Summary
Before maturing into adults, human beings undergo several stages. As people progress in their development and accomplish each period of life, they can advance and produce ideas and concepts that help them to move into the next period successfully. How humans transition from one stage to the other is phenomenal, and some deem the transition as a natural process or occurrence. However, studies have shown that some individuals become stuck and find it challenging to transition successfully (Nobus, 2020). Furthermore, it is noticed that some people pass through the various stages unnoticed without gaining the required developments. Every living human experiences different life stages, including not only infants but also adolescents and adults. The most common periods of life that are recognized and will be discussed in this piece of work include infancy, early childhood, and late childhood. Every stage is defined differently and has unique traits that can be located in various individuals. By developing a set of questions about every period of life, one can assist the audience with understanding the infancy period of life in-depth.
The Infancy Period
Infancy is defined as the time lapse between one’s birth and a year (12 months). Therefore, the first year after birth is what is described as the infancy stage of life. At this stage, an individual is identified as an infant. Furthermore, in the infancy period of life, rapid developments occur in the child. For example, a child’s length doubles, and weight triples during the infancy period.
There are developments visible during infancy, including an infant’s teeth appearing at six months; the infant begins to smile, grab objects such as toys, and start showing interest in things or paying attention. Moreover, during this period, the infant starts to practice talking and trying to utter sounds such as “papa” and “mama.” The trait of attempting to produce words usually occurs at the end of the first year for most infants. Furthermore, during infancy, a child begins to learn to sit upright, stand with the support of nearby objects, and crawl. In the majority of cases, by the end of their first year, many children can speak, sit upright, and walk with the support of objects.
The Early Childhood Period
Early childhood is the second phase after infancy that every human being has to pass through as they mature into adulthood. Early childhood is the age between the first year after birth and up-to-the eighth year. During the early childhood stage, growth is not as rapid as in infancy; here, growth is slow. Moreover, at the early childhood stage, the body begins to change and take a new form. The body’s changed shape is determined by the level of activeness of a child.
During this stage, individuals start to develop numerous changes such as gaining use of their first language, showing natural curiosity, and tending to ask many questions. Running and walking are perfected during the early childhood stage. Furthermore, at this phase, an individual learns simple and easy concepts and develops emotions. The legs and arms of an individual grow and become longer when compared to the trunk, that is, chest, back, abdomen, and pelvis.
Studies show that experiences gained in the early childhood stage significantly influence a child’s growth in terms of health, creativity, and how a child grasps knowledge or understands concepts. The early childhood stage affects the future cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and language development. Therefore, a child has to be given adequate care and brought up in unfavorable environments to enhance effective and comfortable transitioning to adulthood.
The only fear a parent would have for their child is not developing into a fit and active adult that can adapt and interact with the community and environment comfortably. Indeed, it is during the early childhood stage that major developments occur, such the cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and language occur. Every parent’s responsibility is to ensure the younger children experience care and love by creating a nurturing family and supportive environments that would provide positive growth for children during the stage, such as having safe schools, homes, and communities in which children can interact and play soundly.
During the early childhood period, the milk teeth are shaded, and permanent teeth start to appear. Moreover, most children in the early childhood period are approximately twelve years and below, and, in such cases, most permanent teeth are visible. However, wisdom teeth, commonly known as the third molar, usually appear in adolescents between seventeen and twenty-five years old. Therefore, an average child in the early childhood stage should have twenty-eight teeth that are visible since the remaining become visible as they age.
The early childhood stage is crucial to enhancing foundational skills in many areas of development. Thus, increased awareness and ability to intervene in development delays during early childhood would significantly help reduce special education placement when children attain the real age of joining the school or start the learning process. For example, hearing impairment can be detected earlier and resolved before language development is hindered.
Late Childhood Period of Life
This period is characterized by children at puberty, when children become sexually mature. An individual in the late childhood stage spends most of their time in learning institutions with teachers and lesser time with their parents or guardians. Significant life changes, developments, and patterns are experienced, and the development task is shifted to the teachers and a lesser portion to the peers. A parent has less impact on a child’s growth in the late childhood phase.
The stage is characterized by developing skills such as language, eye coordination, and hand coordination, and cognitive abilities such as comprehension. Furthermore, boys and girls tend to form separate groups; thus, the stage is also called the “gang age.” Moreover, children are characterized in late childhood by a rebellious and stubborn nature. Hence, the stage is associated with troublesomeness. In addition, late childhood is characterized by the desire for success since most children are on the path to achieving their dream.
The common hazards have a psychological and physical impact on the child. Amongst the dangers that have a physical effect include obesity, illness, disabilities, and accidents. Moreover, the psychological consequences include emotional, social, speech, and personality development threats. Other common hazards like eating and sleeping patterns cause a psychological impact. For example, children who breastfeed for a more extended period engage in non-nutritive modes such as thumb-sucking and face sleep difficulties compared to those who have a shorter breastfeeding period.
Development during this stage is critical to be set on the right path to ensure positive growth for an individual in the present and future. Thus, discipline is a priority, and some of the discipline types used for children in late childhood include authoritarian, permissive, and democratic discipline, the most common. For example, strict discipline is based on the saying, spare the rod and spoil the child.
A child’s intelligence influences the talking and speech skills either with peers or in a public space. The type of discipline used in their upbringing, family size, socioeconomic level of their family, racial status, bilingualism, and ordinal position are among the factors that impact a child’s intelligence level in the late childhood stage. For example, children brought up in authoritarian homes tend to speak less.
- Childhood experience.
- Preparedness of the parents for parental duties.
- Physical and emotional condition of the mother after delivery.
Reference
Nobus, D. (2020). Key concepts of Lacanian psychoanalysis (1st ed.). Other Press Professional. Chapter; Life and Death in the Glass: A New Look at the Mirror Stage.