From the moment a child is born, parents have a goal to do everything in their power to improve their lives. They read countless parenting and toddler books, make sure to provide social interaction, do thorough research on different topics and ask questions. This is because many parents understand that the first five years is one of the most crucial time periods in their child’s development and learning. This means that your child will develop various new skills throughout this time from speaking and thinking to emotional and social skills.
While it’s true that every child learns at their own pace, there are a few milestones they should ideally reach by the time they are five years old. To help new parents, our CBSE school in Kolkata has provided this blog with age-based development milestones that your child should reach from the time they are born till they turn five years old. Take a look at some important milestones to look for.
Essential Milestones in Early Childhood – A Quick Guide to the First Five Years
Since there is major growth that takes place between one to five years of age, milestones are typically characterized by months, as listed below.
0 to 3 Months Old
This is the time when a new born build their sucking, grasping and rooting reflexes. They begin to pull and tug their hands, bring their hands to their mouths and clench them into fists. Another significant physical milestone is head control as they learn to hold their head up for a few seconds without support. They also learn how to raise their head while lying down on their stomach. Hence, parents should allow their child to remain on their tummy for a while, ensuring they are supervised. It helps strengthen their back, arms and neck. Furthermore, it lays the foundation for later helping develop higher level motor skills, visual skills, hand skills and even feeding and speech skills.
4 to 12 Months
Babies change quickly between the 4 and 12 months and also start responding to various stimulations. During this milestone, they begin recognizing their parents and often cry when they don’t see familiar faces. They also often respond to their name being called. In terms of motor development, their grip becomes stronger and they can move their toys. They learn how to roll on their stomachs and pick up different objects. Many babies also learn to sit up after six or seven months of age with the support of pillows and cushions. They try to drag themselves by their torso and crawl too.
1 to 2 Years
This is the age where children may have mood swings as they are going through numerous emotional and physical changes. Many parents also start potty training their child. However, if a child doesn’t seem to get it at this age, it’s important to remember that everyone takes their own time to learn how to do things. They start walking by this age and are a lot steadier on their feet. Their coordination keeps getting better.
Some children can say up to six-word sentences and others may say a few words to get their message across. They will also understand things you say to them better and express a range of emotions. So, parents should be prepared for dramatic mood swings as the children learn how to manage their emotions and feelings. However, as they learn how to express themselves, the tantrums should become fewer. During this age they also have a better memory and will start showing preferences regarding games they may like and will be more interested in playing with others. They will copy other children but they need to be taught how to take turns and share.
2 to 3 years
This is the age where children start becoming more independent as they learn how to explore the world. The learning they experience during their toddler age comes in handy. However, keep in mind that the developmental milestones may vary from child to child. Some of these improvements may include knowing how to sort objects based on their categories such as flowers, animals, colours, shapes and numbers among others. They will also be able to stack toys from the largest size to the smallest. They will be better at responding to simple instructions given by their parents and caregivers.
3 to 4 years
During this age, children learn how to role play and pretend to be someone or something else while they play. They will also want to interact with other children more and comfort others who may have hurt themselves. They understand dangers and learn how to avoid them while wanting to be helpers. They may change their behaviour based on who they are with and where they are, such as being in a library or playground. They are able to speak sentences and may even know how to sings songs and say stories. They will be able to name colours and if they hear a story they have heard before, they will recall what comes next. Furthermore, they will be able to catch larger objects like balls, pour water, serve themselves food and unbutton certain things. They will also learn how to hold pencils and crayons between their thumbs and how to write.
4 to 5 Years
During this age, children learn more progressively each day and are better at using words to explain how they feel, count objects, imitate adults and other activities. Hence, there is significant language development and school preparedness. They are better at taking turns and following rules. Their language development enables them to tell a story they have heard before or make one up. They are a lot better at keeping a conversation going.
In terms of cognitive development, they can name more numbers and their vocabulary expands as well. They can find letters in names and also recognize alphabets when you point to them. Furthermore, this is period of great intellectual growth as they begin understanding more abstract ideas like distance and time. Physically they are much stronger, have better balance and can run faster. This is also the time when they may develop different types of fears such as the fear of the dark, thunderstorms, monsters, and animals like snakes. So, parents should be reassuring and understanding to help them grow out of these fears.
These are the milestones that a baby will most likely achieve during the first five years of their lives. And, as parents, you need to keep track of these milestones as your baby grows and develops. Hopefully, this checklist will help you be better prepared for the first five years of your baby’s life and enable you to provide the support they need during this time.
