Understanding your child’s development

Children develop and learn at different rates and in different ways. Their development is not neat and orderly!

That’s why the Department for Education’s guidance document, Development Matters, sets out children’s learning in broad ages. It shows how lots of different experiences in the first three years of life will help your child to learn.

In this guide:

• ‘When I’m a baby’ broadly tells you about your child’s development in the first year of life
• ‘When I am a bit older’ tells you about their development as a toddler and two-year old

Development Matters includes some checkpoints. They can help you and your childminder or early years setting have a conversation, if you’re worried about anything. Then you can decide together what to do next. The ‘checkpoints’ are not a ‘tick list’ to use for every child.

Sometimes children have some early difficulties in their development. With the right help, they can quickly grow out of these difficulties. For example, 70% of children with delayed communication in the early years won’t have problems later in school. Those ‘late talkers’ need lots of opportunities to chat, play and read.

Some children will have long-term difficulties, so it’s important to identify what their needs are and make sure they get the support they need.

Every child can make good progress, with the right support.