Benchmarks
Small children experience lots
of growth and development
in a short timeframe. They
are learning how to interact
with others and who God
is and how much He loves
them—just as certainly as they
experience physical growth in
their tiny bodies. They begin to
identify positive and negative
feelings, and their brains are
constantly digesting all the
information they take in.
Spiritual
Young children trust that God
cares for them through the way
they have seen parents and care
providers take care of them, love
them, and read Bible stories to
them. Children's understanding
of God is closely related to their
experiences with adults.
Social
From ages two to four, children
will continue to engage in parallel
play: a child will play beside
another with no concern for how
that other child is thinking, feeling,
or experiencing his play. From
ages three to five, children bridge
into cooperative play, where
they can each be part of one
activity, such as playing "house."
Emotional
Children do not inherently
understand the reason their body
tenses up when someone takes
the toy they want. Grown-ups can
help them to identify, name, and
learn what to do with feelings of
irritation or frustration. Children
only recognize good and bad
feelings; they need help navigating
the complicated emotional forest.
Intellectual
Children are absorbing more
information through play than we
can perceive during these years.
In play, they see and experience
many things, processing and
learning along the way. Concrete
examples filtered through
play help children to build an
understanding of their world.
Physical
Children are all at various stages
of gross-motor and fine-motor
abilities. Once their core muscles
have been given practice and
have built strength, children
will run, jump, climb, and sit
with proficiency. After these
skills are acquired, children will
begin to focus on their coloring,
writing, building, creating,
and other fine-motor skills.
Early Childhood • 2 • cph.org • Copyright © 2019 Concordia Publishing House
