Child development basics

Below is some basic information on child development to augment the material in chapter 6.
This is also very helpful to know in real life since most of us will be parents someday! While
you read and study this, be sure to keep in mind that while there are particular
developmental stages that are typical of kids at certain ages, and its vitally important for
parents and other caregivers to understand these stages, all kids are different. Various
cultural influences (socially accepted gender roles, attitudes towards violence in roleplaying, and acceptable ways of showing affection, for instance) will play a big role here in
how children behave as well.
Babiesbirth to one year
o Mead theorized that newborns dont realize that they are physically separate
individuals. It can be really cute to watch them figuring this outever seen a
baby discovering its toes?
o Babies NEED to be held almost constantly and to be close to their caregivers
while they sleep (the American custom of putting babies in a separate room
by themselves to sleep is NOT typical of other societiesits a result of our
hyper-individualistic culture, and many early-child-development specialists
think its a really bad idea)
This is NOT just to make them happyit is crucial for them to thrive
and developthey have to have lots of loving physical contact to
develop healthily and normally
o Babies also need to be talked to constantly!
They can understand a LOT more than we realize even when theyre
not talking yet
Babies need to be surrounded by language in order to develop their
own language capabilities
This happens well before they can mimic it.
o Babies need to gain an understanding that their needs will be met, that they
are cared for and cared about, that they will be taken seriously as a people
and can trust the adults around them
There is no such thing as a bad baby!
We need to understand that they just arent able to grasp the concept
of behaving like we want them to yet
They are NOT trying to manipulate us when they cry--crying means
they NEED something, and they need to have those needs met
o Caregivers need to be careful not to overstimulate babiesthey do need to
have interesting things to watch and hear (and later play with, once theyre

sitting up), but if they are in an environment with lots of loud noises, bright or
flashing lights, etc. they will get very upset and start crying
Toddlers1-3 years
o Toddlers are insanely self-centered. They generally only care about
themselves, and theres nothing you can do about thatcaregivers just need
to learn how to handle it well! They are very busy figuring out who they are as
individuals and asserting their sense of self, which is why they say MINE! and
NO! all the time.
Caregivers need to be patient and wait for toddlers to outgrow this
stage with gentle guidance
This doesnt mean letting kids get away with bad behavior! They need
to be gently taught appropriate behavior that will keep them safe and
socially acceptabledont give in when they have tantrums, but dont
hit them or punish them harshly for it either
Toddlers are NOT being bad when they have tantrums! They are very
emotional at this stage, and get overwhelmed very easily, especially if
they see something they want or when they want to do or not do
something. They dont have the language skills they need yet to
articulate their desires well and simply cant understand the concept of
wait, and well do that later or no you cant have candy now, we have
some at home.
Toddlers are generally incapable of sharingthey just cant get the
concept, so dont even try to force it on them if theyre not ready yet.
So, caregivers job is to try to keep toddlers OUT of situations that are
more than they can handle as much as possible and pay attention to
when theyre tired and overwhelmed (ie, try not to take them to the
mall or the grocery store when theyre tired, and dont keep them there
longer than they can handle! Cheerios help too! )
o Toddlers are learning to understand what it means to have some control over
their daily livesto explore the world with more independence. They need to
be allowed to do this under safe and carefully supervised conditions.
o They are also starting to understand basic laws of physics! They understand
things through sensory contactdoing things physically. This is what Piaget
called the sensorimotor stagethings fall when I drop them, some things are
squishy, objects that I cant see are still therethis is why they make messes
all the time and love fingerpaint and play-doh etc.

o Mead called this the preparatory stage (the book calls this the pre-play
stage)little kids learn by imitation and they will copy anything they see
people doing!
Pre-schoolers3-5 years
o At this age, kids are getting more self-confident physically and emotionally
they are learning what they are capable of and are starting to understand
social conventions and what behavior is expected of them
Preschoolers are very RULE-orientedthey think along the lines of
this isnt ok because there are rules against it and we must follow the
rules, so teachers and parents will use language along the lines of
thats not ok or yes, you can do that
Caregivers can try to provide some explanations about how and why
certain behaviors are ok or not, but preschoolers generally dont quite
grasp these explanations yet
Preschoolers often tend to think in terms of Good guys vs bad guys
when they play (esp in American culture)they think in either/or terms
a lot
As with toddlers, kids need to be encouraged to explore safely and not
made to feel bad for literally acting their age, so its the caregivers
responsibility to set up environments where they can do this
Kids then learn how to act on their ideas in safe and appropriate ways
and that they can learn and discover things for themselves
o Piagets preoperational stage is characteristic of preschoolerstheyre not
quite at the point of being logical or being able to understand shape changes
and what volumes shapes can hold (ie liquids in beakers like in the video)
o Mead wrote that preschoolers are at the play stage and are starting to use
symbols and do a lot of pretendingthey like to act out being a firefighter or a
princess etc (and this is one place where gender role socialization really gets
going!), but like to make things up as they go and arent really capable of
dealing with games that have formal and complicated rules
Grade school kids: about ages 6-12
o At this stage kids are getting to the point where they can plan, think ahead,
work with abstract concepts, follow more detailed rules, and understand why
the rules exist instead of just following them because theyre told to
o Piaget talked about the concrete operational stage for kids this agethey
focus on tangible objects and actual events, and can put themselves in
others shoes and understand their thoughts and feelings in more depth

(younger kids can be empathetic too, but usually they dont have the same
depth of understanding). Grade school age kids develop the ability to
understand what is likely to happen if they do X without actually doing it
(which can of course prevent them from doing something dangerous like
jumping off the roof or playing in trafficthey know theyre not *really*
Superman, so they wont try to imitate him as literally!)
o Meads game stage is important hereGrade school age kids can play
games that are more structured by rules that are competitive and have
winners/losers where they have to pay attention to the roles of other players
Teenagers
o The book doesnt talk about this age as much re: developmental stages, but
there are a few basics to know:
o Erik Erikson theorized that adolescents went through a stage he called
identity vs role confusion
Teens are trying to figure out who they are individuals, apart from their
families, teachers, other authority figures, etc. As youre no doubt
aware, their primary agent of socialization becomes their peers rather
than the grownups who still have some control over them!
Instead of just focusing on how they are like their families etc, teens
also want to figure out how they are different from the people who
have been their various agents of socialization and to begin
expressing themselves as autonomous individuals. This can, of
course, lead to stresses in the family or at school if a teen decides she
doesnt believe in the same things as her parents, teachers, etc!
o Piaget talked about older kids in terms of the formal operational stage
Teens are much more capable of understanding abstract thought than
younger kids, and so can start studying more complex social issues
that go beyond just memorizing vocabulary and the likethey can
begin to debate political issues, understand different philosophical and
ethical problems, etc.
Teens are increasingly able to understand things, ideas, etc. that they
havent actually seen or experienced
Teens are better than younger kids at thinking about the future,
planning effectively, working out possible courses of action, etc
o Mead theorized that older kids begin to fully develop a generalized other
internalizing the values and beliefs etc of their own communities and thinking
in terms of what other people in general (rather than just specific individuals)
would think about their behavior.