Developmental Milestone

Analysis Project
Jordynn Anderson

Child & Adolescent Development

Contains an overview of physical, cognitive, social/emotional, fine motor
skills, and growth motor skills. Identifies influences on development
including socialization, parents, culture, economics, and the brain.
 Meet Cash

Cash is a very energetic, athletic, and loving 6-year-old. He is about 4 feet tall
and weighs 50 pounds. He is currently enrolled in kindergarten at his local
elementary school. Cash is a part of a traditional, 4-person family that includes
his sister Claire, mother Debra (Debbie), and his father Robert (Bob). His mother
and father have the same authoritative parenting style. Cash’s parents are
happily married, and both work full time during the week/weekend. Even
though his parents are very busy with their jobs, as a family they always make
time to do activities together like playing outside with their dog, going on walks,
playing board games, being creative with art supplies, and playing music
together. Some of Cash’s favorite things to do include any kind of sport, but he
mostly enjoys wrestling, football, and baseball. Something unique about him is
that he can turn any situation into a fun one. He is always up for a good time
and can make almost anyone laugh. He has many hilarious one liners and is
surprisingly witty for a kindergartener. His social/emotional skills have come a
long way when looking back at his younger age that included him not being as
comfortable with communication and participation with people or activities.
 Physical Development:
Is the process that starts out in infancy and continues throughout their lives while focusing on gross and fine
motor skills. It involves gaining control over the body, mostly muscles, and physical coordination.
Source: http://articles.extension.org/pages/26038/physical-development-in-child-care

5 Gross Motor Skills Child Exceeds This Child Meets this Child is working on
Milestone Milestone meeting this milestone

Throw and catch a X Was able to

small ball well catch and throw well
at age 5.
Move in time to the X Was taught how
beat or rhythm of to keep a beat and
music rhythm by his dad at
age 5. Really enjoys
music.
Swim well X Currently in
swimming lessons, still
needs work on front
crawl and other skills.
Ride a two-wheel X Almost able to
bicycle ride without training
wheels, still needs
work.
Skip, gallop, dance X
5 Fine Motor Skills
Manage buttons, X Still needs
zippers, laces, and assistance with shoe
other closures laces.

Cut soft foods with a X

knife
Sweep, dust, make X Is capable, but
bed parents don’t make him
sweep or dust.
Print name X Could print name
when 5 years old.
Copy designs and X
shapes, letters and
numbers
Sources:
-https://www.livestrong.com/article/104652-stages-physical-development-children/
-https://www.babycenter.com/0_physical-development-milestones-fine-motor-skills-ages-5-to_3659048.bc
Comments:
Overall, Cash meets and/or exceeds the milestones for children in his age group. He is very capable of
doing things on his own like dressing himself, writing, and using his hand-eye coordination. There are a few
exceptions where he is still developing. He could use more practice with his gross motor skills. Practicing
tying his shoes, his swimming techniques, and riding bike without training wheels will help these skills be fully
learned and developed with his muscle memory.
 Cognitive Development:
Is the process of mind development that specifically involves the levels of conception, perception,
information processing, and language throughout childhood and adolescence. This is important to
throughout a child’s development because it will influence their learning in school and in the future.
Source: https://biologydictionary.net/cognitive-development/

Child Exceeds This Child Meets this Child is working on

Cognitive Skills Milestone Milestone meeting this milestone

Expand vocabulary X Expresses his

skills, allowing for interests, thoughts, and
expression of interests, feelings throughout
thoughts, and feelings very willingly/openly
Understands value of X
money

Increased ability to X Needs some

problem solve assistance when
solving problems
Can understand time X
and days of the week.
Understand common X
opposites. (big-little)
Knows how to rhyme X Does very well
when rhyming
especially in song.
Knows full name, age, X
and birthday

Can understand more X Is a little unsure

complex situations when it comes to hard
situations.
Shows more X Will enjoy/willing
independence at to read and write on
reading and writing his own w/out
assistance.
Learn to question X Very curious and
things wonders about what
people say a lot.
Begin to understand X Learning about
concepts of life cycle his grandpa’s passing
(e.g., death) around 5 years old.
Sources:
-https://www.webmd.boots.com/children/guide/childhood-milestones-age-6
-https://starskills.com.au/developmental-milestones-6-7-year-olds/
-https://www.kidcentraltn.com/article/brain-development-ages-6-7
Comments:
Overall, meets and exceeds the milestones for his general age group. He understands the difference
between life and death and what that is all about. He still needs assistance when it comes to difficult
situations like making decisions when the options are equally as effective or have a similar outcome. He
also could work on his problem-solving skills when it comes to story problems, riddles, reading reflections,
etc. To improve these skills, his parents could help him practice and explain to him different options when it
comes to making decisions and problem solving.
 Affective Development:
Is also thought of as social-emotional development. It relates to how people emotionally process
information that includes feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasm, motivations, and attitude. This is an
important part of creating relationships throughout a child’s life.
Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/affective-growth-development-stages-characteristics.html

Social/Emotional Skills Child Exceeds This Child Meets this Child is working on
Milestone Milestone meeting this milestone

Sense of security. X Truly does rely on

Reliant on relationships being around people
with close adults who are close. Knows
stranger danger.
Can label how others X
are feeling

Can express needs X Doesn’t quite

and wants know the difference
appropriately between wanting and
needing something.
Shows more X Still is quite shy
independence from and relies on parents
parents and family and family with
relationships.
Pays more attention to X Still working on
friendships and teamwork skills, likes to
teamwork be in charge of things.
Knows the difference X
between good and
bad behavior

Compares oneself to X Likes to copy

others. others and their ideas
if liked better.
Cooperative with X If he doesn’t get
others his way, he doesn’t like
to cooperate.
Follows instructions X Likes to be
correctly independent and
doesn’t always pay
attention.
Tries to lead in X
group/friend activities
Sources:
-http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/six/socialandemotionalgrowth.html
-https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html
Comments: He is still working on his social-emotional development. He doesn’t quite understand the value
of teamwork, following instructions, expressing his needs/wants appropriately, and independence. While
working with others, he doesn’t like listening to people and their ideas he’d rather just do things his own
way while still being involved. He likes to complain, and whine rather than politely say if he needs or wants
something. He is very shy meeting new people or with new surroundings. He is very dependent on his
parents when it comes to doing things for himself and in general. His parents are working on using I
statements to help him with expression and trying to show him what teamwork is all about within the family.
 Red Flags for Physical
Development
Gross Motor Development Red
Flags:
 Walking funny
 Walking on tip toes all the time
 Child complains of constant
pain or fatigue
 Child excessively clumsy
 Seems to have something
wrong with his/her legs or feet

Fine Motor Development Red Flags:

 Cannot decide which hand to use
for motor activities
 A lot of difficulty learning to print
letters or numbers
 Not able to draw basic shapes like
circle, cross, square, triangle
 Movements are shaky or stiff
 Unable to cut along straight and
curved lines with scissors.

Source: http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/fine-motor-skills
 Red Flags for Cognitive
Development
Cognitive red flags:
 Unable to tell between real and fantasy
 Unable to describe similarities between two things
 Unable to apply creative thinking to problem solving.
 Not understanding the permanent nature of items
 Not understanding that two rows of things may be the
same even though they are unevenly spread
 Not understanding what common objects are

Source: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages-
milestones/cognitive-development-6-7-year-olds
 Red Flags for Affective
Development

Social/Emotional Development Red Flags:

 Not interested in playing with other children
 Not able to share/take turns with other children
 Difficulty separating from parents
 Severe fears that interfere with daily activities
 Too passive or fearful, doesn’t want to try things other
children are doing
 Very constant with routines, becomes very upset when
things are changed

Source: http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/social-emotional-school-
aged-milestones
 Influences of Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise, and
Recreational Activities
Nutrition:
 Nutrition has always been important for all children from the beginning of their life.
Nutrition is important because it helps kids’ growth physically, cognitively, and
emotionally learn and provides for their energy in order to grow in these aspects.
 This child’s eating habits are very healthy. His parents don’t allow him to have hardly any
sweets or candies. He gets every meal of the day breakfast, lunch, and dinner that also
includes snacks. For snacks he eats fruits, vegetables, granola bars, and some other
healthy options. Some of his favorite things to eat include pizza, blackberries, bananas,
and granola bars. Below is a menu guideline of how much of each food group a 2-8-
year old should have.

Source:https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/bc/f1/3cbcf118f22e188b0c71f1e8f2bbdaf4.jpg
Sleep:
 Recommended Hours of Sleep for 6-13 Years Old: 9-11 hours per day
appropriate: 7 to 8 hours 12 hours.
 This child receives 11 hours of sleep. His bedtime during the week and weekend is 6:30pm
and wakes up at 5:30am. Since he was younger he always would get up very early, so
5:30am may seem very early to some, but for him and his family they are used to being
early risers. Before going to bed, him and his sister usually get their pajamas on, watch a
movie, brush their teeth, read a book, and then go to bed. This routine helps Cash gain a
sense of comfort and reassurance. This also gives him the opportunity to learn a little bit
of responsibility.
Source: https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/how-much-sleep-do-
babies-and-kids-need
Exercise:
 Recommended exercise for school aged kids include:
o 1 hour or more of physical activity on more or all days.
o Participate in different types of physical activity of 15 minutes or more each day.
o Avoid inactivity of 2 hours or more unless resting or sleeping.
 This child really enjoys physical activity. He is constantly running around either involving
sports, outside, inside, with friends, or family. He participates in swimming lessons,
wrestling, football, and baseball for school and summer activities. He is very active and
gets about 4 to 5 hours of physical activity a day.

Source: https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/fitness-6-12.html

Recreational Activities:
 Goes to the local pool with family and friends
 Enjoys camping and fishing with his father and the rest of the family
 Rides his bike, goes on walks, and runs around outside with friends and family
 Enjoys taking the dog for walks with the family
Some ways a Para, Teacher, and Parent
Can Enhance Development

 Create a safe and healthy environment

 Provide enriching, new experiences
 Offer love, acceptance, appreciation, and guidance.
 Pay attention to what the child loves
 Try to know how the child learns
 Practice what the child learns at school, at home
 Make plenty of time to read together
 Use positive guidance strategies
 Connect what the child learns, to everyday life
 Don’t over-schedule the child
 Model own thinking skills, think-out-loud
 Support self-esteem
 Help teach and build problems solving skills
 Encourage and provide positive feedback
 Compliment children on behavior
 Allow time for playing
 Be a good role model by demonstrating appropriate
behaviors

Sources:
-http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/supporting-your-
learner/role-of-parents/
-https://www.scilearn.com/blog/how-to-support-social-development-in-
young-children
 Conclusion:
From the very beginning of development, everything influences that
child and helps determine his/her future. Learning different skills at an
earlier age helps a child in the long run and will for sure give that
child an advantage. Cash is lucky to be one of those children
growing up in a healthy, loving, involved family. Not all families have
healthy eating habits, loving people, or are necessarily involved.
Even though Cash is my cousin, I still learned quite a bit I didn’t know
about him and his family. I’m glad that I had this opportunity to see
how much his parents are really involved in his life and how that has
affected him so far at the age of 6. I had no idea they had such
healthy eating habits and didn’t allow the children to eat hardly any
candy or sweets. It’s interesting that at such a young age some
children grow up and have the habit of waking up so early in the
morning. I didn’t realize how much his parents worked and yet, they
still seem to be just as involved in his life as any other parent if not
more than those who would work full time during the week or even
part time. I also learned that just because a child hasn’t reached
certain milestones but have exceeded in others, doesn’t mean there
need to be major concerns. I enjoyed learning about how much this
lifestyle has affected such a young child in his development. My
favorite part about this project was learning the red flags in the
development of a 6-year-old and comparing those red flags to the
physical, cognitive, and affective development of Cash. It’s
interesting that he can have such high development in two areas
and then in another, have it lower than the rest. I found that this
project will help me recognize red flags and proper developmental
strategies and techniques for my future experiences in the
classroom, as a parent, and as an educator.