Physical Development
From infancy throughout the early childhood period (birth to age 8), physical development typically progresses from the head downward (cephalocaudal) and from the center of the body outward (proximodistal). As the body lengthens and the head assumes a smaller proportion of the rest of the body, the child’s center of gravity gradually rises. Gross motor control progresses from nonlocomotive movements to eventual walking, running, hopping, skipping, and so forth. Control of fine motor processes involves everything from eye tracking to the highly controlled manual dexterity needed to draw, write, or play a musical instrument. The brain grows at a faster pace during early childhood than at any other time across the life span (Charlesworth, 2004; Levine & Munsch, 2011).