DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD

DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD

When the child completes his five years and steps into school going age, this period of childhood start. It goes up to the on-set puberty. During this period significant changes in the sphere of physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects take place. The main characteristics of development during this stage can be named as follows:-

1. Period of slow and steady growth:-

Where the infancy is the period of rapid and intensive growth, the stage of childhood is the characterized as the period of slow, steady and uniform growth. Development rate, although continuous and uniform, is very slow at this stage.

2. Independence:-

Whereas an infant look for help in every sort of work, even if he is able to do it independently, the child at this stage desires independence. By acquiring experiences and developing physically, intellectual and socially he tries to adjust himself in his environment. In fact at this stage he feels more at home with his own efforts. He becomes increasingly independent of his parents whom he considers merely, convenient persons to provide food and shelter.

3. Emotional stability and control:-

Childhood in the emotional aspect is the period of stability and control. Intense emotional outbursts which usually find their expression in motor activity and physical form during infancy are rarely respected at this stage. The child learns to hide his feelings. He can exercise control over his emotions and express them in appropriate and socially approved ways. His emotional behaviour is not guided by instinctive causes but has an appropriate rationale behind it.

4. Developing social tendency:-

In contrast to an infant who is egocentric, the child at this age, develops social tenancies and picks up so many social virtues. He likes to play in group and shares hi toys with others. Feelings of mutual cooperation term spirits and group loyalties are developed among children of their age. This period of childhood is often named as gang-age as the child of this age is always a member of some group and develops a very strong sentiment for the group. He is so much loyal to his group that he sometimes even does not mind the displeasure of his parents and teachers.

5. Realistic attitude:-

Child at this stage begins to accept and appreciate the hard realities of life. He, no longer remains in the own world of make-believe, fantasy and fairy-tales. He is now a perfect realist in place of imaginative idealist. He begins to take a close interest in the world of realities and tries to adapt himself in the real environment.

6. Formation of sentiments and complexes:-

Infancy is the age in innocence. The child at this stage in not in the habit of hiding his feelings and checking his emotions. Therefore no complexes are formed at this stage whereas childhood stage gives birth to so many complexes due to inhibition, repression etc. At the stage of infancy, emotional behaviour does not turn itself into a permanent structure for giving birth to sentiments. But at this stage of childhood emotional behaviour gets itself structured into sentiments. Various sentiments like religious, moral, patriotic and aesthetic sentiments begin to develop at this stage. The formation of such sentiments leads to wards character development.

7. Sexual development:-

With regard to sexual development, this stage is called ‘latency period’. Sexual energy, generally, at this stage remains dormant but emerges with great force at the end of this stage. The sexual behaviour of the children at this stage is characterized by the development of an attitude of antagonism and indifference towards the opposite sex. While at the infancy stage the boys and girls play together, the children at this stage like to play with the members of their own sex. Due to their varied interests they gradually develop a general attitude of antagonism towards the opposite sex. As a result of this antagonistic behaviour the two sexes naturally draw apart. Even when brought together in family gathering, boys and girls of this age are barely civil to one another. Sex antagonism is more pronounced in boys than in the case of girls. They do not want anything that resembles a girl. In the case of girls the attitude of antagonism, generally, takes the form of indifference. They try to ignore the boys in place of tormenting, teasing and interfering with their play.

8. Intellectual development:-

This stage is the period of intellectual advancement. The rate of intellectual development is quite rapid at this which resembles the rate of physical growth at infancy. At this stage the child acquires new experiences and tries to adapt himself in his environment and prepares himself to solve the problems. His power of reasoning, thinking, observation, concentration, perception, imagination etc. are developed. He cannot very well go with abstract thinking. He develops the concept of length, time and distance and learns to express himself in various ways.

9. Development of interests and aptitudes:-

In childhood the child’s field of interests widens and he shows special aptitudes, likings and disliking towards the things and work. The children of this age are usually extravert and are very fond of excursions and visits. They develop interest in reading various types of book, radio, television, drama and movies hold a strong appeal for them. They are interested in very thing which is mysterious and romantic. Wide differences in the interest pattern can be seen among boys and girls. Boys are interested in the activities requiring fearlessness, courage and adventures while girls are inclined towards the activities requiring tenderness, softness and other feminine characteristics.

 HARITH.P.H

SOCIAL SCIENCE