toddling, and even walking. He learns to run, hop on one foot, climb
trees; to do things you are too decrepit to do anymore.
(^) He develops his capacity to manipulate objects. Soon he can turn
doorknobs and release catches. He learns to feed himself. There is no
period of life in which physical change is so dramatic.
Social Change
(^) Social change is just as radical. The first social relationship is
with his mother. Soon, the circle of familiar people widens to include
other family members. He learns his own style of relating to others.
He learns what endears him to others. He learns how to seek approval
in his ever-widening world of social relationships. By four or five, he
will have friends of his own.
Intellectual Change
(^) Intellectual change is just as dramatic. The young child is a
meaning maker. He hears language and generalizes the rules of
grammar. Even his mistakes follow the logical grammar patterns—“I
thinked” instead of “I thought.”
(^) Every experience is a learning experience. Curiosity abounds.
Why do doors turn on hinges? Do things exist when I don’t think
about them? Why do things fall to the ground? Can people see me
when I close my eyes? The child learns to talk, to count, to tease, to
be funny, to be serious. He learns values—what is important and what
isn’t.
Spiritual Change
(^) He is developing spiritually. That development may be
shepherded along the lines of knowing and loving the true God, or it
may be ignored. Both produce spiritual development. Because he is a
spiritual creature, he either learns to worship and rely on Jehovah
God, or he learns to bow before lesser gods.