Definitions & Resources

Definitions

Social and Emotional
Social and emotional development refers to the understanding of one’s self (i.e. Who am I? What am I feeling?) as well as the people around them (i.e. Who are they? How do they feel?). Proper social and emotional development helps with confidence, empathy, self-regulation, and the ability to make meaningful and lasting relationships.

Language/Communication
Language development is the process of understanding and utilizing a common way of expression through words during early childhood. Language development indicates the growth and maturation of the brain, where understanding words come before the ability to communicate words out of the mouth.

Cognitive (Cognition)
The mental act of processing and acquiring knowledge through the exploration of their senses and surroundings in order to think and understand the world around them. This includes problem-solving, thinking, memory, and reasoning, which preludes to math and science.

Movement/Physical Development
Motor development is the ability to do physical movement in order to engage with their surroundings. It contributes to the strengthening of bones, muscles, and joints that fall under the two categories of motor development: gross-motor and fine-motor.

Practical Life
Practical life is part of the Montessori philosophy that pertains to the activities of everyday life. It serves to provide a foundation to help children foster skills in concentration, control, independence, and to ultimately help them accomplish life skills in a purposeful way. Practical life generally covers four categories: Caring for Self, Caring for the Environment, Grace & Courtesy, and Movement of Objects

Visual Discrimination
Discrimination: the ability to interpret information and to distinguish relevant and irrelevant details.

Visual discrimination (a category type under sensory discrimination) is the ability to observe and perceive the details from a visual image such as objects or symbols, by comparing and contrasting their shapes, colors, size, and orientation. Visual discrimination is crucial for a child learning new words and symbols (i.e. distinguishing letters & numbers) and developing memory skills (paying attention to details).

Sensory Discrimination
Sensory discrimination is the ability to recognize and process different senses, which includes touch (tactile domain), body position and movement (proprioceptive domain), modulation of movement in space (vestibular domain), sight (visual domain), hearing (auditory domain), smell/taste (Olfactory/Gustatory domain), and organ receptors (Interoception domain).

Resources

If you find that your family requires individualized support or you are curious about learning more geared towards your specific needs, check out these resources.

Below you will find a list of professional family support centers, early intervention programs, parent training, pediatric care, specialists for disabilities, special needs, therapy, and development.

These resources are meant to supplement Upswing Parenting’s general curriculum, but they are not for everyone. Please do your own research to find the centers that best suit your family’s needs. Upswing Parenting provides these resources for information purposes, which does not constitute an endorsement or affiliation with them.