Preschooler Month 49-54 — Growth and Development

Your preschooler is now quite grown up and has started doing things that amaze and surprise you! As he learns new skills every day, make it a point to track these changes so you can be sure his development is as per expectations.

We bring you the major developmental milestones your child will hit this month. Observe his behaviour carefully and in case you perceive any major lags or diversions, make sure to check with his paediatrician.

Physical Development

• Look who’s so much more confident and agile now! Your pre-schooler has become an expert at catching a bounced ball and does this with amazing efficiency. Not just that, he is also able to pump a swing on his own. Trips to the park are even more joyful now!
• As his fine motor skills develop further, so does his ability to grasp. He can now grasp a marker between the thumb and the index finger while the rest of the fingers are secured against the palm. You should ensure he gets good practise of this grasp as it will help him when he begins school.
• Your child will also display interest in pegs and peg-boards and enjoy playing with lego-like blocks. This is a great way to improve his fine motor skills further along with fuelling his creativity.

Social and Emotional Development

• Your pre-schooler now understands the power of communication and interaction. He no longer resorts to hitting or pushing another child when he wants something. Instead, he uses words to express a need such as wanting a drink of water or wanting to play with a toy another child has in his hands.
• He is fast becoming a responsible member of the society! For now, his society outside home is a crèche, daycare, preschool, etc. In this setup, he starts contributing to classroom responsibility such as picking up trash, watering plants, etc. It is a pleasure to see him all responsible and dedicated! ||

Cognitive Development

• The developmental changes that happen now are significant and play a major role in your child’s future brain power. One of these changes is that he now starts to understand common categories of things. For example, birds are of different kinds but all of them can be referred to as birds.
• Further, he is also able to solve an 8 – 10 piece puzzle using his new skills of categorisation and figuring out what fits where. Here’s how you can use these puzzles to boost your child’s brain development.
• The sense of symmetry and order is also evident in how he now colours mostly within the lines in a colouring book. While doing this, or when reading, he also holds the book right side up and begins at the front. He is learning quite a lot of things, isn’t he?
• Your child’s memory is also improving now. He is able to count from memory fairly confidently.

Linguistic Development

• Gone are the days when your child would want attention or jump into any conversation randomly! He is now able to take turns in a conversation and this makes conversing with him a joy!
• Yet another development that happens at this time is that your child will be able to track vocal changes in inflection. For example, when someone else is reading to him, he will be able to understand ups and downs in the voice and expression as the story proceeds.

Contact your Paediatrician If/When you Notice:

At this time, you need to be careful about the following conditions in your child. Aside from periodic check-ups, these situations warrant an immediate consultation with the paediatrician:

• By this age, kids understand how to interact with other kids and express what they want. But if your child continues to resort to hitting and biting, it could signal a deeper behavioural problem that should be discussed with the doctor.
• You should also keep a track of his memory development and discuss with the doctor if he is having trouble counting a few objects from memory, remembering things you just told him or showed him in a picture book, etc. Memory retention issues can be fixed if detected at an early age.

Your pre-schooler has many more things in store for him in the next timeframe of development. Take a sneak peek at all the developmental changes you can expect to see then.

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