Child Development

People from many different services will monitor the development of children and young people, including doctors, health visitors, speech therapists, key workers, and teachers. Assessment frameworks are in place to measure their development, and observations and tests are carried out to ensure they are meeting expected targets. The EYFS framework is used in settings for 0-5 year olds, which is a structure of learning, development and care. Children learn through play and providers work closely with parents and keep them up to date on their child’s progress. Between the ages of five and sixteen, the National Curriculum is used to measure children’s progress compared to children of the same age across the country. This is split up into blocks of years known as key stages, and range from 1 to 4. Information from parents can be used to provide a wider picture of a child's overall development as they will see how the child performs in a varied range of settings, such as at home, or when visiting parks, zoos or shops.

Many factors affect the rate at which a child develops language. Sometimes language development slows down while they are concentrating on their gross motor development. If a child has problems with their hearing or sight, this would delay their communication skills, physical skills, and also their knowledge and understanding of the world.

Family background is a factor in why development may not follow the expected pattern. For example, if the child is hearing two languages at home, they will be trying to learn two sets of vocabulary, process two sets of speech sounds, and understand two sets of grammatical rules. If a child has siblings their social skills may be more advanced than those who are an only child as they will be used to interacting with other children from an early age. However, the development of some children who do not have siblings may be more advanced, as their parents can devote more time and attention towards them.

Children...