Giant Steps

Written by The Square Parent Tuesday, 07 April 2009 00:00

Child development is often an uneven process, and happens in fits and spurts.  Interestingly, it's been argued, notably by Dr. Harvey Karp, and probably others, that children from birth to about 5 years of age are essentially replicating the evolutionary process, and moving right along at about 4,000 years per hour, give or take a thousand or few years.

From there, they follow the evolutionary road of homo sapiens (of course), through the various stages and branches of the species, from homo habilis to homo erectus, and the rest of the homos such as ergaster, through Neanderthal to the modern Sapiens. 

Think about it.  Kids go through many different stages of development, all of which have periods of extreme difficulty until a great leap or breakthrough is made.  More significantly, like the evolutionary process, these stages are not smooth and uniform, but uneven and unpredictable.  Development may appear to be static for a period of time, followed by a sudden lurch forward.  

This happens, for instance, with little homo erectus.  Learning to walk may seem to take awhile, starting with the standing and cruising, as it's known, and then almost instantly, the first steps are taken.  Bebe will go from crawling 90% of the time and walking 10% of the time to walking 90% if the time and crawling 10% of the time usually within just a few weeks, if not days.  It's instant.  That's a giant leap forward.   Not long after that, they seem to be able to run very, very fast, and often at the worst times.

Likewise with motor skills, such as holding a crayon, pinching small objects, running, climbing, and especially language.  At the end of the process, they emerge as fully-formed homo sapeins, talking, reasoning, able to spin yarns, and having a basic idea of social behavior, in fact, well-tuned to social behavior.  Watch a classroom of 5-year olds having a story read to them.  They behave like a school of fish.  Or watch the kids in daycare going for a walk, often tethered together all holding a rope, in very good single file formation.  They'll do their own thing, but are also highly suggestive and excellent at imitation.  

This is a strong human behavior, not to be underestimated, and works to both the parent's advantage and detriment.  The most difficult parts is towards the end, when they're little cavemen and cavewomen.  Little Neanderthals that they are, anything goes, however they want it.  Frustration comes easily, whether in the form of not being able to properly use words to express thoughts, or when not getting what they want when they want it, this all fits into evolutionary development.

There are no schedules.  The baby books all have milestones, and the parents often read them closely, and often stress out about this little detail or that.  The same thing happens in the pediatrician's office, although if you listen carefully to the line of questioning, the doctors are far more general than the books, and mainly seem to focus on what the parent is doing, not necessarily so much the child.  The doctors make general observations about the kid, but spend most of the time focusing on what the parents are doing, or not.

Viewing development through an evolutionary lens is cool.  It can also be stunning, and a bit incomprehensible.  The theory of evolution in it's entirety is a bit much to get one's mind around.  Many people have a conception of it precisely because it is a simple, elegant theory that's easily explained and very basically understood.  And a good thing too, that the theory is simple and easily understood, because the specifics are effectively incomprehensible.  Even some of the best scientific minds (contrary to what they'd have you believe) cannot explain in specific terms nearly as much as you (or they) think they can. There's simply too much information, too many variables, and wildly uneven and inconsistent processes.

Fortunately, on a day-to-day basis, parents don't need to worry about the ins-and-outs or mysteries of natural selection.  Just keep in mind the process that's going on as generally as possible, that certain behaviors will make a lot more sense. 

Look out for the great leaps, because they come in many different forms, including the great leap off of the couch or coffee table.  But the great leap happens, and there it is, a learned behavior or skill that, if done properly, will be re-inforced to become permanent behavior.  

And all of this happens in chaotic, uneven, and inconsistent fits and spurts. It's great to see.