Infant Toddler Development Training
Module 1, Lesson 1

Activity#1

There are many resources that provide developmental milestones in all domain areas. The following offer more in depth and specific information concerning typical child development. Visit these resources and note the main developmental milestones for each domain. Print out applicable information to use as a resource in your work as an ITDS.

Resource 1, 2 and 3: These resources contain extensive material concerning child development and childhood disorders and provide pertinent information for parents/caregivers:

1. Intellectual Development
2. Language Development
3. Normal Human Development

Resource 4: The Magic of Everyday Moments has books for various developmental ages to help parents/caregivers provide appropriate interactions with their children at specific ages.

Resource 5: Developmental Milestones allows you to view three charts of different age ranges.

• Birth to 8 months
• 8 to 18 months
• 18 to 36 months

Resource 6: Developmental Domains is a site from the University of Michigan which includes information on developmental domains and expectations with an excellent Question and Answer section which could be helpful as the ITDS works with families.

Activity#2

It is important to have a working knowledge of typical child development in order to identify infants/toddlers who may have significant developmental delays. Using the six resources above from Activity #1 and the chart below as a guide, identify specific "typical" developmental events in the five domains listed below for a child 18 months of age.

Sample of Typical Developmental Milestones for 18 Month Child

Activity#3

As noted above, it is important for the ITDS to be cognizant of both typical and atypical child development. Many times, parents and caregivers rely on the ITDS to provide guidance in this area, particularly concerning appropriate routines and activities. For this activity you will need to use the developmental information for a child 18 months of age from the websites listed in Activity #1 and your findings in Activity #2. In the chart below, identify and list five toys you would consider to be appropriate for a child 18 months of age, keeping in mind the perceptual capacities needed to respond to the toys, motor skills needed to access the toys, and the skills promoted by the toys?

Lesson 1 Highlights

This lesson provided a basic overview of child development. Typical and atypical child development was defined. The three stages of prenatal development were discussed and samples of developmental milestones were addressed for each of five domains: motor/physical, cognitive, social/emotional, communication/ language, and self-help/adaptive. Distinctions between quantitative and qualitative differences were discussed as well as the necessity of looking at child development from a culturally relevant perspective due to the ever increasing diversity in our country.

References

U. S. Bureau of the Census. (2000). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Websites

• www.childdevelopmentinfo.com (For activity #1)
• www.zerotothree.org/magic (For activity #1)
• www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/devmile.htm (For activity #1)

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