developmental-reflection-paper-kristin-soliz

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Kristin Soliz 24 November 2013 Developmental Stages in my Life Each developmental stage that exists, brings about mo re exciting growth and change in a  person’s life. Humans, by nature, are continually evolving and adapting to their surroundings and childhood development is no different. Development in children is classified into five growth  periods accordingly: Infancy, Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. It is important to note that each stage brings about a more complex being in physical, cognitive and social aspects. While there are some milestones that occur by nature (these happen naturally), there are others that occur by nurture (ho w we are brought up and what we are exposed to); both set the foundation for our lives and set us up to be rational and functional adults. I have experienced the first four stages of childhood development and am in the midst of the last stage. Because of this class, I am n ow able to contemplate each milestone and begin to  better understand how I arrived at who I am today. The first stage of development is Infancy. Infancy is the period from birth through year one and during this time, many man y significant milestones are met. Significant physical, cognitive and social growth occurs during a child’s first year and if natural markers are not met, a child could suffer severe consequences. Looking back into my Infancy stage, there were specific milestones I faced like being weaned off of o f breast milk and making the transition from formula to baby foods. Physically, I grew at a rapid pace and also gained weight equally as fast. Cognitively, my brain could recognize my mother’s voice, and I could even read her facial expressions. I began to smile and steps towards locomotion were made like crawling and pulling myself up to help me stabilize myself. m yself. During Infancy, I also began linking actions like waving

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with their symbolic meaning like hello and goodbye. Socially, I was exceedingly attached to my mother and would cry if she left. For Fo r the most part, every milestone I encountered encou ntered was expected in normal growth. I began to teethe and was always ahead of my weight and height goal in terms of months. By the end of year one, I had begun to speak basic words like “mama and dada” and was on the verge of walking on my own. While I hit most major developmental goals, there were a couple of growth events that I did not encounter. According to my parents, I was weaned from breast milk within the first month of being born. They relied heavily on formula as a replacement, so I never really got the nutrient-rich milk from my mother. In addition to this, I was not a habitual thumb sucker. During my Infancy period, a few things happened that were unexpected. One thing that happened to me was having to be treated multiple times for jaundice. In addition to jaundice, I had frequent and reoccurring ear infections that eventually required tubes. Ultimately, this stage was crucial in setting up further development. Such basics things like speech and locomotion are vital parts in a  person’s life for all subsequent years. Language Language starts in Infancy and if properly nurtured here, will continue to flourish. Infancy laid the foundation for all successive growth and development. The next developmental phase laid out o ut by psychologists is Early Childhood. In this second stage, development years are ages two through six. Early Childhood contains many important milestones that build upon its forerunning stage of Infancy. Although physical growth slows compared to Infancy, it does still occur; examples o f physical growth in this stage are more stable height growth patterns and learning h ow to walk. A few cognitive milestones that I encountered are refined speech and more developed thought patterns. In Early Childhood, kids  begin school and learn their ABC’s, numbers, colors and can even ask for what they want. This

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is a huge step cognitively for development developmen t because previously, children were limited to basic words like “mama and dada”. Socially, I began to venture out and build other personal relationships other than m y  parents and learned to share and play with other children. Expected developmental events that occurred during my Early Childhood stage includ e make believe play, more refined motor skills, development between recognizing good and bad, loosing baby teeth, potty training, learning how to properly express emotions, and attachment to objects like a blanket for security. Developmental events that I bypassed were the “terrible two’s” stage and separation anxiety upon leaving my parents. A few developmental events I had that were not expected are becoming left-handed, and learning to swim. This stage of d evelopment was important in my subsequent development because I began to build outside peer relationships and I even discovered my love for art. Much of my Early Childhood was spent playing, going to school and discovering new things about the world around me. As this stage closed in my life, another one blossomed; Middle Childhood. The third developmental stage a child endures endu res is Middle Childhood. During this stage, children begin to discover who they are, who they want to be and who they intend to become. During Middle Childhood, I encountered multiple p hysical, cognitive and social milestones. Physically I went from being the tallest kid to the smallest in class, I began puberty towards the later end of this stage and my entire body and voice changed, and I even began to thin out and loose most of my childhood bulge. Co gnitively, my memory improved, and I began linking thoughts together and relating common ideas to better organize and understand them. Socially, I had my first of many sleepovers and I started to come “out of my shell” towards new people. I realized it takes hard work to earn what you desire and to stop at nothing until you arrive at that

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 point. Some developmental events I encountered that were expected were: beginning grade school, remaining very active, more refined motor skills like balance and flexibility, I became more socially aware and began to vale others opinions of me, I began to play with neighborhood kids every day after school and every day, I changed my self-perception. A developmental event that never occurred in my childhood was the breaking of any  bones; though I was clumsy, I escaped severe injuries. Having to get my pants hemmed, being  put into the accelerated program at school and becoming my elementary school’s class Vice President are among my unexpected Middle Childhood events. Middle Childhood was more important for me socially and cognitively because it set the stage for many perspectives,  practices and behaviors I still experience today. I began to realize what it meant to be a good friend as well as to have one, I began working hard to get where I wanted to be, I set up my “worry wart” mentality, and more was expected of me in school because of being in the gifted  program (my parents expectations went up, and along with that came additional stress to impress). Even today, I still worry, I still strive to do as well in school as I can and I like to think that I still work hard for what I want from life. Adolescence is the next and fourth developmen tal stage for children. This stage was a fun one…years eleven through eighteen brought about ab out many firsts and constant changes in my m y life. During Adolescence, I crossed many benchmarks off my list, including: finishing up puberty, reaching my final height, starting to develop m y own beliefs separate from my parents, having an exclusive circle of close friends, beginning to think everyone had constant eyes on me (imaginary audience), beginning to think outside ou tside of what I saw daily (space, morality, future  plans), and even built my vocabulary to be fluent and more refined. As usual, I hit most major expected developmental milestones. Physically, I did n othing to remain healthy until my later

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adolescent years, I grew (and had them t hem removed) wisdom teeth, and my m y body continued to fill out. Cognitively, I was very dramatic (personal fable), became very good at reading and writing, and was driven heavily by emotion. Socially, I learned monetary responsibility by getting a job, experienced my first love as well as heartbreak, encountered my first true bought of rejection, I related and identified myself to my friends instead of parents and had low self-esteem. One developmental event I did not encounter was peer pressure and its negative effects. During my Adolescent years, I made sure to stay away from situations I was either uncomfortable with or knew I should not be b e involved in. In this stage of development, dev elopment, there were a handful of unexpected events that I underwent including: being being diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome, being responsible for a car pa yment and also earning college credi ts while I was in high school. Adolescence played an important role in my development because I learned what I wanted from life and what I didn’t, and I began I began thinking for myself m yself and trying new things. If something didn’t work, I tried tried something else until my method was successful. su ccessful. During this time, I decided I wanted to attend college, and I figured out what it’s like to be alone and to have friends. I was very bodily self-conscious and began to run daily to like myself more, which eventually turned into a hobby for me. I graduated towards the end of Adolescence and became addicted to the feeling success gave me. me . These themes I developed in this stage of my life, spilled over into the next and final childhood phase; Emerging Adulthood. I am still in the process of completing my last and final stage of development called Emerging Adulthood. I teeter on a fine line between independent adult and dependent student. I have a job but it is not a career, and financially with school, schoo l, I am still heavily reliant on my  parents. So far, I have experienced a handful of physical, cognitive and social milestones. Physically, I began growing out instead of u pwards like my previous stages and I began to look

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more like an adult. Cognitively, I realized m y limits academically, I became more academically ac ademically diverse with college and I began making my own decisions concerning religion, morality and life. Socially, I moved away from my m y parents and left all of my hometown friends in search of a better education, I have experienced a long-term romantic relationship and I have realized the importance of keeping in touch with friends, new and old. Expected developmental benchmarks I have encountered include: making the decision between working and continuing education, struggling financially, perfecting time management, sorting out who I want to be and what I want from life, starting to set timelines for future milestones, and balancing a job and school. Although it is expected developmentally, I did not lose my focus academically after moving away from home by excessively partying. An event that occurred during Emerging Adulthood that is not expected was developing arthritis in my hip joints after an injury. This stage o f my life has been all about self-exploration and setting up my future by further educating myself. This  phase is still heavily underway. After learning the different phases of childhood development, from Infancy to Emerging Adulthood, I am better able to organize my growth accordingly. I now understand un derstand my previous developmental milestones and can see how they have molded me into the person I am today.