Developmental Profile

Developmental Profile

A child's development happens in different stages. \the developmental profile assignment will discuss two stages, the early and middle childhood development. Development is broken into different section and to be discussed is the understanding of the early and middle childhood development. The physical, brain and nervous system make up part of the developmental profile. The other half is the social and emotional aspects in the process of developing a child's body. All are equally important and are needed to develop a child's everyday life.

Understanding Early and Middle Childhood Development

Early childhood development includes growth physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. When an infant enters into the world its skill and abilities are limited so they grow they begin to progress. The age for early childhood development is usually between two and six. Early childhood development is defined as "a set of concepts, principles, and facts that explain, describe and account for the processes involved in change from immature to mature status and functioning" (Beck, 2002). The early childhood developmental stage is unique to all children.

Middle childhood development is taking place between the ages of six and twelve when the child is attending school, mastering new physical and mental skills and becoming more of an individual.

Early Childhood Physical Changes in Males vs. Females

"Early childhood is still a time of tremendous physical changes. During this period, children's bodies change proportions and they start to look more like adults than babies. Arms and legs stretch to catch up and balance out the head and trunk (Bayley, 1993)."

From age 3 to 6 the typical American child grows 2-3 inches per year and adds 5 to 7 pounds. "The typical 3-year-old is about 35 inches tall and weighs about 30 pounds; the typical 6-year-old is about 45 inches tall and weighs about 45 pounds (Beck, 2002)." Throughout this period, boys are slightly taller and heavier than girls, although the average differences are small. Both boys and girls gain more in weight than in height during early childhood, but most add more muscle than fat. From toddlerhood to early childhood, most children lose their remaining "baby fat" and their bodily proportions become similar to those of adults.

Middle Childhood Physical Changes Males vs. Females

The physical growth of middle childhood development shows that a child height increases by 2 inches in both boys and girls every year. "Weight gain aver¬ages about 6.5 pounds a year. But these are only averages. A number of fac¬tors, including how close the child is to puberty, will determine when and how much your child grows. In general, there tends to be a period of a slightly increased growth rate between ages 6 and 8 years (Beck, 2002)."

Brain and Nervous System Development from Early to Middle Childhood Development Males vs. Females:

As the brain develops between the ages of 2 and 12 it is forming many synapses causing the child to build a variation of skills which include the attention span, memory, language, physical coordination, imagination and logical thinking. Early childhood is a time of marked gains on tasks that depend on the frontal cortex--ones that require inhibiting impulses and substituting thoughtful responses (Bayley, 1993).

There are several parts of the brain that works