Why is it important for teachers to understand physical development?

From sitting up on their own to throwing a ball, children gradually develop the physical skills needed for their adult lives. 

Physical development includes both growth and the ability to use muscles and body parts for particular skills. Both gross (large muscle movements) and fine (small movements) motor skills contribute to physical development, and children often learn a set of skills by a certain age.  

Physical development experiences and activities are crucial in the early years and are cited as one of the three prime areas of learning and development in the Early Years Statutory Framework (EYFS) .

 The EYFS states that early education programmes should: 

"provide opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food."

If you are worried your child is not meeting these developmental milestones by the recommended age, you can engage your child in some physical activities to reach these goals.

Step 1  - Determine which developmental milestones you would like to address and are appropriate for your child’s age

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide a list of these milestones through age 5 years, and your child’s physician will also have a list.

Step 2 - Write down a list of activities that will aid your child’s physical development for each milestone

Choose activities that will address more than one skill.

For example, playing baseball will increase muscle strength through holding the bat, improve the gross motor skills needed for swinging a bat and develop hand-eye coordination by hitting the ball.

Make sure your activities are developmentally appropriate for your child; for example, a 12-month-old child cannot hop on one foot, so don’t use an activity that requires this action.

Step 3 - Encourage independence with your child

If you go out, don’t let them sit in the stroller, but rather make them walk.

If your child is old enough to feed themselves, let them eat finger foods or use a spoon.

Step 4 - Engage your child in music and movement activities

March to a song with a strong beat to encourage steadier gait. Practice jumping, spinning, hopping, crawling or tiptoeing to a lively tune.

Purchase a keyboard or drum and let your child explore the instrument and play along with their favourite songs. 

Step 5 - Foster fine motor skills through art and tactile experiences

If it’s age-appropriate, let your child cut with scissors or grab small pieces of construction paper to glue to a larger sheet of paper.

Draw circles and squares to practice the fine motor skills needed for writing. String beads onto a piece of yarn to make a necklace or bracelet.

Place pebbles, pearls or plastic objects inside a box of sand and let your child dig through the sand with his fingers to pick up the objects.

Step 6 - Play sports and enjoy outdoor activities

Physical development is the growth an­d the ability to use muscles and body parts for particular skills. Physical development focuses on development of body and skills of very part of the body. Fine Motor skills (small movements, specific and precise) and gross motor skills (large muscle movements) contribute to physical development. Children often learn a set of skills by a certain age and the skill sets evolve with age. Nursery provides your child with access to play area, resources for play and educational activities to support their development.

As an Early Year Foundation Stage Program, we believe:

“In providing a nurturing environment and opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, movement and control. Children must also be offered explanation to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food.”

It is important to record and match the development milestones as per recommended age by Development Matters. We have outlined 6 steps to help you plan and understand your child’s physical development

Step 1 – Set age appropriate milestones for your child

The developmental milestones should be appropriate as per the child’s age and can be found on several verified institutions website like CDC, infant growth or you can ask your child’s early years education provider like nursery to provide you a copy of it. Babies can crawl, toddlers can run and as children grow, so do their abilities. It is important to select age appropriate milestone and manage expectations.

Step 2 – Make a list of activities for your child

Choose activities that will address more than one skill. For example, playing baseball will increase muscle strength through holding the bat, improve the gross motor skills needed for swinging a bat and develop hand-eye coordination by hitting the ball.

Make sure your activities are developmentally appropriate for your child; for example, a 12-month-old child cannot hop on one foot, so it’s better to plan as per age and growth. However, you can set the goal of standing steady and learning to balance for the same child. You can ask your child’s nursery teacher to help you plan such activities. Nursery will give your child an added boost with never-ending educational activities.

Step 3 – Encourage independence

If you go out, don’t let them sit in the stroller, but rather make them walk. If your child is old enough to feed themselves, let them eat finger foods or use a spoon. It can get messy but your child will learn to eat food.

Let your child explore and enjoy activities. A good way to do so is by sending your child to nursery. Your child’s learning journey will be supported by nursery.

Step 4 – Music and movement activities

March to a song with a strong beat to encourage steadier gait. Practice jumping, spinning, hopping, crawling or tiptoeing to a lively tune. Toddlers in nursery develop movement through music and learn to socialise through play.

Purchase a keyboard or drum and let your child explore the instrument and play along with their favourite songs. Nursery with play area and resources will enhance your child’s learning and offer them access to more resources.

Step 5 – Art and tactile experiences

Fine motor skills develop through activities like painting, colouring, sorting small items and sensory play. Children learn through play and fine motor skills develop through it. If it’s age-appropriate, let your child cut with child friendly scissors or grab small pieces of construction paper to glue to a larger sheet of paper.

Draw circles and squares to practice the fine motor skills needed for writing. String beads onto a piece of yarn to make a necklace or bracelet. Place pebbles, pearls or plastic objects inside a box of sand and let your child dig through the sand with his fingers to pick up the objects. Nursery has resources like pebbles, beads, complex educational toys, sorting activities and more which can develop your child’s motor skills. When you look for a nursery, keep in mind the resources to help your child’s overall development.

Step 6 – Play sports

Try a game of football to aid both coordination and the gross motor movements of the legs. Teach your child to ride a bike or a tricycle when age-appropriate. These activities are for gross motor skills development. Nursery can engage your child in variety of sports and fitness activities. They have activities for every age group- from infants to preschool and more.

Nurseries in Dubai Nurseries in UAE Nurseries

Children and youth are active every day, and there are many ways in which staff members can promote optimum physical development. This lesson will help you understand developmentally appropriate physical activities for children from birth to age 12. You will learn how to help staff members create spaces that promote physical activity. Finally, you will learn from exemplary programs that are promoting physical development.

Although all children develop in their own unique fashion, as a direct result of both hereditary and environmental influences, there is a certain pattern of development that applies to nearly all children. It is crucial for today’s educators to have a thorough understanding of that development. Schools today play an important role in the socialization of children and therefore it is critical that teachers know how to best socialize their students. An understanding of basic human developmental stages can be used to gear the teacher’s lesson plans in order to maximize the success of students in both the academic and the social realms of their lives. This understanding can also be used to minimize problems in the classroom.

Importance of Understanding Human Development in the Classroom:

Human development is one of the biggest contributing factors to human behavior. As children go through their different stages of life, they approach learning in different ways. When an educator has an intricate understanding of human development, he or she can use that understanding to make assessments about the behaviors of children in the classroom. This can be used to prevent problems in the classroom that often result from normal developmental acting out behavior. Such problems may also occur as a result of having a small number of children within the larger classroom who are at a different developmental stage of their lives from the stage of the other students.

Potential Problems Resulting From Lack of Understanding Development:

Educators who do not understand the role of development in the behavior of the classroom often find that they are frustrated in their working lives. This is because they simply cannot relate to why their approach to teaching the children is not working. Educators who fail to gear their lessons and teaching approach to the correct developmental stage will find that they are not reaching the children in their classrooms. This can upset the power balance between student and teacher, undermining the latter’s authority and creating a chaotic classroom environment.

Additionally, teachers who fail to understand the developmental stages of their students frequently have problems with one or two specific students. These are generally the students who are developing at a slower (or occasionally faster) pace than the larger group, and so they stand out to the teacher. Without an understanding of why that particular student’s behavior may differ from the behavior of the other students, teachers may feel that the student is merely a problem student. This also leads to a chaotic classroom environment, which is problematic not only for the teacher but also for the individuals students who may fail to accomplish appropriate development as a result.

Teacher Behaviors Which Promote Development:

It is critical that the adults who are in a child’s life, especially during critical developmental stages, are able to successfully lead these children through completion of each stage and on in to the next developmental stages of their lives. For example, the stage when children go through middle school is a time when they can be heavily influenced by external factors. With the pull of peer pressure in place, teachers may find it difficult to reach their students at this stage of life. However, there are numerous things that middle school educators can do to positively influence the students in their classrooms, creating a more positive classroom environment and contributing to the development of each individual student.

Let’s look closer at the middle school example to see how important it is that educators understand the developmental issues of this time when teaching.

Student Thinking:

The first stage of middle school development is a pivotal time for educators to teach children some basic thinking skills. First of all, this is a time when children are able to master reading and math skills, so educators should be focused on making sure that each child exercises their critical thinking skills in these areas. This can be done by incorporating reading and math in to each subject taught in the classroom so that children in the classroom get a well-rounded approach to seeing how these skills fit in to the whole of life.

In another second stage of middle school development, as children are trying to answer the greater questions about their own identity, it becomes less important for teachers to focus on skill mastery and more important to allow, within a structured environment, for children to try on different roles. Incorporating playacting in to the classroom at this time can be an excellent way to accomplish this.

Student Success:

Both of these stages of middle school development are directly related to the strength of the child’s developing ego, and therefore it is important for educators to make children feel successful in the classroom. In the first stage, children need reinforcement that they are doing well in the classroom so that they can develop a sense of industry. Teachers can promote this by setting small, achievable goals for their classroom as a whole and their students as individuals, with measurable success. Charts depicting success in the classroom or rewards for reaching certain goals are ways in which teachers can reinforce that success.

In the second stage of middle school development, students will measure their success less and less in terms of skill mastery and more in terms of their sense of self. It is important, within reason, for teachers to support their students as they try on new social roles. Teachers can lead their students to success in this area by creating an environment where children feel safe in practicing new roles but are also structured enough to not harm themselves while doing so.

Student Social and Emotional Wellbeing:

Middle school is a time during which children are undergoing constantly fluctuating emotions, which they feel with great intensity. This is especially true in the second stage of middle school development, when children are trying to figure out their own sense of self. Because they are trying to define themselves, children feel that every little thing which reflects any part of themselves is of the utmost importance.

Teachers can contribute greatly to the student’s social and emotional health during this critical time. Throughout the middle school years, it is important that teachers set firm boundaries in their classrooms. This structure helps children in the early middle school stage of development learn how to play within the rules. This means that they can better relate to their peers and they will accomplish the ability to properly associate with others. In the later stage of middle school development, setting appropriate boundaries will teach children where it is and is not appropriate to challenge authority. This sets the stage for the rest of their human development. Children who properly learn this skill can go on to create change in the world while children who fail to learn this skill may become anti-social.

Positive Classroom Environment:

The major challenge that middle school teachers face is trying to balance the changing personalities of each child within the context of the classroom (a challenge that all teachers face to some degree). While there are two basic developmental stages during this time of life, each child does develop at different rates. Some students may enter middle school still going through earlier stages of development than their peers. Some students may actually already be in the second stage of middle school development when they enter middle school. This combines with the fact that much of the aim of that second middle stage is to test boundaries and try on different roles and creates a situation which can be potentially highly chaotic.

Teachers need to remember that, in order to create a positive classroom environment, they must set the overall mood and tone for the classroom. They should maintain a highly structured environment so that children know what to expect and how to treat one another. They should encourage appropriate social interaction so that all children feel safe in the classroom. This can then be reinforced with appropriate reward systems which help children to develop their sense of industry and sense of self. Children who feel supported within such a structured environment are likely to help to create a positive environment in the classroom.

Diversity and Equality:

American children grow up in classrooms that are increasingly diverse. There are different races, different genders and increasing acknowledgment of different sexual orientations. Children who are developing their sense of self may feel threatened when their sense of self does not match what is considered the “norm”. For this reason, it is crucial that teachers take a broad view on accepting diversity in their classroom.

It is also important that teachers show their students how to accept diversity during this stage of life. In the early middle school stage of development, children are learning how to interact appropriately with their peers. Teachers who support diversity in the classroom and who teach their students that all of the individuals in the classroom are equal are able to successfully move their students in to becoming appropriately social. This is done primarily through the attitude of the teacher, which should show support for all different lifestyles through every day actions. This is enhanced when teachers are able to incorporate in to their curriculum teachings about different cultures and different ways of life. When using examples in their classroom instructions, teachers should be sure to use a range of different gender and race combinations in order to reinforce for the students that all different ways of life are equally acceptable.

In the second middle school stage, students will often attempt to rebel in order to define themselves. Teachers should work to reinforce appropriate rebellion and minimize inappropriate rebellion. For example, students may decorate their notebooks with song lyrics they identify with or they may dye their hair unique colors. Teachers who reinforce respect for the children’s choices in such harmless areas of life will help the students accomplish age-appropriate development. In contrast, students ma act out in violent or self-destructive ways, and teachers need to be on the lookout for such behavior so they can help to prevent it from continuing. Teachers who do so will teach their students that all lives are equally valuable and while therefore help students in developing an internal sense.

Summary

The importance of an educator’s understanding of their students’ developmental stages is clear. Educators play a critical role in the socialization of their students. Middle school is a particularly time of great confusion and a time when students are undergoing dramatic changes that will shape who they are for the rest of their lives. By teaching them appropriate socialization and helping them to develop a strong sense of personal identity, teachers can lead their children in to becoming healthy well-developed adults.

Afeez Iyiola from Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria on October 02, 2018:

This is informative has it gives explicit roles of both teachers and parent.

Well done!

Prosper Jb on November 07, 2016:

hmm well presented and it has given me a better understanding on my asignment

Nicole Young 07 from Chicago Illinois on April 28, 2016:

I totally agree! This is a great article and should be read by teachers around the world to make them understand the developmental stages that children go through. We have to understand that children are individuals too and therefore they have unique ways of coping with everything, in Phoenix, the Arizona Academy of Science put emphasis on individual student needs and learning styles, this way, they can provide a stronger academic program based on how the child learn. Because not everyone has that same capacity in terms of learning and development. What seems to be effective for one child may not be applicable to others.

lucas obiri on June 15, 2015:

it is quite positive and boost learning hence better perception of the stimulus..byee!

McKenna Meyers on May 31, 2015:

It's refreshing to read about middle school as these years seem to largely be ignored. Lots of kids seem to be turned off to school during this time. Nobody seems to remember their middle school years fondly. Is this just the way it is because kids are going through puberty or can we change middle school to make it a more positive and nurturing experience?

amon on May 21, 2014:

importance

abner nagutuwala on August 06, 2013:

that is helpful and grate

fatbardha gjoni on January 30, 2013:

your writing is very clear and useful

best wishes for writing so good

Missy Mac from Illinois on September 22, 2012:

I am a newbie and I love this article. After 12 years of teaching, your research is on spot. An effective teacher needs to understand the development of a child. This knowledge helps an educator to create lessons and a positive classroom environment based on our students.

Thanks again.

mzomhle Giyama on March 05, 2012:

There are also the unqualified teachers who also get in to this proffesion and fail to deal with such issues

Melis Ann from Mom On A Health Hunt on February 21, 2012:

A teacher can't possibly be effective without the knowledge of the different stages of child development. Great topic.

monika on January 22, 2012:

good

Krystal from Los Angeles on December 25, 2011:

This was well written and important. Child development should be a requirement for everyone considering we will all raise or come into content with children on some level.

Hania on November 25, 2011:

Its very informative for teachers and students.

Sarita Sukesh on May 07, 2011:

Yaa its really very informative,in a very simple understanding language its being presented...I wish teachers in India should strictly go through this ,were teaching profession is being turned as business just mode of income ...

leonardobapex from Bangkok, Thailand on March 06, 2011:

The success of the student is the triumph of the teachers. Your hub offers a clear and reasonable approach in the development of a child.

quuenieproac from Malaysia on November 20, 2010:

You divided and explained the stages of development of the child very well. Teachers have such a great impact on growing kids, so it is important that we choose and train the teachers well. Thanks for sharing.

Lynda -Bailey from South Los Angeles on November 14, 2010:

Thank you for a well thought out hub. The biggest problem is that each child moves through those stages at their own speed. None are ever the same. Pulling it together can be difficult. That is where teacher magic and their use of different methods make them special for going where no man has ever gone before...

Nikita Wagle on September 12, 2010:

Ausum note based on child psychology