Child Development

Since Riley Joy was about 8months old I've been studying all I can get my hands on as far as child and behavioral development goes. I feel like I can better know how to discpline/disciple Riley Joy if I know what she's capable of - or not as the case may be.
Not having unreasonable expectations for where she is at developmentally makes for a lot less frustration for both of us!

I really enjoyed this child development tracker from pbsparents.org - There is a lot of great info there about what she is learning this year - it's neat to read about the areas she hasn't reached yet, and the thigns that are starting to emerge...Some of the stuff (especially in the fine motar skills) are pretty advanced ( hehe I say oh-so-humbly) other areas she's definitely not there yet- it's fun to know to look at for them though!

There is a space to the left on the site where you can read more in-depth info on the different categories.

I also really really enjoyed reading "Your One Year old" (Ames Ph.D/Illg) - That book has been an absolute life saver so far this year! It has been really helpful to know that what to expect as far as behavior and also social and physical development goes. Definitely makes it easier to help her patiently when she's melting down over not being able to zip up her jacket alone, or get her shoe on all the way. Her need to finish tasks, and the desperate drive to discover and explore written into the very center of who she is right now. Put those two big things together and it's understandable to get some protests when she isn't allowed to finish whatever mission she was on (especially if that mission was dangerous- it seems to be the more dangerous the better for this girl she is a daredevil!)

I just thought I'd share that little site for the other Mom's who read- I got a lot out of it.