Teach

Universal Concepts in Motor Development from Birth to 12 Years

As described in Lesson One, physical development is the domain of development that relates to the changes, growth, and skills of the body. This includes the brain, muscles, and senses. Physical development is usually described in terms of fine-motor and gross-motor development.

Each child develops at their own pace, however, as with cognitive and social development, the pace and patterns of a child’s growth can provide clues about development. Motor skills tend to develop in predictable ways, and at predictable timeframes. These patterns of development are known as milestones. For example, children walk before they run (Sanders, 2002). Milestones should not be seen as rigid checklists by which to judge or evaluate children’s development. Think of milestones as guidelines to help staff understand and identify typical patterns of development and to know when and what to look for as children mature. It is your responsibility to ensure that staff are knowledgeable about children’s developmental milestones, stay current on best practices, and use assessment data so they can meet the individual needs of the children in their classrooms.

The figures below show the typical order in which children acquire gross-motor skills and fine-motor skills, respectively.

These expected patterns of development are important to understand. They help you and staff members design meaningful learning experiences and appropriate environments. They also help you understand when there may be concerns about a child’s development.

Factors Affecting Growth

While there is a natural progression when it comes to physical development, the pace of that progression can be influenced both positively and negatively by environmental and experiential factors. These factors include:

• Prenatal care: Lack of prenatal care or prenatal exposure to harmful substances, such as drugs and alcohol, can negatively influence development.
• Prematurity: Children born before the 38th week of development and children having low birth weight may experience respiration difficulties, vision problems, and feeding and digestive problems.
• Heredity: Genes influence development, but equally important are the children’s experiences.
• Basic needs: Failure to meet basic needs such as safety, love, housing, and food due to socioeconomic factors or neglect can negatively influence brain development, which in turn impacts physical development.
• Culture: Culture influences the types of activities children are exposed to, as well as the messages they receive about movement and age, gender, and ability.
• Temperament and learning styles: There are many types of learners. Some children learn through physical, hands-on activities, while others may observe and keep to themselves.
• Developmental delays, disabilities or health concerns: It’s important to keep in mind that being diagnosed with a disability does not alter children’s innate desires to move.

Supporting All Learners: Understanding Individual Differences

Your program has a responsibility to serve all children, including children with and without identified disabilities. Physical development spans a great deal of individual variation. Some children seem to be born athletes. Other children’s bodies and physical skills develop at a slower pace. This is true of children with identified disabilities as well. It is important to help staff members understand each child’s ability regardless of any disability. It is also important to remember that each child with a disability is different. Some children might have a physical challenge and be developing typically in other domains. Two children with the same identified disability might have very different classroom or program needs. Consider these examples:

• Jessica and Michael both use wheelchairs for mobility. Michael is developing typically in the cognitive and social domain. He starts games of basketball with his peers and moves quickly up and down the court in his chair. Jessica is learning to propel herself in her wheelchair. She gets tired easily and prefers to be pushed.
• Spencer and Amy both have Down Syndrome. Spencer has global developmental delays, and his fine- and gross-motor skills are affected. At 1 year old, he does not crawl or move independently. Amy, also 1 year old, has been walking since she was 10 months old and climbs every piece of furniture she can find.
• Austin and Jamal both have diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Austin is a 10-year-old with Asperger syndrome. He has delays in social skills, but he excels in fine- and gross-motor skills. He enjoys running and tends to run laps around the playground rather than playing with peers. Jamal is diagnosed with autism and struggles with fine- and gross-motor skills. He prefers to sit still and take objects apart.

While these are only three examples, they begin to represent the range of experiences you might see in your program. Familiarize yourself with your program’s or Service’s policy on inclusion and help staff understand their responsibilities to get to know the whole child. If children in your program use any type of supportive devices, ensure that staff members are trained on how to use these devices appropriately.

Model

Helping Staff Understand Development

The Virtual Lab School modules are a good place to start helping staff understand physical development. Each staff member will read relevant age-group information on physical development in the Physical Development course. Use the Physical Development Milestones resource in the Apply section to help staff members remember and use their knowledge of child development in the workplace. You can also use the Thinking about Development activity in the Explore section to help staff summarize what they have learned in their own lessons and take it a step further.

In the next lesson, you will learn more about helping staff use strategies that promote development. For now, consider the different ways you can collaborate with others in your community to promote knowledge of physical development. Consider working with a local nurse, pediatrician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, physical education teacher, or adapted physical education teacher to offer trainings or workshops.

Helping Staff Become Aware of Physical Development Alerts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a number of resources about developmental milestones. Take a look at the following:

• CDC’s Milestone Tracker App     
  https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones-app.html
• CDC’s Milestones     
  https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html
• CDC’s Milestones (print version) https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/FULL-LIST-CDC_LTSAE-Checklists2021_Eng_FNL2_508.pdf

Share the CDC developmental milestones guidelines with staff members and families. These resources can help staff members feel comfortable and knowledgeable about development. Many of the guides, particularly those for children up to 5 years old, contain advice about when families should talk to a pediatrician about their child’s development. The guides can help empower families and prevent unnecessary worry about a child’s development. These guides can help adults become aware of potential problems and encourage them to act early. Refer to the guides yourself when questions arise about development. Make sure staff know what to do when a concern arises about a child’s development. Before approaching a family, they should always talk to you or an administrator first. You can provide resources and perspectives on long-term development. You can also help make connections with other professionals who can help.

Helping Staff Support All Learners

To create a more inclusive environment and support all learners, you must first model an inclusive attitude. Your facility is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, so at a minimum children and families with a variety of physical needs can access your building. You must go beyond access, however. Make sure all children and families feel welcome and involved. Consider the experiences offered in your program, and help staff members brainstorm possible modifications and adaptations. The Kids Included Together program can be a valuable resource for ideas. For young children, you can also consider Building Blocks and CARA’s Kit. These resources from the Council for Exceptional Children Division for Early Childhood provide practical ways to help children succeed in their environments. When a child with identified special needs enters your program, work with the PUBLICddisability specialist(s) to make sure you and the staff members know how to support the child’s physical development. You can be a resource for brainstorming and for providing materials. Consider these quick and easy adaptations:

Observe

What Do Staff Members Know about Physical Development?

Clearly, observation is an important part of promoting physical development. You must ensure that staff members know typical developmental milestones, use appropriate curricula and programming, and watch children in action. Let’s consider a few examples.