Age ONE Development

Hand-Eye Coordination, also known as fine motor skills, has to do with how a child uses the small muscles in her hands and fingers. As your child nears age 1, you may notice that she grasps small objects with her thumb and first or second finger. This is known as the pincer grasp. Each day her coordination gets better. A 1-year-old enjoys the challenge of picking up small objects, such as cereal, and finding the control to move objects around or bang them together. You can encourage these skills by allowing her to feed herself and by showing her different activities, like snapping your fingers, for her to imitate.

Language skills--which include listening, comprehension, speech, reading, and writing--enable your child to communicate, while laying the foundation for all of your childs future learning. By the time your baby is one year old, you may notice that he uses lots of nonverbal communication to let you know what he wants, like reaching up to be held or pointing to a cup if hes thirsty. And he also probably understands a lot of what you say to him. He most likely can identify family members and familiar objects, as well as point to body parts, like eyes and ears when asked. He will imitate many of the gestures you make and noises he hears. If reminded, hell say hi or bye & use expressions like oh-oh! You can develop these skills by talking to your baby as much as possible, using simple, clear, and specific language. Tell him whats happening around him, especially when you bathe, change, & feed him. Give him opportunities to respond as a way to show that communication goes two ways.

Physical - Children with well-developed physical coordination feel better about themselves and their bodies, making them better prepared to learn and take on new challenges. Running, jumping, hopping, skipping, and climbing are examples of activities that develop a child's physical, or large-muscle, skills (also known as gross motor skills). At age 1, your baby is probably crawling, and may be starting to walk. The better part of her second year is spent perfecting this skill. At first, shell need her hands free for balance when walking, but soon shell be able to pick up a toy off the ground and carry it across the room, push or pull a toy on wheels, step sideways and backward, and walk up and down stairs with help, one step at a time and not alternating feet.

Social & Emotional skills have to do with awareness of and understanding ones feelings. Social skills include the ability to communicate and have relationships with others. Children with strong emotional and social skills have a positive self-image, are confident, sociable, & independent. Between ages 1 & 2, your child is becoming more aware of himself & his ability to make things happen. He may begin to express a range of emotions, including intense feelings for his parents & affection for other familiar people. He may also show pride & pleasure at new accomplishments. At other times, he may get angry and throw tantrums. Your toddler may begin to interact with those around him; however, he is still too young to really play with others in a truly social sense. Instead, he plays alongside other children.

Mathematical skills include more than identifying numbers & counting, they also include an understanding of mathematical language (e.g., more than, less than, circle, square) & concepts (e.g., shapes, patterns, comparisons). Thinking and reasoning are also important math skills. Through play, your 1-year-old child will begin to understand math skills, including color, size, and shape. For example, she learns that the round block fits in the round opening of her shape sorter and not in the square one. In her play, she may begin to match objects that are the same size or color. Having an understanding of location concepts (over, under, above, in, between, etc.) helps prepare your child for future mathematical skills, such as patterns.

Creative Arts is the ability to use your imagination to create new and original things. Children express creativity through art, music, imaginary play, cooking, and more. One way to encourage creativity is through art activities, including drawing, painting, cutting with scissors, gluing, molding clay, and using other craft materials. Your 1-year-old child may be able to scribble; however, at this young age, he is probably not yet creating too much artistically. To get his creative juices flowing, you should fill his world with interesting pictures and things to look at.

Pretend Play is a form of creativity that allows children to express ideas and feelings, as well as think and solve problems through fantastical situations. Pretend play includes make-believe games, daydreaming, imaginary friends, and fantasy books. Make-believe play generally begins shortly after your child turns one year old, and will probably involve pretending to do what you do. Between 12 and 18 months, she may begin to imitate housekeeping tasks, like sweeping the floor. Around 18 to 24 months, her imaginative play will expand to involve dolls and stuffed animals.

Music - Early exposure to music helps enhance reading, math, and creative skills later in a child's life. When children learn to read, they listen to the rhythmic pattern of words, just as they listen to the rhythm of a drum. When they identify the patterns in songs and in the sounds that instruments make, they are learning a basic math skill. Music also encourages creative movement, which in turn expands your childs imagination. By the time your child turns 1, he may be aware that music has a beat. He may enjoy making sounds by banging pots and pans together. By 18 months, he may respond to music by swaying or moving in some way. Sometime between 1 and 2 years, your child will probably begin to use words. Singing to and with your child can encourage the development of his language skills.

Thinking / Problem Solving - The ability to think and problem solve is what helps children make sense of their world. When children think through and solve problems, they are developing intelligence. Thinking skills involve language, mental imagery, reasoning, and memory development. Your 1-year-old child is learning an enormous amount this year by watching others, exploring her world, and experimenting. During this year, she may start to talk and understand your words. If you ask her to do something, she will probably respond appropriately. Your child spends much time observing and imitating actions and words of you and other adults in her life. As her memory develops, you may find that she can point to pictures in a storybook when you name them and match similar objects. She may also be able to distinguish between you and me.