Chapter-2 Stages of Child Development

Stages of Child Development

Bringing a child home for the first
time is both exciting and scary.
Even when a mother has eight
more children in their home, each
child adds a brand new list of
challenges. Presently, there are
many new parenting books on the
market today and they are all
designed to help a parent with
encouraging the child to succeed in
life. Some of these parenting books
focus on various kinds of child
development stages and they can
help the parent with understanding
the stages that their child is
expected to go through.
For instance, there are several
theories that address child
development stages. While some
psychologists say that there are 4
stages of child development, others
may say child development has six
stages. Which means, there are
several distinct theories that have
emerged over time. One of the
most comprehensive theories of
child development stages, however,
was created by Lawrence Kohlberg.
The theory that he developed is
based on six stages and they are
obedience and punishment,
individualism, interpersonal
relations, social order, society and
the Individual, and universality.

Stage One and Two (Obedience
and Punishment, Individualism)
In stages one and two, the child is
introduced to obedience and
punishment, while they also
become aware of individualism.
During these child development
stages, the child learns that there
are rules established by people
who have authority and power over
them (specifically, the adults). In
addition to acknowledging rules,
the child knows that punishment is
the result if they are not followed.
In the first stage the child does not
have a moral sense of what is right
or wrong but they do know how to
avoid being disciplined by the
adult. As the child moves from
child development stages one to
stage two, they begin to realize
each individual is concerned about
his or her best interest. Good and
bad choices become grey instead of
black and white, since everyone
does not think or act the same. It
is called the individualism stage
because they do not view
themselves as part of any group.

Stages Three and Four
(Interpersonal Relations and
Social Order)
Interpersonal Relations and social
order has been classified as child
development stages three and four.
In these stages the child becomes
more aware of others around them.
Therefore, in stage four, they are
more concerned about pleasing
their parents instead of avoiding
punishment. They also begin to
show compassion and empathy for
others. As the child moves from
developing interpersonal relations
to social order, they begin to
identify with society as a whole.
They develop a sense of duty to
their local communities and their
country.

Stages Five and Six (Society and
the Individual, Universality)
In child development stages five
and six, the child will begin to
reevaluate their relationships with
their own country and abroad.
Which means, in child development
stages five they begin to determine
what is right for the societies is
not always right or idea for the
personal values that they hold. As
the child move into child
development stage six, they usually
focus on what is right as it relates
to human dignity issues.