Domain of development: Developmental Domains in Early Childhood

Developmental Domains in Early Childhood

The first five years of a child’s life are some of the most critical years for their development. It’s within these years that a child’s brain develops faster than at any other time in their life. Children reach several key milestones during these years, from the early stages of crawling, walking, and babbling to running, climbing, and speaking clearly. Each milestone refers to a specific “domain” or area of development.

There are several ways to break down the domains of development. However, this article will discuss the four main domains of child development and what teachers and parents can do to help their child progress in each area.

What are developmental domains? 

Developmental domains are specific areas of a child’s developmental progress and growth. Each child develops at their own pace, and many factors, including age, genetics, and the environment can affect how and when a child develops.

There are four main domains of a child’s development: physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional. Let’s dive deeper into each. 

Physical domain

The physical domain covers physical growth and changes, like increases in height, weight, and muscular strength. It also includes milestones such as walking, crawling, or grasping finger food. Additionally, the physical domain consists of the development of motor skills, including gross and fine motor skills, and the development of the five senses. Here’s a deeper look at the difference between gross and fine motor skills. 

• Gross motor skills: Gross motor skills involve moving large muscles such as the arms, legs, torso, and back. Gross motor involves whole-body movements and allows us to do physical activities such as walking, running, jumping, balancing, and lifting. 
• Fine motor skills: Fine motor skills involve small body muscles, such as hands, wrists, and fingers. The development of these skills refers to coordinating these muscles with eyes to achieve daily activities such as grasping food, turning door knobs, opening zippers, and brushing teeth.

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the physical domain 

A child’s physical development depends on their physical health and activities. Children must receive the proper food and care to grow in height and gain weight and strength to achieve their milestones. But nutrition is only one of the things needed to help a child’s progress. Children also need to be active and engage with their environment. Here are some activities children can engage in to help their progress in the physical domain: 

• Outdoor play 
• Tummy time
• Eating finger foods 
• Fastening their shoes 
• Playing at the park 
• Pushing toys

Cognitive domain

Watching a child play hide and seek or look for a toy you put behind your back are milestones that relate to their cognitive development. Cognitive development involves how children think, explore and figure things out as well as their problem-solving skills and acquisition of knowledge. The cognitive domain, also referred to as the intellectual domain, refers to the intellectual growth of a child, their brain development, and their capacity to learn and understand the world around them. When children develop cognitively, they are able to:

• Process thoughts
• Pay attention
• Develop memories
• Understand their surroundings
• Express creativity
• Create and develop plans

Psychologist Jean Piaget outlined the four stages of cognitive development:

Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

This is the first stage of child development. In this stage, infants and toddlers learn by interacting with their environment and depend on their senses to learn about the world. For example, they may throw things or put them in their mouth to understand how objects and the environment react to their actions. As their physical mobility increases, so does cognitive development. By the end of this stage, they learn object permanence, the idea that things continue to exist even when they cannot be seen. Here are some examples of characteristics in the sensorimotor stage: 

• Sucking and grasping
• Shaking a rattle
• Moving an object that is in the way of an object they want
• Recognizing objects and people

Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7) 

During this stage, children learn how to think about things more symbolically. Symbolic thought is the phenomenon where children imagine fake events, objects, places, and people as if they were real. They may use them to represent something similar, such as playdough representing food or cookies or creating an imaginary pet or a make-believe superhero. During this stage, language skills also become more substantial, and they can communicate more clearly. Their memory and imagination also develop, allowing them to engage in make-believe.  

Although they can understand a little more about their world, they still cannot fully understand logic and reasoning. Some examples of characteristics of the preoperational stage include:

• Engaging in pretend play
• Thinking symbolically or mentally representing objects that aren’t present
• Understanding conservation, the concept that a quantity stays the same even if you change the size, shape, or container it’s in
• Playing alongside other children

Concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11)

Children begin to think more logically and abstractly during this stage and show concrete reasoning. They understand that they have thoughts and feelings and that others may not feel like they do. However, they still struggle to think about abstract ideas or hypothetical situations. The concrete operational stage is also the beginning of the child’s ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. Some additional developmental changes that take place in the concrete operational stage include:

• Understanding that other people have their own thoughts
• Classifying objects and using categorical information to solve problems
• Concentrating on many aspects of a situation at a time
• Following instructions with multiple steps
• Mentally arranging a group of items into a sequence

Formal operational stage (age 12 and up)

The final stage of cognitive development is where a child develops increased logical thinking and the ability to understand abstract ideas. Children in this stage systematically think about things and consider all possibilities. Some examples include: 

• Developing solutions to problems using logic
• Considering possible outcomes 
• Thinking about hypotheticals and forming various solutions to solve them

How teachers and families can help a child’s progress in the cognitive domain 

Children in early education programs are in the sensorimotor and preoperational stages of cognitive development. Educators and families can support infants and young toddlers in the sensorimotor stage by incorporating cognitive activities that engage children’s senses and help them develop object permanence. You can guide children through the preoperational stage by including activities that encourage parallel play and engage the imagination.

Social-emotional domain

The social-emotional domain focuses on how children begin to interact and form relationships with others and how they experience, express, and manage their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Children start to gain an understanding of who they are, what they’re feeling, and how they interact with other people. Some examples of social-emotional development include:

• Taking turns
• Sharing 
• Apologizing
• Developing friendships 
• Having empathy toward others

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the social-emotional domain 

Healthy development of a child’s social-emotional milestones begins at home with their parents and caregivers and continues in the classroom where children gain more experience in a social setting. Here are some ways to promote positive social-emotional development: 

• Practice sharing and taking turns
• Implement partner and group activities
• Have discussions about managing emotions
• Model kindness, positive self-talk, and empathy
• Read books focused on social-emotional topics

Language domain 

The language or communication domain includes a child’s ability to both understand what is being communicated to them and to express themselves verbally.  Language development starts in infancy with sounds and gestures and eventually develops into words and complete sentences as children get older. Developing language skills is the first step in literacy as it forms the foundations for early reading and writing.

How teachers and families can support a child’s progress in the language domain

Language development strengthens the development of other early childhood domains. For example, language development helps children’s social-emotional development as they begin to express and regulate their emotions, and develop and maintain relationships with those around them. 

One of the most important things you can do with a child in their early years is read, sing, and talk to them. These activities will have a huge impact on a child’s early language and literacy skills. Other activities include:

• Singing songs and saying simple rhymes
• Teaching new vocabulary words
• Talking in complete sentences 
• Taking the time to listen and answer their questions 
• Asking open-ended questions 
• Pointing out objects and describing them

Domain progression

It’s natural for children to progress in different domains at various times and stages. Children may experience significant progress in one domain while developing more slowly in another. For example, a child focusing on learning to walk, which is in the physical domain, may not experience as much progress in the language domain. This is completely normal as children will all reach developmental milestones at their own unique pace.

Why are developmental domains important and how can teachers use them to assess development? 

It’s important to understand each developmental domain because it can be instrumental in identifying any potential developmental delays or areas where a child may need extra support. By learning this information, you can provide the child with the resources to encourage growth in each of the developmental areas. 

Childcare providers and teachers should regularly observe and monitor children’s overall growth and progress in each of the developmental domains. Resources like the Ages and Stages Questionnaire® (ASQ) or a milestone checklist can be used by teachers to track children’s behaviors and detect any delays or concerns early.

Conclusion 

It’s important for educators and families to understand child development in the domains of physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and language. Although each child develops at their own pace, you can still provide developmentally appropriate activities and monitor their progress to support children at various stages of their growth.

Brightwheel is the complete solution for early education providers, enabling you to streamline your center’s operations and build a stand-out reputation. Brightwheel connects the most critical aspects of running your center—including sign in and out, parent communications, tuition billing, and licensing and compliance—in one easy-to-use tool, along with providing best-in-class customer support and coaching. Brightwheel is trusted by thousands of early education centers and millions of parents. Learn more at mybrightwheel.com.

Human Development | Adolescent Psychology

Development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the lifespan. What types of development are involved in each of these three domains, or areas, of life? Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Figure 1.2.1. Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development are interrelated.

Physical Domain

Many of us are familiar with the height and weight charts that pediatricians consult to estimate if babies, children, and teens are growing within normative ranges of physical development. We may also be aware of changes in children’s fine and gross motor skills, as well as their increasing coordination, particularly in terms of playing sports. But we may not realize that physical development also involves brain development, which not only enables childhood motor coordination but also greater coordination between emotions and planning in adulthood, as our brains are not done developing in infancy or childhood. Physical development also includes puberty, sexual health, fertility, menopause, changes in our senses, and healthy habits with nutrition and exercise.

Cognitive Domain

If we watch and listen to infants and toddlers, we can’t help but wonder how they learn so much so fast, particularly when it comes to language development. Then as we compare young children to those in middle childhood, there appear to be considerable differences in their ability to think logically about the concrete world around them. Cognitive development includes mental processes, thinking, learning, and understanding, and it doesn’t stop in childhood. Adolescents develop the ability to think logically about the abstract world (and may like to debate matters with adults as they exercise their new cognitive skills!). Moral reasoning develops further, as does practical intelligence—wisdom may develop with experience over time. Memory abilities and different forms of intelligence tend to change with age. Brain development and the brain’s ability to adapt and compensate for losses is significant to cognitive functions across the lifespan, too.

Psychosocial Domain

Development in the psychosocial (or socioemotional) domain involves what’s going on both psychologically and socially. Early on, the focus is on infants and caregivers, as temperament and attachment are significant. As the social world expands and the child grows psychologically, different types of play and interactions with other children and teachers become essential. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, self-esteem, and relationships. Peers become more important for adolescents, who are exploring new roles and forming their own identities. Dating, romance, cohabitation, marriage, having children, and finding work or a career are all parts of the transition into adulthood. Psychosocial development continues across adulthood with similar (and some different) developmental issues of family, friends, parenting, romance, divorce, remarriage, blended families, caregiving for elders, becoming grandparents and great grandparents, retirement, new careers, coping with losses, and death and dying.

As you may have already noticed, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development are often interrelated, Puberty exemplifies this interaction well. Puberty is a biological change that releases hormones that spurs the maturation of sex organs and physical growth. However, puberty also triggers changes within the brain that affect cognition, emotions, and social relationships. Puberty often comes with mood swings, but also, improved ability to self-regulate. Puberty is also when relationships change with parents and peers. While puberty may be a topic within the physical domain, there is clearly an interaction with the other areas.

Video 1.2.1. Domains in Development describes the three domains and how those domains interact.

Who Studies Development and Why?

Many academic disciplines contribute to the study of development and developmental psychology is related to other applied fields. The study of development informs several applied fields in psychology, including educational psychology, psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. It also complements several other specific areas of psychology, including social psychology, cognitive psychology, and comparative psychology. This multidisciplinary course is made up of contributions from researchers in the areas of biology, health care, anthropology, nutrition, and sociology, among others.

The main goals of those involved in studying development are to describe, predict, and explain changes. Throughout this course, we will describe observations during development, predict courses and milestones for change, and then examine how theories provide explanations for why these changes occur.

Domain research in software development

A subject area is an environment, a part of the real world that is related to or affects the object of the activity in question. Without a preliminary study and analysis of the subject area, there is a huge risk of developing an inefficient product that will remain unclaimed by end users, or a high probability of missed deadlines for commissioning.

The first stage of our work upon receiving a request for the development of a software product is to determine the goals of its creation and the list of tasks that it must solve in the future. If the customer does not provide us with a statement of goals and a list of tasks, then we identify this together, through a questionnaire. Here are some questions that can be asked to the customer during the survey process:

• What do you see as the purpose of the future system?
• What problems does it have to solve?
• What features should it provide?
• How should it look?
• Do you know similar products?
• Will the system be single or replicable?
• In which countries will it work?
• Is data exchange expected with other existing products?
• How many users will work with the system by the time of implementation and in the future?
• What systems have you been working with and for how long?

For the purposes of a qualitative and comprehensive study of the subject area, we can request documentation maintained by the customer on automated activities, for example, these can be:

• document management rules;
• completed reports, reporting forms;
• job descriptions;
• internal regulations, instructions;
• documentation from the field of quality management.

Interviewing the employees of the customer company is also quite an effective way of researching the subject area. Sometimes we manage to identify conflicting expectations and, of course, we need to compare them and come to a common vision.

Based on the analysis of the collected information, a number of requirements for the future software product are formed: implementation method, design features, nature of interaction with the user, user roles, data storage model, etc. Primary requirements documentation is made in the technical specification, and their detailing, architecture and a detailed implementation method is described in the terms of reference.

The collection and analysis of information carried out for the purpose of researching the subject area, the formation of requirements for the software product and their documentation in our company is carried out by a specialized division consisting of qualified analysts under the guidance of the chief designer.

Research of the subject area and development of technical documentation are separated by us into a separate service. For those who are interested in such a service, we suggest contacting us:

• phone: +7(7212)50-50-85,
• e- mail: contact @ toowto . kz
• • We recommend that you read other articles on our blog:
  • • Interaction with the client in the process of creating a software product
  • • What to look for when looking for a software developer
  • • What determines the cost and timing of software development

#Services
#Development

KNOW INTUIT | Lecture | Domain analysis. Identification of functional requirements for the application

Abstract: Definition of the subject area. Domain Analysis: Feasibility Analysis, Business Modeling. Formation and documentation of project requirements.

Keywords: domain, object, domain analysis, list, project business goals, scope, graph, feasibility study, document template, stakeholder, RUP, SADT, IDEF0, DFD, ARIS, activity diagram, sequence diagram, IDEF1X, class diagram, BOM, functional modeling, user requirements, system requirements, USER, story, representation, works, uml diagram, software, specification, access, application, subset, user, group, target, interface, project goals

4.1. Defining a subject area

A subject area can be defined as a field of human activity that has been identified and described according to established criteria. The described concept should include information about its elements, phenomena, relationships and processes, reflecting various aspects of this activity. The description of the subject area should contain characteristics of the possible effects of the environment on the elements and phenomena of the subject area, as well as the reverse effects of these elements and phenomena on the environment. Work on the study and analysis of the subject area: the design of intelligent systems has a decisive influence on the effectiveness of its work.

The specifics of the subject area can have a significant impact on the nature of the functioning of the designed intellectual system, the choice of the method of knowledge representation, methods of reasoning about knowledge, etc.

The subject area can be defined as an object or production system with the whole complex of concepts and knowledge about functioning. In the study of the problem area, knowledge about the tasks solved in the production system and the goals facing it is necessary. Possible control strategies and heuristic knowledge used during the operation of the production system are also determined.

4.2. Domain analysis (feasibility study, business modeling)

One of the first tasks that a software system developer faces is the study, understanding and analysis of the subject area. The fact is that the subject area strongly affects all aspects of the project: system requirements, user interaction, data storage model, implementation, etc.

Analysis of the subject area allows you to highlight its essence, determine the initial requirements for functionality and determine the boundaries of the project. The domain model should be documented, stored and kept up to date until the implementation phase. Various means can be used for documentation.

You can use a will-not-will methodology to guide discussion of the scope of the project. In the simplest case, this is a list with two columns, one of which records what the project will do, and the second – what is not included in the project. Such a list is generated by stakeholders when considering each business objective of the project, using any technique, such as brainstorming (see the topic “Requirements Identification”). The resulting characteristics allow you to clearly define the boundaries of the project and are quite easily converted into assumptions that are recorded in the document.

The functional scope defines the services provided by the system and is initially not fully known. The “Actor/Target” list, which lists all the user’s targets supported by the system, can be helpful in determining the services of the system. During its development, the names of the main actors are entered in the first column, i.e. those who have goals, in the second column – the goal of each actor, and in the third – a priority or a guess about which version this service will enter. List forms are shown in the figure.

You can use, for example, a brief description of the use case to define the main functions of the product. The description of each function can also be presented in the form of a list consisting of three columns: the actor, the purpose and a brief description of the use case.

The domain analysis is the basis for the project feasibility analysis and definition of the product image (concept) and project boundaries.

Feasibility study

The development of new software systems should begin with a feasibility study. Based on the analysis of the subject area, the general description of the system and its purpose, it is necessary to make a decision on the continuation or completion of the project. To do this, you need to answer the following questions.

1. Does the system meet the business goals of the customer and developer organizations?
2. Is it possible to implement the system using known technologies and within the given cost and time limits?
3. Can the system be combined with other systems already in operation?

intuit.ru/2010/edi”> To answer the first (and main) question, you need to interview stakeholders, for example, managers of departments in which the system will be used, to find out if

• what will happen to the organization if the system is not put into operation;
• how the system will support business goals;
• what current problems the system will help solve, etc.

After receiving and processing the information, a report is prepared, in which recommendations should be made regarding the further development of the system.

Business problem statement should be discussed with the Customer or the future System Owner.

Questions to ask him are:

1. intuit.ru/2010/edi”> Why was there even a need to create a system?
2. What do you see as its purpose?
3. What business opportunities should it pursue?
4. What problems should be solved?

For “Standard” questions of this kind, see the “Stakeholder Request” document template, for example from RUP. Business requirements can be expressed by the Customer or Domain Experts. They are usually captured as a list of 10-30 key product features – see RUP’s Vision for a template.

Business modeling should be carried out on the basis of information from, and preferably together with subject matter experts. Questions essentially come down to “What, why, when, how and by whom happens in the subject area and how is it interconnected?”:

1. intuit.ru/2010/edi”> What are the main concepts of the subject area, their definitions and relationships? The result can be presented in the form of a glossary and/or a conceptual-semantic model of the subject area.
2. Based on what rules – international, federal, municipal, regional, etc. laws, decrees, standards, specifications, regulations, etc. – what happens in the subject area? You arrange the result in the form of a structured list or attach it to the elements of the conceptual model.
3. What is really happening (what processes, events, facts) and in what sequence, interrelation? You format the result in the form of business process description scripts (which is quite universal) or SADT (IDEF0, IDEF3, DFD) / ARIS (eEPC, etc.) / UML (Business Use-case Diagram (BUC) + Activity Diagram + Sequence) diagrams Diagram). This is one of the most difficult steps.
4. intuit.ru/2010/edi”> What properties does each of the selected concepts have – structural and behavioral? The result is described in the form of tables with attributes of Conceptual Entities or Detailed Conceptual Model – ER – IDEF1X / UML Class Diagram (BOM).

There is a Russian functional modeling standard P 50.1.028-2001 based on IDEF0.

Defining Requirements – partially The Business Requirements and Requirements stemming from the subject area you have already defined above, now it remains to explore the User Requirements and System Requirements and limitations to individual aspects of system quality. User requirements, as can be understood, need to be identified from communication with potential users of the system. Questions:

1. What system will the system being created look like?
2. intuit.ru/2010/edi”> What systems have you been working with and for how long?
3. What is your education?
4. What are your expectations from the system – what should it do and how, what tasks should it help solve, how should it look like?
5. What steps need to be taken to solve each problem?
6. When would you consider a system to be “Good”?

Questionnaire/interview results are usually presented in the form of user stories (User Story, Agile) or User scenarios (Use-case), it is also possible to represent them diagrammatically using workflow diagrams (IDEF3), ARIS, Activity/State UML Diagram. Experts in Interaction Design, interfaces and ergonomics can tell you more about working with Users.

System requirements should be clarified with the Customer’s IT specialists, if any, from the specifics of the context of using the system, experience in building similar systems (from IT Experts-Architects) and Specialists in certain aspects of the system that are significant for this project (Lawyers, Ergonomists, etc. ) and Customer:

1. Will the system be single or replicated?
2. In which countries will it work?
3. How important is the information stored, processed and transmitted by the system?
4. What is the possible damage from the loss of this or that information?
5. How many users will work with the system today, tomorrow, in a year?

The revised result is formalized in the form of System Requirements (Software Requirement Specification, IEEE-STD-830-1998 standard, or TK GOST 34-602-89 or informally in the form of Supplementary Specificaion from RUP).

Desktop applications are similar to wide-angle lenses in that they typically display a significant amount of information that large screen sizes allow the user to experience. In contrast, mobile apps are like a magnifying glass or a zoom lens. They enable the user to quickly view the detailed data they need, quickly navigate to and access limited datasets, and make real-time decisions. Typically, mobile applications provide a more specialized set of scenarios than desktop applications. It is very important to define exactly what scenarios your application needs to specialize in.

Before actually developing the application, define a subset of functionality that the user can quickly access in a manner native to mobile devices. If you’re creating a new app that doesn’t have a desktop counterpart, write down the key scenarios that users will be able to perform with your app, as well as the user’s steps to ensure that those scenarios are used on a mobile device. In many cases, it will be easier for you to give these scenarios a real shape if you prepare the appropriate drawings or create prototypes. If you have a specific group of end users in mind, talk to them and give them the opportunity to work with experimental versions of their applications for a while so that they can provide feedback on them.

Optimal selection of the provided tools determines everything else

If you correctly identify the key scenarios and capabilities of your application, this will have a decisive influence on the rest of the development process. Having an explicit description of how end users will use your application and a detailed understanding of their needs will be invaluable in helping you tune application performance, as well as designing the user interface, communication system, and memory model.

If you don’t identify the scenarios and opportunities that are most important to you, you end up with a haphazard mix of tools bundled into one application. Lack of an explicit list of the main features of the application or the division of features into groups according to their priorities will result in the user interface not being optimized to effectively solve key tasks. For example, if the user is expected to be primarily interested in data entry, then you should optimize the user interface in such a way that input operations are performed as accurately and reliably as possible. Conversely, if input is used only infrequently, then a less than ideally optimized input user interface may be acceptable, allowing design and development resources to be shifted to other areas.
Only if the most important scenarios are identified, listed, and agreed upon by the development team can the performance of the application be tuned to perform properly, and end users will not be deprived of their important tools through oversight.

In order for the development process to be completed successfully, make a list of the key requirements that the application must satisfy and the features it must provide, and have this list be the first section of your main project document.

4.3. Forming and Documenting Project Requirements

intuit.ru/2010/edi”> For all but the most trivial software development projects, it is important to have a single “guiding document” that defines:

1. project requirements and purpose of the completed product;
2. project philosophy;
3. application architecture;
4. current state of work in this direction;
5. plan, according to which the product will be transferred from its current state to the state of successful completion.

Additional documents may be provided for large projects, but there should always be one main top-level document that defines the main objectives of the project, its current status and work plan. This document should be a real document that, in the opinion of all team members, correctly defines the direction of work.

The single governing document that governs the entire development process should include several sections:

• Project objectives . This section of the main document should clearly state what the completed product is for and the philosophy behind the project.
• Project Status . This section of the main document contains a precise description of the current state of the project. It is part of the project schedule and allows you to judge the degree to which work on the project is approaching completion. This should define the milestones of the project, on which efforts should be concentrated, and also indicate which elements must be finalized to complete the current milestone of the development process. A list of the most significant risk factors or factors that need to be investigated to resolve the relevant problems should also be provided here.
• Application architecture and associated state diagrams . This information reflects the technical aspects of the plan. For mobile applications, this section should contain appropriate state diagrams that describe the discrete states that the application can be in and the relationship of these states to the amounts of memory and resources that it will store. (More on this later.) Such a section actually plays the role of an agreement between all members of the development team, in which they undertake to adhere to the requirements established in it in their implementations. If you are the sole developer, then this document will give you the opportunity to be honest with yourself; everyone who happened to develop a large project on their own at least once, probably sometimes had a desire to cut off one or another corner in order to achieve the performance of the tool,
  even if it is to the detriment of reasonable design principles. It’s much harder to cut corners if you have an agreement in front of you that says you must explicitly state all of your suggestions to speed up the project. This section should not be excessively long or complex, otherwise it will be difficult to comply with its requirements and will simply be neglected. It should articulate what needs to be done to keep the project on track and, more importantly, it should promptly address any agreed changes to the project.
• Development plan showing individual milestones . Even more important than the schedule is a weighted plan, which establishes a discrete set of project milestones to be passed as the project nears completion. By their very definition, milestones measure progress towards a specific end goal. Each checkpoint is a resting point where you can stop to assess the status of work, clean up code that has not been cleaned up in a timely manner, and adjust the project if necessary.