Your child‘s cognitive milestones are the ways he learns to think, explore, learn and solve new problems. A child between 12 and 24 months will typically:
Know the use of everyday objects, such as a spoon, a toothbrush or phone
Start following simple directions such as ―blow me a kiss‖ or ―sit down‖
Start simple pretend play, like feeding a stuffed animal
Point to his own head, eyes, ears, nose or mouth
Make the connection between a word you say and a picture in a book
Show a reaction to familiar songs and stories
Start testing cause and effect, such as what happens when he throws his cup on the floor
Language Milestones
Language at this age is not only about the sounds your child makes. It‘s also about how ell your child understands what you say to him. And it‘s about how he tells you what he wants and needs.
Sometime between 12 and 24 months, a child can typically:
Babble in a way that sounds like talking and try to ―talk‖ with you
Recognize family members‘ names and the words for common items (cup, ball, shoe)
Raise his arms when he wants to be picked up, point at things he wants and shake his head no
Understand basic commands like stop
Say no, mama and several other words
Express happiness, sadness and frustration with different sounds or cries
Social and Emotional Milestones
One-year-olds have limited social interactions with other children. But your child may learn many social skills and ways to express emotion this year. Most 1-year-olds can do these things:
Smile and laugh in reaction to somebody else or when playing
Cry when someone nearby is upset
Feel comfortable exploring the room when a caregiver is nearby
Show affection to familiar people
Have mild temper tantrums when frustrated
Be nervous around new people and clingy with caregivers
Keep in mind that kids develop at different rates. Your child might meet some of these milestones a little earlier or a little later. But if he isn‘t meeting most of them, consider talking to his doctor. It might be helpful to have an evaluation to look at his skills. Once you have a better idea of your child‘s path of development, you can talk about early intervention strategies and other ways to help.
HOW CAREGIVERS AND PROVIDE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF LIFE:
1. Communicate With The Child
I used to talk to my darling daughter continuously (right from her birth won‘t be an exaggeration). I used to label every action I was doing, right from standing up, sitting down, singing, cooking and everything. I also labelled every object she was looking at like door, plate, stroller, shoes: feeling like wind, heat, cold: Tasting- like sour, sweet, salty - and so on-literally everything. So by the time she was 9 months, she had good vocabulary, a good grasp of all the activities people did around her and understood tastes.
2. Introduce Books, Storytelling And Narrating Events
Books play a very vital role in both brain development, language skills and also a first step to gross motor skill development (holding book, turning pages). I had introduced cloth books & soft sponge books to her as early as 2 months, board books from 5 months and paper books after she turned 1. She liked colourful objects, animals, birds & shapes till around 9 months and then loved listening to simple short stories from illustrated books (no fairy tales). And activity books (match the shadows, pairing similar objects) after she turned 2.
3. Ask Questions To Stimulate Thinking Process
As I introduced the books, I named the objects she was seeing in all languages I knew, then gradually started describing them (shape, colour, utility), if it was animal or bird book- I explained the environment in which they are found, etc. And then always asked her questions (pointing at a rabbit) - instead of asking ―what is this?‖ I asked her ―it has long ears, short fluffy tail, is soft & white like cotton?‖. I continued with the exercise even when we went out to some shop or mall. Played the ―I spy‖ game in the house & outdoors describe objects and ask her to identify them. It was fun.
4. Let Your Kids Explore - Touch, Feel, Smell, Taste
I encouraged the natural tendency kids have to explore the world around them. (But of course with discretion). I never stopped her from playing with stones or mud in the garden or other things like tasting sour lime or bitter gourd, smell a flower on the plant etc. This way she learnt by herself that stones were hard, mud was soft, ice was cold, paper could be torn with hands and rubber bands were elastic & so on. Things which were not safe for her we explained to her & kept out of reach- like touching a hot cup of tea could burn her skin, pressing against a glass door could break the glass, playing with a sharp object could hurt etc.
5. Music-Dance-Physical Activity
Kids love music & I was not surprised the other day when she sang the whole song ―lakdi ki kathi, kathi pe ghoda‖ and danced to the tune as well. She now sings quite a few songs & rhymes. And seems like she has now developed a good ear for music because she has been listening to it since childhood. I also noticed that a soothing instrumental piece calms her down whereas a song like ―lungi dance‖ excites her and she dances like crazy. So dance becomes a good physical activity to channelize the unending energy of a kid and singing & listening to songs becomes a great mental activity.
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