The early years of a child’s life are very important for his or her health and development. Every child is unique but parents deal with similar issues around the same time. The way parents choose to deal with these issues has an important impact on how healthy and competent their children grow up to be.
Some of the critical aspects of child development (0-2 years) are;
- Physical Development-Children will first learn to hold their head up, learn to crawl, walk while holding onto furniture, stand, and then walk two or three steps without assistance (usually by 12 months). At 24 months, children can begin to run, kick a ball, and walk up and down stairs (while holding onto someone’s hand).
- Intellectual Development-Children at this age learn by exploring with their hands and mouth. They bang, throw, drop, shake, and put items in their mouths. They learn how to use everyday objects. By age 2, a child typically will have a vocabulary of 50 words. He learns to use two- and three-word sentences while speaking.
- Emotional Development-Crying is the primary means of communication when their needs are not being met. They smile and giggle when they want more of something, and turn their head, shut their eyes, or cry when they want less of something.
- Social Development-They imitate facial expressions, and even develop social smiles by three months. Talking begins with babbling, which leads to gradually learning to say and respond to simple words and phrases. They will play in parallel—near another child, but not with that child.
- School Readiness- Children are prepare gradually for preschool at this stage.