Definition of Growth and Development

Growth

Growth is merely the act of expanding. It relates to the development of the body. It is the increase in body size brought on by an increase in the number and size of a body's cells. Growth is an individual's increase in physical measurement that can be quantified or measured.

Development

It is known as the physiological or functional maturation that comes after physical maturation. the qualitative or behavioral elements of an individual's gradual environment adaptation. Growth and development are measured at the same time within a period because they are so closely related.

Development is Assessed Under Four Headings

• Hefty motor
• Vision and fine motor skills
• Speaking and Hearing
• Social conduct.

Milestone

• A milestone is a change in behavior or an increase in activity that we can observe as indicating that growth and development are taking place. A milestone is a normative benchmark based on the presumption that a child should carry out a particular task or exhibit a particular behavior.

Developmental Task

• It is defined as a task that comes up at specific points in a person's lifespan, whose successful completion results in satisfaction and success with subsequent tasks while whose failure results in difficulty and difficulty with later life.

Different Stages of Childhood

• From birth to 24 hours, a newborn
• Stages of infancy from birth to 12 months
• Toddler phases: ages 1 to 3
• Early childhood stage: 3 to 5 years
• Stages of school age range from 6 to 12 years.
• Adolescent stages range from 13 to 19 years of age.

Developmental Tasks

• These tasks, which are referred to as developmental tasks, are expected of children to achieve at specific developmental periods of their growth and development. The developmental task is a collection of abilities and talents that are particular to each stage of development, such as sitting, standing, moving about, playing, and using language. To successfully advance to the next developmental stage or to reach maturity, the child must successfully complete or master these tasks at each stage.

Principle of Growth and Development

Growth and development follow clear, recognizable patterns that are continuous, organized, and progressive. All humans follow these universal patterns, which are also known as trends or growth and development principles. The following are the fundamentals of growth and development:

• From conception through death, there are ongoing processes of growth and development: A child constantly develops new cells and learns new skills, even though the rate of growth and development varies. When a baby turns one, their weight triples from birth and their height grows by 50%. Early and middle childhood see a progressive drop in growth rate, while puberty sees an increase in growth rate. Every person learns new talents or develops their current ones during the course of their lifetime in order to adapt to their surroundings.
• A child must have a functionally mature neural system in order to learn a particular milestone or skill. Development is dependent on this. Age-appropriate tasks and skills must be given to the kid; no amount of practice can help a child learn a new skill in its absence. - There is an ideal period for the beginning of experience or learning. Even with instruction, children cannot learn to sit until their neurological systems are developed enough to allow for back control.
• Growth and development occur in a systematic order: Most children achieve milestones in the following order: sit before crawl, creep before stand, stand before walk, and walk before run. They may be attained in different ways and at different times.
• Children develop at varying rates as they progress through the predictable phases (individual difference): A span of time rather than a single point at which they are typically completed characterizes each stage of development. Every child grows at a different rate. Two kids might progress through the motor stages at various rates; for instance, one might start walking at 10 months while the other doesn't start until 14 months. They develop at various rates even though they follow predictable patterns.
• Different body tissues mature more quickly than others, so not all bodily systems develop at the same rate. While vaginal tissue grows slowly until puberty, neurological tissue reaches its maximum size in infancy.
• Development occurs in regular, related directions or gradients and reflects the maturation of neuromuscular function as well as the physical development of an organism.

Development is in Cephalocaudal Direction

• Development happens from top to bottom, so head control comes before trunk control, which comes before being able to use lower limbs. Head control and then the ability to sit down are therefore the first steps toward walking.
• Proximal body parts develop before distal body parts.
  • From close to far, or from the center to the periphery, development takes place. For instance, fingers and toes emerge after limb buds during the embryonic stage. When a child is young, shoulder control comes before hand mastery; the complete hand must first be utilized to handle a figure; and the central neural system matures more quickly than the peripheral nerve system. Each side of these patterns grows in the same way and at the same rate as the other; they are bilateral and appear to be symmetric.
• Development proceeds from general to specific
  • General development occurs before special development; for instance, the development of gross motor skills will happen before the development of fine motor skills.

Prior to reaching important milestones, some innate reflexes must be lost:

• A baby cannot stand steadily or grasp voluntarily until the walking reflex has subsided and the palmar grasp reflex has faded.

Practice helps one develop a lot of behavior and skill.