Prenatal and Infancy Stage (1)
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Walden University *
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Jan 9, 2024
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Prenatal and Infancy Stage
Emmanuelle Pierre
Walden University
EDUC8081
2
Prenatal and Infancy Stage
Introduction
A child's journey toward language and literacy begins long before they speak their
first word. Important experiences and influences during prenatal and early childhood set the
stage for this journey. Our protagonist, Mia, started on this incredible adventure against a
backdrop of supportive conditions that would profoundly impact how she learned to read and
write. Mia's mother, Sarah, used mindfulness and relaxation practices throughout her
pregnancy, creating an environment that was conducive to Mia's and Sarah's mental and
emotional health. Prenatal bonding traditions, like reading stories and singing lullabies,
helped Mia associate language with comfort and security from an early age. Mia's growth in
all areas of her infant years mirrored expected patterns. Her smiles in response to voices, her
natural curiosity, and her engagement with the world around her all played a role in her
eventual success in learning to read and write. Mia's early linguistic development was
additionally facilitated by her family's and culture's exposure to multiple languages and
cultures.
Developmental Characteristics
Mia’s prenatal development and infancy were characterized by typical timely
milestones forming a platform for her language and literacy journey.
Physical Development
Mia’s physical development in the prenatal period and infancy followed standard
expectations. Such motor skills milestones include grasping objects, rolling over, and
eventually sitting up and crawling (Sania et al., 2019). The physical changes enabled Mia to
interact with things around her, handle objects, and be involved in physical activities with
caregivers. That is why the fine motor skills, such as reaching out to touch objects, played an
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essential role in her language development; they provided opportunities for exploring things,
tactile experiences, and enrichment of words.
Social Development
Mia developed strong bonds with her caregivers, particularly Sarah, her mother. The
emotional attachment is consistent with regular socialization, which seeks assurance and
reassurance from parents or primary caregivers since infancy. The language acquisition by
Mia was further facilitated by her strong emotional attachment to her caregivers, who
provided a safe environment for social development (Sania et al., 2019). Moreover, she could
pick up emotional signals by smiling at some points when her caregivers were speaking. This
only established that there was a mutuality between language and interaction.
Emotional Development
Another typical milestone during infancy was Mia’s ability to show and respond to
emotions, which indicated that her emotional development had already started. She
responded by smiling and cooing in reply to her caretakers’ voices. Such an emotional
attachment also facilitates language learning by enhancing engagement between children and
their caregivers (Rees et al., 2019).
Cognitive Development
Early curiosity and interest in Mia’s environment were critical elements of her
cognitive development. This natural cognitive development occurs in infancy, promoting
exploration and learning (Rees et al., 2019). The ability to process and internalize language
inputs is evident in the mental growth that she received from her environment and
caregivers. This enabled her to identify patterns, sounds, and words.
Language and Literacy Development
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Supporting Factors
Many facets facilitated Mia’s language acquisition and development during her
prenatal period and infancy. First, language was linked to comfort through storytelling and
singing lullabies in the womb. Mia had a positive experience in language acquisition because
it involved an emotional association. In addition to this, her family’s devotion to the reading
culture and story-telling played a critical role (Rees et al., 2019). The love of literature had
already been laid down before the birth of Mia by Sarah and David, her parents who were
even reading before she came into existence. The words, sounds, and stories introduced to her
at a young age helped boost her cognitive development, facilitating her language acquisition
(Flensborg-Madsen & Mortensen, 2018). In addition, Mia was exposed to a language-rich
environment (Rees et al., 2019). Being bilingual, she was exposed to various language inputs
due to the bilingual nature of her family. The exigencies of this exposure reinforced the
connections among multiple language domains and contributed to the development of a rich
linguistic repertoire.
Inhibiting Factors
There were no significant obstacles during Mia’s prenatal period and infancy. Mia’s
environment was conducive to the growth of language abilities. Her family provided a
supportive and conducive atmosphere that could have reduced language acquisition barriers.
Overlap of Domains
During this period, Mia’s language acquisition overlapped with several developmental
domains. These included her ability to interact with books and the tactile world, which helped
improve her language exposure. Socio-emotionally, in an environment of a close attachment
to the main caretakers (particularly her mother), Mia had a reasonable basis to develop
language, as she could pick up language in an environment secure and caring (Rees et al.,
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2019). Emotionally, Mia’s expressive and responsive abilities in smiles and coos contributed
to her communication skills. Her curiosity about the environment and the objects and people
surrounding her led to facilitated language development cognitively. The development of
Mia’s cognitive allowed her to process and learn language inputs from the environment. This
resulted in a coherent and integrated approach to learning language, wherein physical, social-
emotional, and cognitive factors were crucial.
Environmental Support
Mia’s environment supported the connections between the domains during her infancy
and prenatal period. She grew up with books in her home, developing a love for reading and
language. Mia’s bilingual environment exposed her to a wide array of linguistic experiences,
expanding her language repertoire (Sania et al., 2019). Furthermore, her exposure to a
multicultural community at home and participation in local events contributed significantly to
her cross-cultural understanding, including knowledge about languages, consolidating these
links with language domains.
Family and Cultural Influences
Familial and cultural factors highly influenced language acquisition and development
during her prenatal period and infancy. The multicultural background and language
devotedness of her family contributed to Mia’s early linguistic experiences.
Family and Caregiver Support
At every stage of her language acquisition and development, Mia found an
unswerving pillar of support in her family, headed by Sarah and David. They had already
created an environment with a rich literary culture before Mia’s birth. They nurtured a respect
for language from early childhood, as reading and storytelling were essential to their
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everyday lives. Reading was enhanced among Sarah and David’s family, developing a robust
reading culture that continued as their children grew up.
Cultural Influence
Their multicultural background has dramatically influenced language development
and acquisition in Mia’s family. Growing up, she was exposed to different language inputs;
English and Spanish were spoken in the household. Mia was also bilingual because her
grandparents, who were native Spanish speakers, increased her bilingualism (Sania et al.,
2019). They often conversed with Mia and her brother, Ethan, playing games and telling
stories in Spanish, enhancing her attachment to her cultural roots.
Cultural Specifics
Some cultural influences were seen in the society where Mia resides. Her first
exposure to Spanish-language books, music, and traditional lullabies connected her to her
family's cultural roots. In addition, the family actively participated in multicultural events and
gatherings in their community, where Mia was exposed to the customs and traditions of many
cultures and their languages (Sania et al., 2019). Thus, this opened her eyes to a diversified
world, developing her sense of culture.
Summary
Mia’s development was very typical in prenatal and infancy because of the supportive
environment surrounding her. Prenatal bonding, a love for reading, and exposure to several
languages strengthened her language and literacy development. A standard definition of
language implies the integration of the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive domains,
resulting in a holistic perception of language learning. Her linguistic repertoire was enriched
by family and cultural influences such as a multicultural background and a strong reading
culture. These early experiences of Mia pave the way for future explorations and growth in
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language and literacy development as she transitions towards toddlerhood. The following
section will explore Mia’s toddlerhood development based on this base.
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References
Flensborg-Madsen, T., & Mortensen, E. L. (2018). Developmental milestones during the first
three years are precursors of adult intelligence.
Developmental psychology
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Rees, S., Channon, S., & Waters, C. S. (2019). The impact of maternal prenatal and postnatal
anxiety on children’s emotional problems: a systematic review. European child &
adolescent psychiatry, pp. 28, 257-280.
Sania, A., Sudfeld, C. R., Danaei, G., Fink, G., McCoy, D. C., Zhu, Z., ... & Fawzi, W.
(2019). Early life risk factors of motor, cognitive and language development: a pooled
analysis of studies from low/middle-income countries.
BMJ Open
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9
(10), e026449.