Table of Contents
Influences on a Baby's Development The Development of the Brain Birth to 7 Years Head:Body Ratio Parent/Toddler Observations Bath Time A Summary of the Development of a Child from Birth to 5 Children's Emotions Grades 1 to 8 High School Ages 20 to 70 Before Birth
 Two cells join inside a woman's body. Somehow, they know exactly what to do, and they begin dividing. The first thing that develops in the baby after the first division of cells is the brain and spinal cord. The heart soon develops four chambers and begins beating. After 3 months, all the lobes of the brain are present and all the organs are that will form have their own sets of cells. The eyes are visible but not yet functional. By this time, most people will know they are pregnant, except overweight people, quadriplegics, and teenagers in denial. It is easy for a teenager to pass off the morning sickness for something else if they don't want to believe they are pregnant. But after 3 months, the morning sickness usually goes away. It is between 3 and 5 months when the woman feels her best. Between the 5th and 7th month, the baby grows the most in size. After that, it fills out, getting chubbier and rounded.
The most efficient way for a baby to come out is head first, facing down. But if a woman had to give birth by herself, she wouldn't be able to wipe the slime from the baby's mouth and nose in time. So birth hurts so that the woman is more willing to accept help.
 Back to top Influences on a Baby's Development
A baby comes into the world ready to learn as much as she can. They have ears that hear, eyes that see, fingers that touch, a nose that smells, and a tongue that tastes. They are ready to use all five senses to learn as much about the world around them that they can. As such, everything around them influences who they become. The behavior of the parents around the baby is especially important. If the parents are responsive to the baby she will develop better. Often parents go out and buy the latest Johnson & Johnson developmental toy and leave it in front of their baby. But the best thing for the baby is not the toy itself, but the interaction between the parent and the baby with the toy, and any toy works just as well as another.
Another important influence is drinking breast milk. Breast milk is much better for babies than formulas. There is a certain enzyme found in the breast milk that can't yet be duplicated. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the intelligences of babies who drank breast milk and those who drank formulas.
If a baby catches a disease, her development is greatly hindered. It takes all the energy a baby has to grow, and if she has to use that energy to fight off a disease, it's not available for other purposes.
It is important that the mother eats healthily during pregnancy so that the baby has a good source of nutrients and can develop properly. The best time to save a baby's life is before she is born. The baby is growing inside the mother, and getting nutrients from her. So whatever the mother eats is passed on to the baby. This includes everything from the vegetables and greens to the alcohol and drugs. Consumption of alcohol and drugs by the mother has a devastating effect on the baby's development. These toxins get passed right on down to the baby and enter her system. They can do horrible things to the developing brain. It is exactly for this reason that the mother must watch her diet extremely closely during pregnancy. She may not even know she is pregnant until several weeks have passed, so if she is even planning on getting pregnant she should watch her diet.
Back to top The Development of the Brain
The first part of the brain to develop is the inner layer called the Cerebellum, which controls movement and crawling. At one month old, the brain activity is concentrated in the areas of motor control and vision. Between 2 and 4 months, the brain is making connections in the vision areas at a tremendous speed, and this process peaks at 8 months. By 8 months, the activity is more spread out. Between the ages of 3 and 6 years, the brain is the most active it will ever be. After the age of 6, the brain activity diminishes and remains relatively constant.
There are areas of the brain that take care of specific tasks. The Brainstem controls the basic functions needed to survive such as the heartbeat and lungs. The Limbic System controls emotion and feeling. The Cerebral Cortex takes care of seeing, listening and speaking. The last layer to develop is the Cortex, which provides reason and logic. In fact, it is not until the late teens when this is fully developed.
A baby is born with 100 billion neurons ready to make connections. Synapses are the connections between neurons. A baby has 50 trillion, and after 1 year there are 1000 trillion. But by age 20, the number of synapses drops to 500 trillion. This is due to a "pruning process" in which the brain decides which connections are most useful and which it can discard.
Back to top Birth to 7 Years
Everyone knows that babies' heads look big on them. When they are born, the ratio of the head to the body is 1:4. From birth to 2 years of age, babies are developing their senses. Their eyesight is a bit blurry; their best sense is their mouth. That is why they put everything in their mouths. When an object leaves the field of a baby's vision, it is gone from the baby's reality. It just isn't there. This explains a baby's crying when mommy leaves the room.
At age 2, the focus shifts form the head and the feeling life begins to happen. This is the time to provide food for the imagination. Tell fairy tales about good and evil, and truth and lying to instill these morals into them. Repetition and rhythm play an important part in the development of a 2 year old. Having meals and bedtimes at the same time every day creates this sense of security, that the world is predictable, which reduces stress. Children love to hear the same story over and over again. It is this repetition that helps them learn the language and develops the memory. The range of emotions the infant can express is content and discontent. At this age, a sense of self begins to develop, a sense that they are separate people from mom. It is this age when they start saying "no." The answer to every question seems to be no. This can be frustrating to the parents, but they must realize what this "no" really means. It is often just the first response that comes to mind when asked a question, and needs not be taken seriously. The child will often go along with the activity even after saying no.
Beginning at age 3, children begin to play imaginatively. It is the development of feeling that allows this to happen. They will set a goal for themselves, such as stacking blocks to build a certain thing, not just stacking blocks for no reason. Also around this age, the body gets a bit taller and the belly gets chubby.
At age 5, children usually have a growth spurt. Then the growing moves from growing taller to growing the limbs outward. This age shows the peak of the child's imagination. The child is able to play happily all alone. It is this age that the will develops. Children have strong drives, drives to eat and such, but the will is the force that takes the drives and moves them towards goals. Young children are into instant gratification, and part of what is needed by the will is the delaying of this gratification. When a child is whining wanting something, don't just get it for them, tell them they can get it or show them how. If you get everything for them, they learn that they don't have to do anything except whine and things come towards them.
From the 5th to the 7th year, a new kind of development takes place. The imagination is not as strong, and the child may say for the first time, "I'm bored." This is a good sign, a sign that the child is ready to move out of kindergarten.
Back to top Head:Body Ratio
Back to top Parent/Toddler Observations
There was an enormous difference between the 1-year-old Gwen and the 2-year-old Liesel. The sense of balance was much more developed in Liesel. She was able to stand on a pillow holding her legs straight. Gwen tried, but her legs were too wobbly. Liesel was much more independent of her mother. While singing in the circle, she would often get up, leave her mother's side and walk to the teacher, while Gwen clung to her mother the whole time. During play time, the children were taking turns being swung in a cloth by the teacher and mom. Liesel was able to just lie inside the swing, but Gwen needed to hold on to the edges for safety. Gwen showed some initiative when it was Liesel's turn to be swung. She had a doll, and got a cloth form the basket. She gave two corners to her mother and put the doll in the middle. Then she and her mother swung the doll just like the teacher and Liesel's mother were swinging Liesel. This is a perfect example showing the drive to imitate.
Back to top Bath Time
A child is splashing in the bathtub. The parent naturally wants to say, "Don't splash! You're making a mess!" But the child is most likely not going to listen and may even splash more. This gets the parent frustrated and nothing is accomplished. Instead, try a different approach. When the baby is child is splashing, let them splash and make a mess. But remind them they're going to have to clean it up afterwards. Then after the bath, the parent should say, "Now we're going to clean up the mess." And the parent should help the child clean. The idea is that this becomes a routine, making a mess and cleaning it up. Then eventually the child will clean up any mess they make, or they just won't make a mess in the first place because they know they will have to clean it up.
Back to top A Summary of the Development
of a Child from Birth to 5 After a child is born, she must develop her physical body as well as her spirit and soul. Emotionally, she is wide open, easily influenced by everything around her as she takes it all in and learns from it. We must take care what she is exposed to, to control the things she is influenced by so as not to have her exposed to bad influences. We must use her natural ability of imitation and teach her the right kind of behavior by setting examples.
While at home, children are naturally curious and love to explore the various objects in the kitchen. While mom is cooking, she must let her child bang on the pots and go through the cabinets, as this is a learning process that should not be interrupted. The best kinds of toys to play with are toys that occur naturally in the outside world, or ones that can be made by hand. A sense of self is developing, and with this realization that the child is a separate identity, she loves to say "No." This is not as much a rejection as a statement of self.
Four year olds now begin to play with their imagination. They can pick up a rock and it can become a ship, or anything else. Their imaginations run wild with any object they play with. But what they can imagine is only what they have been exposed to. A child can't pretend a rock is a ship unless she has heard of a ship before, even if only seeing a picture in a book. At this stage, it is important for the toys a child is exposed to to not be completed to allow the imagination some room to play.
Beginning at age five, children may experience boredom for the first time. But once a new idea comes to them, they are fully engaged, often planning out exactly how they will play. It is not uncommon to find groups of children who plot out who plays what role, what goes where, etc. Often, the play of a five-year old is more about the planning than the actual play.
Children begin their lives as a great sponge, with every part of them eager to take in new information. Children exist in the senses and in the will. The will takes hold of the world through the senses. The organs of a child are not fully developed and have not found their inner rhythm. This structure that later becomes apparent is mainly achieved through external influences.
Through three years old, children have much more control over their bodies. They can grasp things, dress themselves, throw things, they can even help mom with household chores like cooking. But this is the stage where bad habits can easily be formed. It is important to teach the child what is appropriate. At this stage, a sense of individuality appears, and the child learns to say "no." It is helpful if the child is already used to a rhythm and good manners.
Beginnin at the age of three, the formative life forces get to work at the internal organs as well as the imagination. The child will see an ordinary object and be reminded of something she has seen earlier. The will takes over and drives the child to explore this new thing that suddenly exists. They are able to create many different scenarios with the same objects. But if the will is not as strongly developed, children may behave destructively, running around and knocking things over.
At the age of five, an obvious change occurs. Children seem to lose their imagination and suddenly say they're "bored." What we can do at this point is not try to put the imagination back by reminding the child of how she used to play, but instead, engage her in routine activities with the adult. Activities such as sewing, drawing, making picture books, sweeping, sawing wood, gardening. Most importantly, the adult should request help rather than demand it. After a certain length of "work," the child will want to go play again.
At this point, the imagination shifts. A child used to be able to pick up a stick and say, "I'm a chimney sweep." But now, the child sees the stick, is reminded of a chimney sweep, then says, "To be a chimney sweep i need a long brush." Then she will go and make one. The will has to work from within itself to connect the idea and the imagination. If a child is not given this opportunity they can easily become unruly. If children cannot exercise their imagination, it is better to become involved in a physical activity rather than to go racing wildly around.
Children may require assistance from adults in their play. They may have an idea to start out the play, but the play may run to a halt and not go anywhere. A groupd of children pretend to be a circus with different children playing different animals. This may carry on for a while, and the children might become bored without really knowing. An adult could step in and say, "Maybe all these circus animals need a snack." That new idea sparks interest in the children and they go fixing things up to eat an imaginary snack. This may lead to yet another idea for play, or the adult might need to step in again and spark a new idea.
Back to top Children's Emotions
Even during pregnancy, a child is influenced by her mother's emotions. If her mother is living in a stressful environment, this will come through to the child inside.
From birth to 8 months, babies are open to everything around them. They actively engage in watching and listening, taking in as much as they can. They are learning how to see and understand language.
From 6 to 18 months, two-way communication begins to take place. Babies will respond to gestures or facial expressions with their own. When given a baby doll, they will hold it as close to themselves as possible.
From 18 to 36 months, the imagination comes into their play. Their play is not just exploratory, learning about different objects, but now there might be a story behind what they do. Adults who play with a child this age must be able to play without taking control. Let the child guide.
From 3 to 5 years, children are able to distinguish more of what is real and what is not. This is when their emotional thinking develops more strongly.
All the way through, a caring relationship is vital to the emotional development of the child. If a child is constantly yelled at, she may be afraid to take the initiative later in life for fear of messing up.
Back to top Grades 1 to 8
Up to the 7th year of life, children learn primarily by imitation. You rarely see a child sit still. The only time they would sit still is when their imagination is being fed. Around the 6th and 7th year, the child's teeth begin to fall out. This is a very important stage, and a good sign that the child is ready to enter the 1st grade.
There are many layers to a human. There is the physical layer, which is visible to everyone. Above that is the etheric body, which holds the life forces, the forces that form the body and soul. Above that is the astral body, the body of feeling and soul. Even further above is the ego, the sense of individuality. During the change of teeth period, the etheric body is using its forces to push the teeth out and grow new ones. After this change, the forces are then made available to learn. This is why children should not be taught anything academic prior to losing their teeth.
Another important change happens at 9 years of age in the 3rd grade. At this stage, children for the first time recognize the difference between the subjective and the objective. They realize they are individuals separate from the rest of the world. As such, the child may challenge the things a parent or teacher does. This time brings an awakening that they can do things by themselves. Consequently, they may be a bit fearful as new thoughts about death materialize.
The last major development in grade school is at age 12. This age brings the birth of the intellect. The child now has a developed sense of the subjective and objective. A new understanding of cause and effect appears. Prior to this change, if you were to say, "do your homework or you can't go outside," they will understand they have to do their homework to go outside, but that is more about the way they feel about it, not true cause and effect logic. At this stage, don't work the intellect too hard. Support the intellect and use the imagination. If you work the intellect too hard, it won't blossom and the imagination will be crushed. The first physics lesson is in 6th grade. Children are shown experiments and asked to figure out for themselves what is going on. They must be allowed to see the wonder in the experiment and try to reason on their own why this is happening. This develops their imagination.
Back to top High School
Although high school may seem to be the time when development is complete and all that's left is learning, this is actually not the case. There are several important stages of development left.
In grade 9, with children ages 14 and 15, there is a strong sense of negation. The general attitude is "everything is stupid." Ninth graders will act on impulses without any sense of the consequences. They may know something is wrong, but they will do it anyway. When asked why they did it, they may reply, "I don't know." This is an honest answer. Ninth graders have many opinions not backed up by thinking.
The biggest change that happens between 14 and 21 happens in grade 10. A newfound respect for the world and school is gained. Everything is not stupid anymore. There is a sense of positive thinking. The child may be more willing to learn. This change is most likely to happen towards the end of the 10th grade. A tenth grader may still do something wrong, but with full knowledge of the consequences. More solid thinking now backs up their opinions.
In grade 11, the sense of individuality that has been developing since birth now becomes concrete. An eleventh grader has more respect for their responsibilities, and the respect that was gained in 10th grade develops further.
In grade 12 and beyond, ages 18 to 21, the child will start having better relationships with their parents. They may suddenly think, "Wow, my parents have gotten much smarter." They develop their own judgments and separate their own thinking from that of others. This is a time to explore oneself as an individual, a time of opening up into the world.
Back to top Ages 20 to 70
This is a timeline of the changes that happen in the rest of your life after high school. It's pretty much downhill once you get to 30.
20s Physical Changes muscular efficiency peaks mental ability peaks skeletal systems grow Emotional Changes seeking experiences seeking idealism seeking excitement thinking about career and family responsibility spiritual protection 30s Physical Changes physical degeneration sets in hearing goes Emotional Changes cooling off discipline/order finding oneself 40s Physical Changes men - receding hairline women - facial hair Emotional Changes wake up and re-evaluate life (mid-life crisis) rebirth patience acceptance 50s Physical Changes bone mass decreasing muscle strength decreases if not used loss of memory menopause male depression Emotional Changes wisdom acquired less competition reassessment gratitude bitterness because facing death 60s Physical Changes decreased tolerance to heat and cold diminished circulation loss of teeth skeletal degeneration Emotional Changes bitter-sweetness reflection desire to reconnect sort out relationships peace/calm meditate on mysteries 70s Physical Changes stiff joints thinning hair Emotional Changes freedom spiritual growth wisdom or depression giving up Back to top |
