Life-Span Human Development: The Not So Terrible Toddlers

From eight to ten every Sunday morning for a month, I spent my time observing a classroom at my church that housed the one to two year olds. In the classroom I was in there were kids that had just had their first birthdays and some kids that were about to turn two. The difference between the kids who were just able to squeeze into the class from the ones that were on the verge of being able to go the "big kid" class was tremendous the majority of the time. While observing this group of toddlers I was able to see the differences in attachment, language, temperament, gender, and

Was it going to be screaming, kicking, and crying as the child was pried from their parent's arms or the exact opposite, was the toddler going to come into the room and never turn back as their parent's left them to be alone. Being an observer in an environment in which toddlers were being separated from their parents was a great place to view the differences in attachment. Attachment forming in toddlers usually peaks around fourteen to eighteen months, which was the primary age group in which I would observe on Sunday mornings (Sigelman & Rider, 2012, p. 457). I was surprised to find the most of the toddlers that were dropped off did not show signs of being seriously distressed. A few of the toddlers were more difficult to separate from their parent and cried for a while but seemed to calm down when they played with the other toddlers. For the toddlers that showed more distress seemed to be more excited to see their parents when the services were over. These toddlers would be said to have a secure attachment. Sigelman and Rider (2012) describe a secure attachment as a toddler that that "may be upset by separation but greets his mother warmly and is com...

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...tty, sweet, and talk in a more gentle tone. If they were talking to boys they would use words such as tough, handsome, and talk in a more masculine voice. Although the toddler will not remember this, this could affect the way they view themselves as they grow older.

From differences in play, temperament, and differential treatment to attachment and language everyone develops at a different speed. From observing these toddlers I saw the proven medians in development as well as the outliers. I saw the effects of different types of temperaments on the parents and realized how that could affect attachment as they grow up. Each part of development is important and it was very interesting and exciting to be able to see this first hand.

Works Cited

Sigelman, C. k., & Rider, E. A. (2012). Life-Span Human Development (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.