Growth and Development | Early Childhood Care

Running head = GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 0
Growth and
Development
Early childhood care
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Growth and Development 1
The term Growth and development are used as synonyms in most cases, where growth
represents the change in the shape and size of an individual and development refers to the
holistic change in the individual which is inclusive of physical and mental perspective (Rarick,
2012). The process of growth is a prerequisite for making the body sustainable for holistic
development, which creates stress on the body both at the outer and inner levels. In terms of
physical growth, children show a dramatic increase in physical structure, with a regular change
in children's posture. The physical changes are attributed to the change in muscle tone's primary
reason for the leaner appearance in the children (Timmons, et al., 2012).
The growth is highly dependent on the nutrient quantity and quality of the food provided
to the children at this crucial stage of life. Along with nutrients, the primary growth determining
factor is environmental, genetic and hormonal. The composition of the entire four factors directs
the growth of a child. The availability of adequate nutrients is of prime importance for the
growth and maintenance of immunity a child. The macro and micro nutrients both are equally
important for the growth of the child and based on the growing physical and mental development
of the child to takes place (Nyaradi, Li, Hickling, Foster, & Oddy, 2013). The following
paragraph will provide and insight into the factors affecting the growth and development of a
child.
Many studies are subjected to define the holistic development of a child to provide a
framework, to understand various driving factors for the growth and development of the child.
Recent studies have shown an increase in interest in child holistic development. The various
studies help in understanding factors shaping a child's mental and physical growth. The major
child development theories work as identifiers of the growth and development period of the child

Growth and Development 2
(Fast, Erard, Fitzpatrick, & Thompson, 2013). Some of the major child development
theories are (Charlesworth, 2013) :
Psychosexual developmental theory: The theory given by Sigmund Freud, based on the
work carried out on the patients suffering due to some sort of mental issue. The theory focuses
on the situations of the various ages of childhood shapes a developmental framework of
adulthood. The theory suggests that if the growth stage of childhood shapes personality and
failing to complete that growth stage would result in disturbing adult behavior (Fast, Erard,
Fitzpatrick, & Thompson, 2013).
Psychosocial developmental theory: Suggested by Erik Erikson, indicates that growth and
change in an individual is a continuous process from the stage of infancy to death. As per Erik
Erikson’s view, life could be divided into eight stages for psychological development primarily
concentrated on social dealings along with the various encounters that occur at those stages of
life. The theory proposed by Erikson was somewhat similar to the theory proposed by Freud,
however, the major contrast between the theories was the focus on the driving factor, in case of
Freud’s theory only sexual context was in focus, whereas, in the case of Erikson theory social
communication and experience were the driving force for a person personality.
Child Development Theory: As per this theory most human behavior is determined by the
environment. It was proposed that the major portion of learning occurs only through the
procedure of association and reinforcement. The theory proposes that the development is mainly
driven through the response produced at the time of prizes, penalties, stimuli, and backups. This

Growth and Development 3
theory only focuses on the outer experience due to external factors and no consideration was
made towards the inner thought process of a child in the contexts of child development.
Cognitive development theory: The theory proposed by Jean Piaget primarily
corresponds to the development of the thought process of a person along with the various factors
influencing the thoughts and its impact on our understanding and interaction with the world. The
theorist proposed different steps and sequence for the progress of children intellectual
development (Fast, Erard, Fitzpatrick, & Thompson, 2013), the various stages are as
follows
I. The Sensorimotor stage: It’s the period of birth to the 2 years of age, at the
moment the knowledge of the infant is limited to the sensory perception and the different activity
of the motor area.
II. The Preoperational stage: This period of growth corresponds to the age group
from two years to six years, the age is associated with the learning of language for the
communication purpose, however, the logical understanding and the information regarding the
point of view of the others is an unknown concept to them.
III. Concrete operational stage: Corresponds to the period of growth between the age
group of 7 years to 11 years, and the child develop a better understanding of various mental
operations, however, they have a difficulty in understanding the abstract concept.
IV. Formal operational stage: A growth age between 12 years to adulthood, at the
time of growth child begin to understand abstract concept along with the development of various
skills related to deduction and planning emerge in this age group.