Every person is expected to have specific developmental milestones at a certain age. When discussing developmental milestones for a 3-year-old boy, it is important to mention his social and personal development, language development, as well as fine and gross motor development. As to social and personal milestones, a 3-year-old is expected to start playing with other children, show concern for an unhappy friend, play ‘real life scenarios’, be interested in trying new things, and start showing an extensive range of emotions. As to language milestones, a child is expected to tell others his name, ask ‘why, what, where, when’ questions, use basic grammar rules, and overall speak well enough to be understood by strangers (Morin, 2014). When it comes to gross motor skills, a child is expected to run, walk, jump, climb the stairs, and start pedalling a bike. Fine motor skills milestones include drawing a circle, turning book pages, playing with toys that have small parts, and build block towers.
Child’s Background
To discuss the results of the Denver II Developmental Screening test of a 3-year-old boy, it is important to first mention his background, life conditions, and parental assessment of growth. The boy lives in a middle-class family with his father and mother and has an older sister who is away in college and rarely visits her home. The father works long hours, and the mother stays at home and sometimes works as a part-time babysitter of her close friend’s twins. This means that the boy interacts with children on a regular basis. Born a healthy and a strong baby (8.7 pounds, 13 inches) from a planned C-section, the boy has never shown any developmental problems, as stated by his parents. The only ‘complaint’ is the boy’s increased curiosity with the nature and animals; his mother indicated that the boy gets overexcited when he sees a cat or a dog in the street, and she had “caught him poking a large caterpillar with a stick in our garden.”
Explanation of Social/Personal Development
The Denver II Developmental Screening test has shown that the boy has enough personal and social skills to interact with his peers. Because the boy often spends time with other children, he has developed a set of skills that allow him to be more independent in his activities and have full control of his ‘playtime’. The boy can prepare some cereal for himself, brush his teeth without any help, get dressed, as well as wash and dry his hands. These skills show that the boy has an adequate level of caring for personal needs, which is indicative of an excellent development at his age. As to getting along with people, he laughs when having fun with other children and may cry if he is unsatisfied with what is going on around him.
Explanation of Fine Motor-Adaptive
The Screening test has shown that the boy has some fine motor skills expected for a boy of his age. The boy can copy a circle, a cross, and a square, although he cannot successfully build a large tower from cubes, which is indicative of the need for training his coordination. As to the child’s problem-solving skills, the boy was able to see the difference in the length of lines and find a point where lines cross. The boy was successful in naming every animal in the images given to him, which supports his mother’s observations and points to his increased curiosity to the world around him.
Explanation of Language
The child clearly understands what somebody is saying to him, but he is only able to reply in short sentences, which is expected for the boy of his age. He can say his name, name colors, count to five, and use basic adjectives that describe the world around him. The child was able to repeat the majority of the words correctly and scored “normal” on DASE and intelligibility.
Explanation of Gross Motor
Again, because of the interactions with other children, the boy exhibits excellent gross motor skills such as balancing on a leg for a few seconds, throwing a ball overhead, and running without tripping over his feet.
Score
The boy’s score based on the observations and the expected milestones is high. He exhibited excellent care for personal needs, interacted well with his peers, was able to successfully repeat words and name animals. His fine and gross motor milestones suggest that the interaction with other children in highly beneficial and will continue to bring positive results.
Conclusion
The first few years of life play an integral role in child’s development and provide a background for stimulation and support (Eratay, Bayoglu, & Anlar, 2015). Overall, the 3-year-old boy chosen for the Denver II Developmental Screening test showed no developmental issues as to the milestones expected at his age. The boy’s curiosity to exploring the world around him supports the development of his gross and fine motor skills. It is advised to fuel the boy’s interests, facilitate the meeting of new friends, and consequently look at the prospect of a kindergarten where the boy will be able to interact with his peers and learn more about the world around him.
References
Eratay, E., Bayoglu, B., & Anlar, B. (2015). Preschool developmental screening with Denver II test in semi-urban areas. Journal of Pediatrics & Child Care, 1(2), 1-4.
Morin, A. (2014). Developmental milestones for typical 3-year-olds. Web.