Developmental Stages in Childhood and Young Adulthood

Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: Developmental Stages in Childhood and Young Adulthood. This skill includes walking, using a spoon, toilet training, scribbling, sitting, and sufficient hand-eye coordination (Tomonari et al, 2003). Between the ages of three and five, growth in children continues rapidly and is characterized by changes in interest in fine-motor skills. Most children show fairly complete control of pencils, crayons, and scissors by the time they are five years of age. However, as they approach the age of six years, they start to acquire gross motor skills which are the abilities to skip or balance on one foot. In the late years of childhood, seven and eight years of age, there is significantly a slow pace in growth since the body is getting used to motor skills.

Physical transformation in early childhood occurs hand in hand with rapid changes in the child’s language development and cognitive. During the age of three, they develop spoken words of between 300 and 1,000 words, which increase to approximately 1,500 words by the time the child is five (Tomonari et al, 2003). During this period they can construct 5 to7 word sentences or even tell stories with pictures as cues. They are also able to use language in communicating with each other or even in solving problems. By the age of eight years, kids can comfortably show some basic understanding of shallow concepts that include time and money. The emotional attachment between children and their parents is very important from the early days of childhood. This is because it forms the foundation of other relationships the child might have in the future. By the time they are eight, they are already making friends and relating to people.

According to Tomonari (2003), this stage is characterized by sexual and aggressive urges repression, improvement of cognitive skills, character, interpersonal relationships, and motivation. The major development task in this stage is integration where children learn social values. Physical growth is not as manifested as it is in early childhood or adolescence, not until the onset of puberty. Children at this age tend to build upon Skills gained in early childhood, this time in a more mature way. Children are more enthusiastic about learning and work where achievements become a motivating factor towards building capabilities and self-esteem. Although, at this stage, the children’s growth is peer-oriented they strongly value their family. They gain social skills from peers and family which helps in building interpersonal communication skills.