Child development is a period of growth that a child experiences. The growth is denoted by physical, cognitive as well as the social aspect of the child growth ( McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010 ). The period commences from birth and goes through to early adulthood. The proposal intends to ensure a dynamic child development of every child’s career as well as a realization of their potential. Also, the center ought to prepare the children for success and prosperity in their adulthood. A firm basis is key for growth. The development center shall have programs for different child development stages in a bid to enhance the child’s motor skills. The center shall also be set in an environment that there is proper caregiving to the children. More so, ensuring the child obtains or rather accesses tools and an enabling environment for learning and growing their skills.
In the proposal, development and sharpening of motor skills shall be essential since they dictate a large portion of childhood. The development center shall be oriented or preferably organized in a way that it allows children of separate ages to be trained from different rooms. The programming entails five child development stages including infant (0-1 year), toddler (1-3 years), early childhood (3-6 years), middle or late childhood (7-12 years), and adolescence (13-18 years). Every stage is programmed in a way that it offers a variety of skills including interactive, fun, and educational activities needed in the process of child development. The program shall offer a problem-solving technique that explores developmental issues depicting different themes of psychology; moreover, health and well-being, education, culture, gender, and family and parenting.
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Each developmental stage is assigned to one room with the capacity of holding all the children in the programme. Children in every developmental stage are entitled to receive elaborate activities. The programming is also set in a way that it addresses the stage’s developmental domain pathway including cognitive, physical, and psychological domains. The stages are also designed in a manner that offers developmental continuum. Moreover, the program goes an extra mile to offer a play item or a game that enhances growth in the child. These games include art, music, and technology among others that help the child be involved in the process of recognizing their talent.
Hence, the general purpose of the community child development center is to offer a safe, nurturing as well as the educational program. The program maintains its focus on developmentally appropriate activities that take into consideration the dramatic changes occurring as a child shifts from childhood into adulthood. The article then discusses respective developmental stages programmed in respective rooms to promote both physical as well as cognitive growth with adherence to developmental theories.
Room 1: Infant Room (0-1 year)
It is the beginning phase of child development. The stage is described by rapid physical, cognitive, and psychological growth. During this phase of growth, the child develops from a state of helplessness to a reflexive state whereby they can reason as well as develop communication cues ( Colombo, 2014 ). The stage is marked by physical milestones including rolling over, crawling, and later walking. The cognitive milestones are inclusive of early problem-solving skills and increased sensory awareness and perception. Socially, the child develops a sense of self-awareness. These developmental issues ought to be captivated throughout the program to ensure children of constant growth.
Therefore, in a bid to enhance the mentioned skills, the first activity to be implemented will be the ‘exercycle.' It is a regular activity conducted by caregivers holding the baby’s feet and gently moving them in a cycling motion. In their research ( Metzl, 2013 ), noted that some cultures consider the exercise of strengthening an infant’s muscles that are necessary for walking. Moreover, the muscles are as well massaged and stretched. Later, the infant is involved in other motor exercises. The activity is acclaimed for its achievement in ensuring that the baby’s physical health and also well-being are enhanced through the process of encouraging muscle movement which is the basis for development. Once the infant develops muscle strength, the process is then shifted to learning to grasp objects.
The infant stage is also involved in some games. For instance, the floating game tends to enhance the child’s hand-eye coordination as well as tracking. In the game, the caregiver holds the baby between their legs while in a sited position. They then use an object which they throw up in the air and motivate the baby to grab it as they assist the child. The activity has been described to coincide with the milestone of fine motor skills. The object that shall be used in this room is the ‘Jack-in-the-box’ toy. The toy enhances infant development with regards to Piaget’s stages cognitive development ( Morra et al., 2012 ). It is in the sensorimotor stage that the children learn to repeat behaviors and at similar moment discover patterns. The activities in this infant stage are regularly conducted in a safe environment to enhance health and well-being.
Room 2: Toddler Room (1-3 years)
The toddler stage is described by accidental touching of everything that comes into contact with the baby. The toddler’s stage experience with the immediate environment is guided or rather occurs via touch ( Gallace & Spence, 2010 ). The sense of touch denotes an essential to a child’s physical abilities, communication, cognitive, and socio-emotional competency. To enhance the sense of touch, different activities are employed. The program intends to implement the ‘sensory exploration with sand’ activity. The activity is earmarked to provide ample time for toddlers to learn. The toddler is allowed to scoop, sift, and funnel sand into bottles in a bid to appreciate creativity. Also, when playing out in the sand, the toddler is allowed to make up different sand structures to open up their mind of imagination. In other words, the activity enhances fine motor skills and also hand-eye coordination. Moreover, the sense of touch activity has been found to promote creativity and improve imagination in the toddler.
A game that enhances the toddler’s social skill is the ‘make-believe play.' In the play, children end up learning in their social world and diversify on their social skills. Different theories try to understand the interrelation between play and social development ( Gallace & Spence, 2010 ). For instance, Piaget acknowledges the game under his preoperational stage of cognitive development. Erickson recognizes social competency in the play. Further, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory suggests that the game is vital for the process of acquisition of both social and cognitive competence within the toddlers.
Hence, in a bid to comply with the cognitive development curriculum, the room is filled or instead decorated in shape sorters as well as puzzles. As the toddler grows, the simpler it becomes tries out insert puzzles. The main objective of the game is to enable the toddler match the puzzles. The room shall also have an elaborate mechanism to enhance the theme of family and parenting. It then fosters some attachment. The toddler stage is characterized by two attachment phases including goal-oriented – organized – attachment and the formation of reciprocal partnerships. In the first case, the children become restless once the caregiver leaves. In the second form of attachment, the toddler begins to appreciate the fact that their caregiver returns after leaving.
Room 3: Early Childhood Room (3-6 years)
The stage occurs during a period of early childhood that is characterized by the fullness of energy and the readiness to move and freely explore. It denotes a stage in the development period when the baby is perfecting their walking skills. The room is then designed to allow for an ‘obstacle course’ activity. Jean-Jacques Rousseau supports the activity. He further illustrates that learning in the child development process should be child-centered in that it should focus on the abilities of the children under care. These abilities include promoting a child’s way of thinking, feeling, and seeing. The activity involves allowing the child to jump, run, crawl under, and throw items into a basket. The obstacle course helps the child in figuring out a way that is best to maneuver through the course. In so doing, the cognitive skills develop. Also, the activity involves the baby in enhancing their coordination which is key to physical development. The activity also encourages social interaction as well as the alignment concerning psychological development.
The most suitable game for this developmental stage is the ‘Simon says’ game. In the game, children tend to follow instructions. For instance, the children are asked to do a given activity, for example, they are asked to clap, and they clap. It happens only if they are asked to do so. The game is then a social activity as it involves several people. Vygotsky theorizes that social interaction mediates cognitive development. He further claims that the participation of children in such social activities warrants the internalization of their cultures and hence development. Different instruction in the game warrants separate developmental capabilities. The child, through participation, is deemed to grow both physiologically and physically. The program also shall introduce a board game to help teach the children essential social skills including verbal communication, queuing, and appreciating the interaction with others. Also, board games have been attributed to mental growth as well as a greater appreciation of the complex socio-cultural learning nature. Due to mental growth, children start realizing that their peers belong to separate cultures. To curb this instance of cultural differences, the program is designed in a way that it encourages acceptance to diversity.
Room 4: Middle/ Late Childhood Room (7-12 years)
Adult-like body conformation describes the stage. The child tends to depict resemblance to an adult body type. Also, the movements and hand-eye coordination in most physical activities become adult-like. Owing to the bodily change, vigorous activities are required for the developmental stage. With regards to this, the ‘three-legged race’ is adopted. In this activity, two children team up and come up with a plan to cross the finish line. During the activity, two legs of the partners are tied to each other. The activity improves fine motor skills as well as the cognitive ability and psychological development.
The kids are also involved in a game that helps improve gross motor skills as well as psychological development. Table tennis would be concerning enough to describe or rather appreciate the natural cost of development. Table tennis is an involving game that includes either two or more. The game has also been found to promote psychologically as well as thinking strategically. The room also is used to enhance education among the young adults. During this developmental stage, emphasis on training is done. The stage also captivates responsibility within the children. Another game, a 3-D tick-tac-toe game is encouraged. The game includes an array of cells involving two players placing markers on blanks cells while taking turns. A person who attains four of their markers in a row becomes the winner. The game is aimed at promoting psychological skills as well as critical thinking capacity. By so doing, individual talents shall be nurtured.
Room 5: Adolescence Room (13-18 years)
It is the last stage in the proposed community child development center. The developmental stage is inclusive of children who are undergoing puberty as well as developing self-awareness. The room is earmarked to help the children with the transition and also enhance social skills through fun and thought-provoking activities. The stage is composed of entirely grown bodies. The ideal activity is getting involved in the ‘awkward moment’ where a group of three to eight young adults is put together in a terrifically awkward social situation. The group picks one person as the decider, and the rest try their best to impress the decider. They ought to do so by provoking their best response towards their awkward moment. The activity articulates with Erikson’s view of psychological development. The game actively involves the players’ listening and communication, critical and logical comprehension skills, reading, and imagination. Erikson maintained that people are challenged and formed by their environment. And their involvement is responsible for shaping who they become at this stage of development ( Forbes & Dahl, 2010 ).
Consequently, the room is fitted with a gym set to boost physical activity alongside cognitive and psychological development. The regular exercises also instill self-discipline in one’s actions. Moreover, gym exercises keep one fit and healthy in the long run. The major achievement of this room is health and self-awareness. However, contemporary times have made teenagers gravitate towards the computer and video games. The program also incorporates an educational computer and video games since we live in the technology age. The information processing theory of cognitive development likens the mind to an analogous computer and hence its involvement in developmental skills.
The stage is marked by puberty for both girls and boys. The adolescents also become sexually mature and hence gender issue is key in the design of the rooms. The room in this program offers education to the adolescents to identify with their gender as well as enhance acceptance with their body. In other words, the adolescents ought to be provided with a safe environment that will foster development and education of the child.
Conclusion
Child education is imperative to all three domains including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. The fields are categorized into age-related classifications of five age groups. The groups include infants, toddlers, early childhood, middle or late childhood, and young groups of child development. Every group is articulated in a room in the community child development center model. The respective rooms are then designated with different activities that help the children to develop their motor skills continuously. The skill development includes physical, social, cognitive, and psychological skill development. The development center is also required to adhere to organizational development in a bid to allow a safe environment for the child to learn and indulge or instead participate in age-related activities.
Development centers are a cornerstone and hence a necessity to the community since they foster ethical as well as moral support to the growing children. There is also a sense of self-awareness, self-realization of the child’s potential, and confident, responsible growth. By taking into account the activities offered to the child during the five developmental stages, the center remains the best alternative for fostering child growth and hence qualifies for attention from development-oriented institutions. It is by this virtue of development that the council ought to fund the community child development center programme in a bid to give something back to the community. The programme will not only ensure ethical and morally upright young adults but also shall foster responsibility, health, and well-being of the adults.
References
Forbes, E. E., & Dahl, R. E. (2010). ‘Pubertal development and behavior: hormonal activation of social and motivational tendencies.’ Brain and Cognition , 72 (1), 66-72.
Gallace, A., & Spence, C. (2010). The science of interpersonal touch: an overview. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews , 34 (2), 246-259.
McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Child development and education : Pearson College Division.
Colombo, J. (2014). ‘ Individual differences in infancy: Reliability, stability, and prediction .’ Psychology Press.
Metzl, J. (2013). The Exercise Cure: A Doctor's All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health and Longer Life : Rodale.
Morra, S., Gobbo, C., Marini, Z., & Sheese, R. (2012). Cognitive development: neo-Piagetian perspectives : Psychology Press.
