Growth and Development of Children

Understanding of growth and development will helps us to plan educational growth and development of the child. Human life starts from a single fertilized cell. This cell is under constant interaction with the environment in the mother’s womb and after birth with the outside world. This interaction leads to the Growth and Development of the child. The increasing of an organ or limb of the baby, in size and weight is Growth. Division of each cell and their growing into thousands in number, or their changing tissues, blood or bone, is part of the process of development. The primary purpose of studying the growth and development of children is to understand them better. As a teacher or a parent, can manage children more effectively if he is aware of how they grow and develop in a systematic manner right from the moment of conception. An orderly pattern is found in the growth of every organ of the body and area of development. Although the development process is continuous, the rate or speed of development varies at different ages of the child. For example, children grow most rapidly during the first three years of life. In their middle childhood, i.e., from 6 – 12 years, their rate of growth is comparatively slow whereas it is accelerated again when they approach adolescence. A knowledge of the trends and patterns of growth and development will enable he to know how children grow and develop; when and what to expect from them, how to guide them in each stage and provide the environment for their optimum development. The purpose of this article is to familiarize us with the fundamental facts and various characteristics of Growth and development