From about 18 months to 36 months, children show growing interest in what other children do and increases understanding of how to deal with them. (Eckerman, Davis & Didow,1989; Eckerman and Stein 1982). When he was three months old, he started spending time with other children, enabling him to be sociable earlier compared to those who spend lesser time with other children.
Research also shown that children who are read to daily, has better cognitive and language skills at age 3. The frequency with which books are read to children will influence how well children can speak and how soon they develop literacy (Raikes et al., 2006). At 21 months, Marcus is able to combine two words in telegraphic speech to express himself such as saying “want this” and is growing his vocabulary of words in school and at home suggesting that he is hitting his language milestones. (Laura E. Berk, 2013)
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Social Emotional Development
Marcus has little separate anxiety from caregivers when he goes to school. He takes initiative to play and interact with other children. A typical child at 19 to 24 months old will exhibit more independence whereby they begin to tolerate caregiver’s absence more easily (Laura E. Berk, 2013). Marcus is ahead in this aspect as he entered infant care much earlier compared to others when he was only 3 months old.
Marcus portrays defiant behavior by lightly hitting his mother’s face when she did not give him the smartphone he desired. This shows Marcus needs better self-regulation as well as monitoring and guidance from his caregivers as self control should be evident at his age (Laura E. Berk, 2013).
Marcus is able to say ”pain, pain” when he fell down outside the bathroom and was telling his caregivers about the incident by saying ”pain pain” repeatedly. Children at this age are expanding their vocabulary and beginning to use language to assist with their emotional self-regulation. (Laura E. Berk, 2013).
Physical Development
For fine motor skills, Marcus is able to type random messages and make random calls. He also brings “keropok” to his grandmother. These showcase good palmar grip and pincer grasp. For gross motor development, Marcus is able to walk, run and imitate dance moves to ‘Baby Shark’ song. Marcus is unable to jump as he only bounces and doesn’t lift himself entirely off the ground. He encounters difficulty while making attempts to cross over small obstacles.
Toddlers need their freedom to move and experience a variety of ways of using the skills they possess. (Janet Gonzalez-Mena, Dianne Widmeyer Eyer, 2015) Large-muscle activity must be both allowed and encouraged indoors. A soft environment such as pillows, mattresses, foam blocks and thick rugs indoor and grass, sand, pads, and mats outdoors helps toddlers roll, tumble and bounce around. Various kinds of scaled-down climbing and sliding equipment allow the toddlers to experience a variety of skills (Eyer, 2015).
By implementing the above, Marcus can enhance and strengthen his large muscles which will soon allow him to jump and cross over small obstacles with ease.
Cognitive Development
Marcus possesses great competency in cognitive areas. He is proficient in singing nursery rhymes and songs that were taught to him upon hearing similar tunes. He has a good sense of self as he is aware that his mates are referring to him when they call out ‘Marcus Marcus’. In relation to social-cognitive development, infants and children show that they develop to become ‘‘co-aware’’ of the world, including themselves. They develop awareness with others, not independently of others. (Rochat, 2001; in press)
Marcus has good ability in recognizing facial features and points respectively when prompted ‘nose’ by his father and imitates the action of sitting down after hearing ‘sit down’. While suspected to have inherited his grandfather’s color blindness, Marcus is accurate in identifying colors when his father tests him. He amazes his mother by being able to regurgitate new words learnt in school.
Therefore, we deduce that Marcus has achieved his cognitive milestones for 21 months old and is developing well towards his next milestone.
Conclusion
We conclude that Marcus is an easy child as his mood ranges from mild to moderate intensity but usually positive (A.Thomas & Chess 1984). At 21 months old, Marcus is achieving most of his developmental milestones of a typical child at this age and will continue to develop with the support of his caregivers under a warm and nurturing environment.
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