Domains and Milestones

Domains of Development

As we investigate child development, asking what impacts development is too general!  What specific area of development?

• Physical Links to an external site. - How do children grow physically and what are the milestones of development?
• Social-Emotional Links to an external site. - How do children grow socially and emotionally and what are the milestones of development? 
• Cognitive Links to an external site.- How do children grow cognitively/learn and what are the milestones of development?
• Language Links to an external site. - How do children grow in their communication skills and what are the milestones of development?

Throughout the course we will learn about how children at different ages: infant, preschool, school age and adolescent grow, focusing on the whole child: physical, social/emotional, cognitive, and language.

WARNING! WARNING! Do not compare children to each other! WARNING! WARNING!

Developmental Milestone

Besides the phrase, "relationship precedes learning", the Highline Education Department often uses the statement, "age does not determine stage" throughout our courses. The statement reminds future teachers to be mindful, to not compare children by their age, as so many different factors impact how a child develops, just using age is not enough.  Caregivers and parents should be cautious about comparing children to other children the same age, that information done through this does not give clues to development but rather the differences between those two children.

• What if both children are developing more quickly than their peers the same age?  How would you know?
  
• What if both children are developing at a slower pace than their peers of the same age? How would you know?

Rather than compare children to each other based on their age, we compare them to developmental milestones. These are research based stages of development identified by observing thousands of children, not just a few. Developmental milestones are professional standards that assist parents and caregivers in better understanding their child's development and how to create environments to support it.

Resources:

• Department of Early Learning (DEL) published the Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines.  Links to an external site.This free, downloadable book provides the milestones of development for children, birth-8yrs old and what caregivers can do to support them. This is a required text for the course. Order your own copy from DEL or download the pdf to your computer.
• Parenting Lab Links to an external site. provides a very easy to follow and detailed timelines of developmental milestones.
• Talaris Institute Links to an external site.is committed to supporting parents and caregivers by sharing the latest findings and most current research in early childhood development.