Individual Difference in Child Development

A newborn baby can do little more than cry, feed and sleep. Within a few years the same child sits, walks, talks, makes friends, feels shy or proud, and solves small problems alone. These changes do not happen in the body only. The body grows, the mind learns, feelings become deeper and the way the child understands the world changes too. All of this change, taken together, is what we call child development.

These aspects do not grow one at a time. As a child's body and mind develop, the social and psychological sides of the child develop along with them. A child who has just learned to run starts playing with other children. While playing, the child learns to wait for a turn, to share and to accept losing a game. So growth of the body and growth in social life move forward together.

Child psychology studies how a child's mind works: why a child gets angry at one moment, why a child is curious about some things, and why a child copies others. But a child's mind and behaviour cannot be understood without first knowing how a child grows.

Human life begins at conception, the moment a new life starts in the mother's womb. So the surroundings of a child start to matter even before birth. During pregnancy, if the mother receives proper care, nutritious food, treatment when it is needed, enough rest and suitable exercise, the fetus growing inside her stays healthy and the baby is born healthy.

A baby born healthy can adjust easily to the world outside the womb. To adjust means to settle into new surroundings and get used to them. After birth, the child's family, society and other surroundings begin to affect the child's whole development. The love at home, the food, the way people speak to the child, the neighbours, the school and the playground all help to shape the child.

The pattern of human development is similar for everyone. Nearly every baby crawls first, then stands, then walks. Every child says single words before full sentences. Yet even though the pattern is the same, each child's own development is different. Of two brothers in the same house, one may start walking early and the other only some months later. Both are normal. They are simply different from each other.

Environment has a strong influence on child development, and heredity has just as much influence. Neither one matters on its own. The two work together to decide how a child turns out.

No two children have exactly the same environment and exactly the same heredity. Even a brother and sister raised in the same house meet different friends, different teachers and different experiences. These are the reasons individual difference appears in child development. The difference is not limited to the body. It also shows in mental and emotional abilities.

The individual difference seen in children can be studied in three areas: difference in physical development, difference in intellectual development and difference in personality development.

How a child's body grows depends on these things:

• Diet and lifestyle: what the child eats and what kind of daily routine the child follows.
• Upbringing: the care and attention the child receives at home.
• The family environment.
• The social environment.
• The physical environment, such as the place the child lives, its climate and its cleanliness.

Heredity and outside environment are not the same for all children. That is why physical growth and development are not identical even among children of the same age. Line up the twelve year olds of one class and some are tall, some short, some thin and some heavy. They differ in height, weight, thickness of body and colour.

The difference is not only in how the body looks but also in what it can do. Children differ in walking, running and playing, that is, in physical activities. One friend always wins the race, another controls a football well, and another is a little slower but can keep playing for a long time without tiring.

Just as in physical development, there is individual difference in intellectual development too. Intellectual development means the growth of the ability to think, understand, remember and solve problems. It is affected by these things:

• The experience the child gains in the family, in society and in the surroundings.
• Intellectual activities done with other people, such as conversation, asking and answering questions, and telling or hearing stories.
• The child's hereditary ability.

A child who hears stories, asks questions and is listened to every day at home has different experience from a child who never gets these chances. On top of that, the ability a child is born with also differs. So children differ in intellectual ability, and their ability to learn is not the same either. In one classroom you will find three kinds of learners:

• Children of sharp intelligence, who understand new things quickly.
• Children of average ability, who learn at an ordinary pace.
• Children whose ability can be improved, who need more time, help and practice to learn.

Personality development is an essential part of human development. Human development is not complete without it. When we say someone is cheerful, calm or quick to get annoyed, we are talking about that person's personality.

These things bring differences in personality development:

• Physical development.
• Intellectual development.
• Relationships with people inside and outside the home.
• Attitude.

A child raised in a loving family who gets on well with friends usually becomes open and confident. A child who sees quarrels at home every day may become fearful or easily annoyed. Another important element that affects personality development is attitude, the way of thinking and feeling a child holds towards things. Thoughts like "I can do it" and "I should help others" are examples of a positive attitude.

A child's individual difference affects the child's whole development. That is why anyone studying child development needs to know about individual difference and about the different age stages of childhood. A teacher who understands individual difference does not push every pupil at the same speed, but helps each one according to that child's needs. Parents who understand it do not look down on their child by comparing him or her with the neighbour's child.

For the same reason, child development is also studied stage by stage: early childhood, later childhood and adolescence. The table below brings the three areas of difference together in one place.