GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD.

Running head: GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Growth and Development of Early Childhood
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GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD1
Development of young child entails the emotional, biological and psychological changes
that take place within human beings between the time span of their birth and adolescence, as
he or she progresses from the dependency to increasing autonomy. It is to note that child
development is a continuous process and is a unique course for every children (Cook et al.,
2017). There are several experts in the field of science and medicine who have marvelled for
several years over the different ways in which young children develop. As a response to the
questions related to the things affecting children development, the ages at which development
is susceptible to the external impacts, ways of minimising detriments and maximising the
growth of children, several experts have abounded several theories such as the Psychosocial
Developmental Theory by Erikson, the Moral Understanding Stage Theory by Kohlberg,
the Cognitive Developmental Theory by Piaget, the Attachment Theory by Bowlby and the
Psychosexual Developmental Theory by Freud. This essay shall elaborate on presenting an
essay outlining and critiquing the major developmental theories under the development of
young children.
Child development, that takes place from birth to adulthood, has largely ignored
throughout the human history. Children often were perceived as small versions of adults and
this is why, very little attention was paid to the different advancements in terms of language
usage, physical growth and cognitive abilities that take place at the time of childhood and
adolescence (Boyden, 2015). Interest in this area finally started early during the 20th century,
focusing on the abnormal behaviours among children. Gradually, researchers started being
interested in the other topics like influences on their development and typical child
development. It is to note that child development theories focus on explanation of how
children change and grow over the course of their childhood. These theories revolve around
different aspects of children development like their emotional, social and cognitive growth.
According to Hawkins and Weis (2017), the theories of child development provide a clear