According to John Santrock, "Development" can be defines as a pattern of change that begins at conception and continues throughout the human's life, while the Oxford school dictionary defines "Physical" as having to do with the body rather than the mind. This article I examined written by Alex Brooks with further clarification from John Santrock, Brooks believe that person's view of physical development is more than just hitting the right percentiles on a height chart.
He believes that with research conducted by the Australian Department of Health and Aging shows that all babies grow in the same order but at completely different rates where he then shows were one seven month child maybe be chatting madly while another maybe playing silently on his playing mat. I believe he says that to say young child's physical development varies and should be treated accordingly. Before I examine the different changes a quote from Alex says that "child development achievements are called milestones" and the development of gross motor skill is one of these huge achievements.At this stage I believe these individuals are now moving their large muscles which is indeed a joy to parents but more importantly a joy to them because they are very adventurous and confident in any movement they make and parents should encourage them and not let them feel a level of shame in exploring as Erikson's second stage indicates. John added that at this stage muscle strength increases and thus provides a wide range of movement which gradually increases when developing.
Another huge milestone is the development of fine motor skills and with this both Alex's and John researches are related because Alex proof that at this stage these children's small muscles are now able to grasp and control objects such as bread crumbs. But with extensive research from Santrock he realizes that as they further develop they improve coordination substantially and become even more precise in even building blocks. Additionally John also realizes that through development they are now able to use a pencil which is referred to as "handedness".Basically in fine movement these researches are important because it visualizes to how a child uses these small muscles gradually improves to a point of handedness as Santrock says and this I also think doesn't entirely based on muscles but is shows the level of development in the brain to carry out certain instructions that is given.
Alex then outlined another huge child physical development to be the ability of vision and hearing.This ability of vision as Alex showcase help these young individuals to see both near and far objects and I therefore believes that as their cognitive phases develops they can interpret them and the ability of hearing gives them the opportunity to interpret sound, this ability allows them to also produce sound "language" which is indeed another huge milestone for them based on adaption of sounds from persons in the environment. Finally, the last milestone that Alex's research shows which is a contributive factor in a child's physical development is their emotional and social behavior.In relation to these behaviors he outlines that a child begins to learn and interact with others throughout the environment and additionally John Santrock says that parents should develop a model known as "reciprocal socialization", in which the interaction of parents and child is very intense where parents socialize with child and child socialize with parents. In concluding, what these researches conducted really shows is that children's physical development is very important as they gradually mature and must be taken care of promptly by the parents or care givers.However, I strongly believe that not because body growth and changes are the obvious physical changes associated with childhood, parents or care givers need to be more knowledgeable of there cognitive development or the unseen changes because these children are at a level of development where there minds are like sponges they absorb everything.
Therefore as they gradually develop parents should ensure they are actively involved in physical activities to increase self esteem or even social development.
