Your Child's Development Pace

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

13 Mar 2006 07:00 PM

I wonder sometimes what is the right pace. My daughter didn't start walking until she was 18 months old. She didn't really run until she was 2. I know a lot of other parents who talk about how early their children started, but my daughter was a late bloomer.

I read a lot of books about what to expect when your expecting and then what to expect in the first year. It's important to remember that all of these books and advice pieces are talking about 'averages'.

What does average mean?

Average is a single value (as a mean, mode, or median) that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values

So keep this in mind for the following. Research and child development experts suggest the following development pace.

• Ages 7-11 are considered the 'skill-hungry' years. This is an excellent time for kids to learn all the components of exercise and fitness.
• Ages 10-16 are ideal for athletic development. The child's body is maturing through puberty and it's time to build the fitness for adulthood.
• Ages 14-18 are the time that teenagers narrow their own focus even as they are pressurized to choose the specific sports or fitness program they are going to choose.

Since late-bloomers often don't fall into any of these categories they can be overlooked or worse - pushed aside. So my daughter didn't walk until she was 18 months a lot of other kids are walking at 10 months.

Guess what?

They can both walk.

Don't let your child's development pace be dictated to you on an average. Encourage their own natural growth and development, provide the support they need and don't overlook their strengths.

In the end - we can all be better than we are - we can all achieve what we put our mind's too and we are all the more likely to succeed with support.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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