Explain the difference between sequence and rate of development and why this is important. Sequence of development is the stages and pattern in which a child develops and progresses through their life. All children take a general way of progressing however some will bypass some stages. All children though will come to the final goal/milestone. Children move through stages according to their age, for example for a child to start walking they will firstly sit, crawl, stand and finally take their first few steps.
However some children may not crawl and go from sitting straight to standing up to walk. Most usually blind children take this path to walk where as other children prefer to ‘bum-shuffle’ rather than crawl. The sequence development emphasizes normative measurement. This is where milestones (or stages) of a child’s development is focused on. The normative measurement shows what most children can do for their age. There are many factors of life which influence these normative ranges, which give us a wide range of them, for example, cultural and social factors.
Some children though may be labelled as ‘backwards’ when associated to the ‘normal’ child, however this is not true and ties in with rate of development. The rate of development for a child is simply how fast or slow they progress through stages and milestones. Some children may reach various child development stages earlier or later than others yet each child’s progress is individual and unique to them. Different children develop at different rates. Whilst the sequence of development is general and varies through cultures and societies, the rate of development is even more widely ranged.
The Term Paper on Understanding Child Development
... is required for practitioners to make development comparisons between a child’s actual development stage and expected development rates. • Offer appropriate activities and experiences. ... child and young person development. 1.2 Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and rate of development and why the difference is important. Sequence of development: Children ...
One misguided assumption is that if a child is to reach a milestone far earlier than expected by the normative they are gifted and outstanding in some way. It is perfectly normal for a baby to walk at 10 months and it is also perfectly normal for another baby to accomplish the same skill at 18 months however no baby can manage to walk before sitting up. If a child shows delays in their development it may be a cause of concern leading on to a special recommendation to help support them. Children with special education develop using the ‘development ladder.
’ Here they reach stages in irregular ways, such as talking by the average age but not walking. The differences are very important here, the sequence of development means that you must reach one of area of development before moving on to the next. The rate of development is the pace that a child develops within each sequence or the pace overall which covers all the areas in the sequence. These principals run through all areas of development such as physical, social and intellectual no matter how old the child is.
Using these normative guidelines we can adapt ourselves and children to their age and stage of development including the activities planned for them. We shouldn’t assume that is a child does have a special educational need that they are ‘backward’ or if a child has reached a milestone quicker that they are gifted. The differences of these two developments ‘normative’ helps us spot these therefore giving us the chance to help children and to reassure their parents/carers.
