1. Physical
A Developmental checklist definition includes physical development, which includes monitoring a child's gross motor and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills include walking, running, climbing stairs, jumping, and hopping while fine motor skills include tasks like coloring, cutting paper with scissors, building structures with blocks, and manipulating small objects. Additionally, it is important to monitor a child's height, weight, and head circumference.
2. Cognitive
Cognitive development refers to the development of intellectual abilities such as problem-solving and reasoning skills. This includes tasks like understanding simple directions, memorizing facts, counting objects, reciting the alphabet, and identifying colors. Additionally, this involves observing a child’s language usage, including sentence structure and vocabulary words they use.
3. Social or Emotional
Social/emotional development includes observing a child's behavior in various social situations, such as playgroups or classrooms, their ability to interact with others appropriately, and their emotional states (e.g., are they easily frustrated or coping well when faced with challenging tasks). It also involves looking at their emotional expression, imagination, and sense of morality.
4. Adaptive Self-Help Skills
Adaptive self-help skills refer to a child's ability to complete everyday tasks independently such as feeding themselves, brushing their teeth, dressing themselves, and using the toilet. It is important to monitor these abilities as they develop in order to ensure that a child can learn how to take care of themselves and eventually become more independent.
5. Self-Care
Self-care also involves monitoring a child's ability to become independent with daily tasks like bathing, getting dressed and putting on shoes/socks. It is important for parents/caregivers to help guide a child through these steps so that they can learn the necessary skills to be successful in the future.