Assignment:
Write a short story about a child's journey from birth to age one. This can be a fictional child, or can be based on a real child. What does the child hear, do, and see early on? At what age do each of those senses progress and become more evolved? How so? At the age of 6 months, what can this same child hear, see, and do? Lastly, by age one, what might a day in this child's life look like?
Include the following developmental milestones in your story:
Social and Emotional
- Enjoys imitating people in his play.
- Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys.
- Tests parental responses to his actions during feedings.
- Tests parental responses to his behavior.
- Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others.
- Repeats sounds or gestures for attention.
- Finger-feeds himself.
- Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed.
Cognitive
- Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping).
- Finds hidden objects easily.
- Looks at correct picture when the image is named.
- Imitates gestures.
- Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver).
Language
- Pays increasing attention to speech.
- Responds to simple verbal requests.
- Responds to "no."
- Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for "no."
- Babbles with inflection (changes in tone).
- Says "dada" and "mama."
- Uses exclamations, such as "Oh-oh!"
- Tries to imitate words.
Motor
- Reaches sitting position without assistance.
- Crawls forward on belly.
- Assumes hands-and-knees position.
- Creeps on hands and knees.
- Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position.
- Pulls self up to stand.
- Walks holding on to furniture.
- Stands momentarily without support.
- May walk two or three steps without support.
Hand and Finger Skills
- Uses pincer grasp.
- Bangs two objects together.
- Puts objects into container.
- Takes objects out of container.
- Lets objects go voluntarily.
- Pokes with index finger.
- Tries to imitate scribbling.