase (ELECT, 2014, pg.35)
Jesse is able to walk, run and climb now (Virtual
Child, 2015)
As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of children aged
18 months to 2 years 6 months, I would play with them (building structures
with blocks) and then respond with emotions such as, Wow! You worked
really hard on your tower! Good job! This would foster their emotional
development (Excerpts; pg.30, Emotional 2.1 Expression of Feelings)
because they are expressing feelings in language and pretend play when
building different play things. It would also foster their cognitive
development (Excepts; pg.34, Cognitive 4.7 Symbolic Thought,
Representation and Root Skills of Literacy, Pretend play) because they could
be pretending to be something when building something.

2 yr. 6 months 3 yr. 6 months

Jesse is sometimes interested in dancing or singing along with music and

sometimes doesn't seem to notice or care. You teach him some simple
preschool songs and try to encourage him to respond to music. (Virtual
Child, 2015) At about this age, before preschool, some parents will teach
their kids some catchy songs that they will enjoy and want to sing along
with. By singing the children will work on developing their social and
communication skills.

Social Distinguish moral rules from social conventions (Kail

and Zolner, 2015, pg. 305)
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 1.2 Perspective
 Taking, in simple situations beginning to take the
point of view of other. (ELECT, 2014, pg.29)
Emotional Self-control
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 2.3 Empathy,
showing awareness of own feelings and the feelings
of other. (ELECT, 2014, pg.30)
Communicat Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 3.2 Expressive
ion Language, Sentences, engaging in pretend play that
included language. (ELECT, 2014, pg.32)
Jesse communicates fairly well now, relying mostly
on complete sentences, and seems to understand
most of what you say. He enjoys watching children's
educational television and listening to books. He
occasionally makes charming errors such as "I
runned as fast I can." (Virtual Child, 2015)
Cognitive Counting
Toddlers (14 months to 3 years), 4.5 Spatial Problem
Solving, using tools to overcome barriers. (ELECT,
2014, pg.33)
Jesse can remember recent experiences and
provide simple descriptions of what happens, such
as a trip to the petting zoo or the amusement park.
(Virtual Child, 2015)

Jesse has begun occasionally lying to you about

accidents or rule violations. The lies are pretty lame.
You recognize this as a sign of an advance in his
theory of mind. (Virtual Child, 2015)

Physical Put on simple clothing, use zippers, but not buttons

(Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.217)
Toddler (14 months to 3 years), 5.3 the senses,
looking and searching visually. (ELECT, 2014, pg.27)
Jesse is one of the most active children in his
preschool class, and loves to ride his bike around
and around the block. He is also getting pretty good
at playing catch, shooting mini-basketballs and
kicking the mini-soccer ball. (Virtual Child, 2015)
As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of children aged
2 year 6 months to 3 years 6 months I would play a game where I would say
a body part and the child would point to that body part. Making some type of
game out of it. While doing this the child is learning their body parts more
and getting more familiar with their body. This would support their emotional
development (Excerpts; pg.31, Emotional 2.4 Sense of self) because they
would be point to parts on their own bodies. It would also support their
cognitive development (Excerpts; pg.33, Cognition 4.4 Spatial Exploration)
because they are exploring their bodies (to an extent) to learn different body
parts.

3 yr. 5 yrs.
At about this age children, Jesse seem[ed] advanced for his age in thinking
ability. He [could] solve the number conservation task for small numbers. He ask[ed]
a lot of questions about animals, nature, how things work, etc. He [was] beginning
to understand games of strategy and [was] getting really good at counting and at
games involving numbers. (Virtual Child, 2015) At around this age, some children
will be in preschool and getting ready for kindergarten. They will be learning to
count and learning new things about animals and the alphabet.

Social Co-operative play is the norm. Which typically

involves peers of the same gender. (Kail and Zolner,
2015, pg.295)
Preschool Kindergarten (2.5 to 6 years), 1.8 taking
another persons point of view, describing their
ideas and emotions. (ELECT, 2014, pg.39)
Jesse fits into preschool activities well, having fun
with teacher-led activities and participating eagerly
in physical or dramatic play with the children.
(Virtual Child, 2015)
Emotional They experience delay of gratification which is the
ability to hold off immediate satisfaction in order to
obtain a lager reward or more preferable outcome
later (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg. 304)
Preschool Kindergarten (2.5 to 6 years) 2.5
regulating attention, emotions and behaviour,
gaining control of their behaviour. (ELECT, 2014,
pg.41)
Jesse is very jealous and has been acting up and
whining for attention (Virtual Child, 2015)

Communicati Start to learn to use negotiation and embedded

on sentences. (Kail and Zolner, 2015, pg.254)
Preschool Kindergarten (2.5 to 6 years), 3.3
vocabulary, asking questions to extend their
understanding of words. (ELECT, 2014, pg.42)
He performed in the average range on tests of
vocabulary e.g., naming a picture and providing an
antonym or synonym for a word), and the ability to
retell a story. The teacher thought you should
engage in more reading aloud, and encourage Jesse
to tell stories, perhaps so that you could write them
down and read them back to him. (Virtual Child,
2015)
Cognitive At about age 4 children start to understand their
own and others behaviours. They understand that
their own and others behaviour is based on their
beliefs about events and situations, even when
 those beliefs are wrong. (Kail and Zolner, 2015,
pg.240)
Preschool Kindergarten (2.5 to 6 years), 4.2
Problem solving, beginning to plan ahead. (ELECT,
2014, pg.46)
Jesse seems advanced for his age in thinking
ability. He can solve the number conservation task
for small numbers. He asks a lot of questions about
animals, nature, how things work, etc. He is
beginning to understand games of strategy and is
getting really good at counting and at games
involving numbers. (Virtual Child, 2015)
Physical Children can fasten buttons and take off their
clothes when going to the bathroom; most 5 year
olds can dress and undress themselves. (Kail and
Zolner, pg.217)
Preschool Kindergarten (2.5 to 6 years), 5.1
Increasing levels of activity, endurance and
variation in types of activity and skills, using open-
ended materials to move about, build and
construct. (ELECT, 2014, pg.52)
You noticed [Jesse] was climbing the monkey bars
with a group of boys. When you picked Jesse up, he
had that somewhat pleasant smell of sweat, dirt
and crayons that you associate with school.
(Virtual Child, 2015)

As an early childhood educator, supporting the development of children aged

3 years 6 months to 5 years, I would have the children play a game, such as
tag (make sure they dont get to physical, like pushing each other). By
playing the game it would foster their physical development (Excerpts;
pg.53, Physical 5.2 Gross Motor Skills, Movement and Expression) because
they would be practicing running and working on their balance and
coordination. Also working on increasing control over their own movement. It
would also foster their social development (Excerpts; pg.37, Social 1.1
Making friends) because they would be play with other peers and they would
have to seek others to play with because you cant play tag by yourself.
 References

Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning (2014) Excerpts from ELECT.
Queens Printer for
Ontario

Kail, R., & Zolner, T. (2015). In Children a chronological approach (2nd, 3rd,
4th ed.). Toronto,
Canada: Pearson.

My Virtual Child, My Development Lab (2012) (2014) Pearson