By Cheryl Hatch

Developmental Milestones-What are they?

Developmental milestones are those skills and abilities that children can be reasonably expected to achieve at or by a certain age. It is not a list to hold children by. We are all unique and human development is also unique for each person.

While some children may recite their alphabet at age two, others may not until age 3. While some children may be drawing pictures of trees and people at age 3 ½, others may not do so until age 4 ½.

Why such discrepancies? The reason is that all children grow and develop, for the most part, in the same order but go through the stages at their own pace.

As Early Childhood Educators, it is our responsibility to know the stages children go through at different ages. It is also our responsibility to educate parents on these stages and making certain they are aware that there can be a six to eight month (or more) window of discrepancy.

Parents tend to compare their children to other children they know of the same age. This can put much pressure on them and, by extension, on their children to "perform" certain skills that they just are not ready to do yet.

Knowing the stages children go through during the preschool years will help you to plan activities that are not just age appropriate, but also appropriate for the level of development each of your preschoolers are currently in.

For example, expecting a 3 year old to "color within the lines" is a developmentally inappropriate expectation. Children at this age are still developing their fine motor skills (the small muscles in their hands) as well as their eye-hand coordination (the ability to "make" their hand go where they want it to!).

This does not mean that a 3 year old cannot color within the lines. Some can, and if they can and enjoy it, feel free to provide coloring books.

However, just because another child that age can do this, do not put pressure on your student or child to do the same. Your 3 year old is not "behind" or delayed, they are still developing these skills. Rather than push them to do this activity, help them develop the skills they'll need to be successful in this activity in the future such as:

Provide play dough to help develop their hand muscles.

Provide blank paper for them to color and explore how to use crayons! (Also, although markers are brilliant in color and fun, provide crayons more often. It takes more pressure to use a crayon which helps develop hand muscles whereas markers require very little pressure by the user!).

Understanding the stages each age goes through developmentally is important because it helps you:

To plan classroom activities based on what to expect from each age group.

To share with parents.

To develop age appropriate progress reports for your children.

If you are an early childhood educator or a parent of a preschooler, it is important that you know what to expect from each age and stage!

You will find a list of developmental milestones for each preschool age and stage at http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/developmental-milestones.html

Cheryl Hatch has been working with preschool children and their families since 1995. She has over 18 years teaching and directing in preschool programs.

She is the owner of http://www.preschool-plan-it.com which provides preschool themed activities and ideas, articles and information to help you in your preschool classroom or with your preschool children.

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