Milestones are worth celebrating as you cross obstacle after obstacle to reach your dream. Classes for toddlers too have milestones that their parents set for them as they grow. A toddler’s milestones aim to achieve overall development of the toddler as he learns and imitates new concepts.
These milestones vary from child to child, they are:-
1) Behavioral milestone – a child waving goodbye, playing, listening and smiling are behavioral milestones for a child. Crossing milestone after milestone displays the mental, physical and psychological growth of the child. There are certain standards that help determine the rate of development of a child. Exploring new concepts through touch, taste, and sight helps the child learn faster through examples and tangible objects. Recognition of familiar faces, names and objects are also part of these milestones.
2) Learning milestone – the parent and teacher encourage the child to learn by captivating the child’s interest with interesting teaching tools which keep the child engaged. Certain aspects that contribute to overcoming this milestone are reading to the child every day, identifying body parts, solving puzzles, sorting shapes, improve vocabulary, encouraging curiosity and growing independently. These can be done in interesting ways by which the child does not feel the pressure of learning something new.
3) Judgment milestone – when the child can make a simple but right judgment about what needs to be done in certain situations is what this milestone is all about. When parents and teachers tell children to do something that is called obedience. But when a child is told not to do something and follows through, it shows the child is able to make the right decision based on the teachings given before. Walking too close to water areas like pools, lakes, ponds, and bathtubs is one such example. Playing close to a plug point or electrical outlet, touching appliances, going into rooms that they are not allowed to go unaccompanied, opening drawers containing medication, knives or detergent; all examples of events where the child has to make a decision based on previously taught instructions.
4) Health milestone – when the child is able to maintain a well-balanced diet, a health milestone is conquered. This indicates that the child is playing and has an active lifestyle because of which he eats. Inculcating the values of healthy eating will directly reflect upon the child’s physical health.
Each milestone is crucial for the development of the child. At http://www.chengzhu.edu.sg/mandarin-centre/adult-accompanied-programmes/playclub/, these milestones are essential and also constitutes as the core of the curriculum.
As a children educator, I pride myself in acquiring various knowledge and methods in order to cultivate the next generation of leaders for our society. As such, I enjoy writing to share my expertise with parents and guardians that are concerned about the development of their children. This platform records my sharing and love for the little ones around me. Hope you enjoy reading!