Growth

When our body structure or shape starts growing, this is known as growth. Growth is purely an internal and external process.

Growth is visible, limited, quantitative(measurable), no sequence or pattern.
Growth is a part of development.

Example

When our weight, height, hands and feet start to increase, this is known as growth.
It goes on increasing till a certain period and once it reaches maturity, it stops.

Development

When there is a maturity in our mental, social, emotional or intellectual pattern, this is known as development. It is a continuous process although the rate of development may be fast or slow from time to time.

Development is not visible.
Quantitative + Qualititative
Non stop process (Womb to Tomb)
Development is a sequential process.

Definitions by Scholars

According to Skinner

Development is a sequential and slow moving process.

According to Herlock

Development is a process which starts from prenatal stage and continues regularly all our life till death.

According to Aristotle

Development is a change in a person’s life, because of internal or external factors.

Domains of Development

Physical Development

Development related to the body

Increase in height and weight
Muscle growth
Movement skills like walking, running, jumping

Social Development

Development related to interaction with others

Making friends
Cooperation and sharing
Working in groups
Understanding social behavior

Emotional Development

Development related to feelings and emotions

Expressing emotions (happy, sad, angry)
Controlling emotions
Developing love, sympathy, etc.

Cognitive Development

Development related to the mind and thinking

Thinking ability
Problem solving
Memory
Decision making

360° Development : All-round development of a child in physical, social, emotional, and cognitive domains.

Stages of Development

Pre Natal Stage – (Conception to Birth)
Infancy Stage – (0 to 2 year)
Childhood – (2 to 12 year)
- Pre-Childhood (Toy age) – (2 to 6 year)
- Middle childhood – (6 to 8 years)
- Later Childhood (Gang Age) – (6 to 12 year)
Adolescence – (12 to 18 year)
Adulthood – (18 to 60 year)
Old Age – (60 Above)

Pre-natal Stage

This stage starts from the time of conception of mother.
This is the first stage of development.
The child starts developing in this stage.

Infancy Stage (0–2 Years)

Infancy period is from the birth up to 2 years.
During this stage the child understands about the things around him with the help of his senses.
The child also learns about object permanence at this stage.

Things to Remember:

90% of the brain gets developed, till the age of 5. (Rapid Development)
At the age of 1.5 years (18 months), the child starts speaking.

Characteristics of Infancy Stage

The child starts displaying his emotions like crying, laughing etc at this stage.
The child starts imitating his elders at this stage.
The development rate is rapid at this stage.
After one year the child starts responding to mental activities also.
The child at this stage is dependent on others for everything as he is not old enough to do his tasks himself.
At this stage a feeling of self love is also developed.

Childhood – GOLDEN AGE (2–12 Years)

During childhood there are different changes that a child undergoes. As the child starts growing there is also development.

The child likes to mix up with his friends.
He takes a step towards social interaction.
There is also an inclination to collect different types of things which may or may not be of any use to him.

Characteristics of Childhood

During this period, the child develops feelings of love, sympathy and cooperation.
During this period curiosity develops in the mind of the child.
Social and moral qualities are developed during this age.
During this period the quality of discipline is developed in a child’s personality.
This is also known as the ‘Toy age’.
The child learns to identify different shapes.
The child starts thinking about ‘concrete objects’ at this age.
The child learns to differentiate between reward and punishment.
The child starts to learn by observing others at this age.
At this age the child starts preferring the company of other children as compared to his parents.
The ‘Oedipus’ and ‘Electra’ complexes start growing at this age. This has been defined by Freud.

Oedipus Complex

According to Freud, boys are happier with their mothers. They develop a maternal love instinct. Their extreme maternal love instinct is so much that they develop a feeling of hatred towards their father.

Electra Complex

Under this complex, the girls develop more love for their father and have an attitude of hatred towards their mother. Thus feeling of excessive love for the opposite sex, i.e., the girls for their father’s affection is known as the state of Electra.

Adolescence

This stage is the most complex stage of life because if the child follows the right path, he develops very good qualities, and if he deviates from the path, negative thoughts begin to develop in him.

This stage can also be called the storm stage.

At this stage, children start developing a feeling of beauty consciousness.

According to Stanley Hall: Adolescence is a period of great stress, tension, storm and conflict.

Important Points

Identity crisis (Erik Erikson)
Sandwich or Confusion stage.
Mood swing
Hormone
Attraction towards opposite sex
Imitation

Characteristics of Adolescence Stage

At this stage physical development attains maturity to a great extent.
There is mental development of the child at this stage.
The children start the process of ‘Abstract Thinking’
The child’s way of thinking becomes logical and formal.
The child develops an inclination to participate in competitions, and develop a feeling of independence and revolt.
The child becomes self beauty conscious. He starts thinking about how to look beautiful in the eyes of others.
The feeling of sex gets developed in boys and girls at this stage.
The child also starts thinking about religious organizations, social customs etc.
They start becoming cooperative at this stage.
They start making an effort to have an individual identity in the family at this stage.

Adulthood

This age is from 18 years to 60 years. At this stage one has a mastery over formal and argumentative qualities. He starts thinking on the basis of each factor.

Old Age

This age group is above 60 years. This is also the last stage of maturity.

Motor Skills

Fine Motor	Gross Motor
They use the large muscles in the body for strength, coordination, and reaction time. In any part of the body, usually Gross motor skills develop before fine motor skills. Examples: Skipping, Cycling	They use the small muscles in the body for precision & high degree of control. Fine motor skills develop after gross motor skills. Examples: Handling a Brush or Pencil.

(a) Fine Motor

Fine Motor – the small fine activities done by a child to complete a task like building blocks, use of thumb and forefinger to pick up things, writing etc is known as Fine motor activities.

(b) Gross Motor

Gross Motor – when a child does some work with slightly big activities, this is known as Gross motor activities.

According to Herlock —

“Gaining control over physical movement through the coordinated activities of muscles, nerves, and nerve centers is called motor development. When a child’s ability to perform tasks develops, it is called motor development.”

Principles of Growth and Development

1. Principle of Continuity

Development is a never-ending process. It continues throughout life but its speed differs sometimes it is slow and sometimes it is fast.

2. Principle of Uniform Pattern

General pattern of development in children remain same all over the world

Example: The qualities of playing, running, walking, speaking generally follow a set pattern in children.

3. Principle of Individual Difference

A child’s development works on the principle of individual difference i.e. some have faster rate of development whereas some have a slower rate.

The rate of growth and development is different in children.

Few start speaking at one year and others at 2 years. Walk at one year, others at 2 years.

4. Principle of Predictability

Development is always predictable because we can always estimate in which direction the development is going to take place.

5. Principle of Unitary Process

A child has a tendency of uniform movement.

When we use both hands and feet together to do any work, it is called uniform movement.

6. Principle of General to Specific Response

Our development always moves from general to specific and not from specific to general.

Example: A child tries to catch things like clothes, etc

which is a general movement and later on tries to write.

7. Principle of Direction of Development

Our development is always from head to toe.
The first thing that a child learns is to balance his head by moving it and then the other body parts.
In other words, When a child is born his heaviest body part is his head thus we can say that the direction of the child’s development is from head to toe.
Cephalocaudal development – development is from head to toe.
Proximodistal development – when it follows the direction or sequence from centre to outer parts of our body.

So we can say that our development is sequential.

8. Principle of Spiral Versus Linear Advancement

Development moves forward and backward.
The path followed by a child’s development is not straight or linear.
Development at any stage is not steady or uniform.
When a child’s development reaches a certain level, there is a possibility that developmental progress may get stuck at one place.
While moving forward in development, it may sometimes move backward, which means development progresses in a spiral manner.
Development is never linear, that is, it never moves in a straight line; sometimes its speed is slow and sometimes it is fast.

9. Principle of Inter Development

Development is always full fledged.
The main feature of growth and development is that an individual has an all-sided development, e.g., physical, mental, emotional, social and all other such developments are always inter-related.

Growth and Development: CTET CDP – 1