Overthinking milestones: How every child is unique

The uniqueness of each child

• Every kid is an individual, having special social, emotional, intellectual and physical qualities.

• Every child is unique. Children are individuals and no two children are alike: physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually.

• They are unique, despite having common needs and characteristics that children of a particular age or stage of development.

• Hence, you, as a parent, must understand their uniqueness and respect their individuality.

• For example, in a single-grade classroom comprising 45 to 50, not all of the students will be able to read at precisely the same ability level. They will have different personalities; some will be shy, some will be confident, some outgoing, some quiet but competent. All of them will have different likes and dislikes, interests and needs.

Many pathways of learning and developmental milestones

• Every child is special, having unique combinations of abilities and needs that impact learning.

• Children develop at their own pace, making it impossible to tell exactly when a child will learn a particular skill. 

• There is a normal range in which children may reach the milestone. For example, some children may begin walking as early as 8 months; while others may walk as late as 18 months, and it is still considered normal.

• Closely watching a "checklist" or calendar of developmental milestones may concern you if your child is not developing normally. At the same time, milestones can help you to identify if your child needs a more detailed check-up.

How can you help your child?

• List every different way your child might learn: e.g., by reading? By looking at pictures? By listening?

• Enlist different ways that your child can show he/ she understands what is taught: by speaking? By acting something out?

• Jot down two new ways that a child might learn. Then write down two new ways he/ she might express his/ her understanding.