Heep Hong Society
Developmental Stages
To cater for the needs of parents of preterm infants between the ages of 0 and 6 years, we set up "Project PRETERM" to increase public awareness of preterm birth and provide comprehensive support to their parents throughout the whole 0-6 year-old pre-school stage. Please click here for details: https://www.heephong.org/eng/support/corporate-partners-corporate-volunteering-service/project-preterm
0-1Year
Intellectual Development
- Follow moving object with eye movement
 - Reach out and grasp musical or spinning objects
 - Look for objects that disappear from view
 - Turn his head to the direction of sound calling from behind
 - Put objects into and pour them out from a container
 - Reach out for toy that is far away from him (e.g. pull a toy car to himself with a rope)
 
Social & Emotional Development
- Turn his face to or smile at approaching and familiar people
 - Reach for object, such as towel which covers an adult’s face
 - Smile when playing hide-and-seek
 - Turn his head to the direction of name calling
 
Language Development
- Locate the source of sound
 - Respond to his name
 - Communicate with people by making sound deliberately
 
Gross Motor Development
- Press his hands against the floor when being held by his pelvic bones by adult (6 months)
 - Maintain his balance for 30 seconds when sitting on the floor and can reach for toys with both hands (7-8 months)
 - Be down on his knees and hands, and reach for toys (9 months)
 - Stand alone for 5 seconds (9-12 months)
 - Stand up from sitting posture with support of furniture (10-12 months)
 
Fine Motor Development
- Reach for objects spontaneously
 - Grasp objects with his palm
 - Poke objects with index fingers
 - Take objects out and put them into container
 
Life Skills Development
- Suck milk from bottle
 - Put food on spoon into mouth with both lips
 - Drink from cup held by adult
 
1-2 years
Intellectual Development
- Flip through picture books page by page
 - Explore interesting objects with hands (e.g. touching, patting, twisting)
 - Achieve goals with the aid of complex body movements
 - Understand the names of some objects
 - Point to not less than 3 important parts of body in response to naming
 - Put two pegs into holes
 - Solve problems by trial and error
 
Social and Emotional Development
- Imitate motions or behaviors of others
 - Look at the direction pointed by adults
 - Greet people or share food if prompted by adults
 - Respond to simple situational commands, e.g. ‘give me’, ‘sit down’, ‘get the toy for me’
 - Play with others in an interactive way, e.g. pushing ball
 
Language Development
- Say single words, mainly objects, people and actions
 - Understand the names of objects
 - Understand situational commands
 - Understand collocations
 
Gross Motor Development
- Climb up and down stairs by himself
 - Bend and pick up objects from the floor
 - Squat for 30 seconds
 - Walk steadily
 
Fine Motor Development
- Put small objects into containers with his thumb and index finger
 - Build a tower of 2 bricks
 - Scribble with crayons
 - Tear objects apart with two hands
 - Put one circular cup into another circular cup
 
Life Skills Development
- Put food into his mouth with fingers
 - Suck up liquid through a straw
 - Chew solid food
 - Use gestures or speech to show his toilet needs
 - Pull down his trousers with both hands
 
2-3 years
Intellectual Development
- Point out learnt picture by the name (e.g. orange, grape, bus, doll)
 - Match 4 colors (e.g. red, yellow, blue, green)
 - Match 3 basic shapes
 - Line up 3 blocks horizontally by imitation
 - Count from 1 to 3
 - Tell the names of objects (e.g. flowers, the sun, ships)
 
Social and Emotional Development
- Do simple housework in response to adults’ instruction
 - Enjoy role play or hide-and-seek
 - Answer questions like ‘what’s your name?’, ‘how old are you?’
 - Identify community facilities, such as McDonald’s, MTR stations
 
Language Development
- Use adjectives, such as big/small, dirty/clean
 - Understand commands made up of two components, e.g. place the apple here
 - Understand simple questions, such as what is it?
 - Say 2-3 words phrases, e.g. mum cut apples
 
Gross Motor Development
- Jump forward by 4 inches without losing his balance
 - Jump over a rope which is 2-inch high
 - Jump from a platform which is 4-inch high
 - Move on a balance beam which is 6 inches in width by putting one foot in front of the other foot
 - Walk up one stair every two steps by himself
 
Fine Motor Development
- Build a tower of 7 bricks
 - Thread 2 beads of 1.5 cm in diameter
 - Turn the pages of book one at a time
 - Hold crayon with first three fingers and draw circles by imitation
 
Life Skills Development
- Pick up food with spoon from a bowl and eat
 - Drink from a cup alone without spilling it
 - Sit on the potty to empty his bladder or bowel
 - Undress simple clothing, e.g. socks, shoes, trousers, jackets
 
3-4 years
Intellectual Development
- Distinguish between boys and girls
 - Identify simple shapes, e.g. rectangle, square or circle
 - Identify common colors, e.g. red, yellow, green or blue
 - Count from 1 to 10
 - Achieve goals by means, e.g. cut oranges with knife
 - Know what is ‘up’ and what is ‘down’
 
Social and Emotional Development
- Follow instructions, e.g. give mum the blocks
 - Say “Thank You” to others properly
 - Understand why others are angry or happy, e.g. his little brother is crying because his has lost his car
 - Answer questions about his family, e.g. ‘where do you live?’
 
Language Development
- Say phrases composed of 3 or more words, e.g. ‘Dad goes to work by bus’
 - Use conjunctions, e.g. ‘after that’
 - Ask different questions
 - Understand collective nouns, e.g. ‘stationery’, ‘fruit’
 - Understand commands composed of 3 components, e.g. ‘The dog wants a soft drink and vegetables’
 
Gross Motor Development
- Stride over 1 foot
 - Run toward and kick a static ball for 5 feet
 - Throw a tennis ball for 3 feet
 - Walk for 10 feet while holding a tray by both hands without knocking down the cup on the tray
 
Fine Motor Development
- Cut a strip of paper that is 5 cm in width with a pair of scissors
 - Draw a triangle by imitation
 - Draw lines within the boundary of 1 cm
 - Fasten big buttons with coordinated hand movements.
 
Life Skills Development
- Feed self with spoon neatly
 - Flush the toilet after use
 - Dress and undress simple clothing, e.g. socks, shoes
 - Turn on and off water tap
 
4-5 years
Intellectual Development
- Understand the meaning of “in front of”, “behind” or “near”
 - Fill the missing numbers in 1-20
 - Identify common shapes, e.g. circle, square, triangle, star-shape, rectangle, heart-shape
 - Name the kind of colors up to 9
 
Social and emotional development
- Rely simple messages, e.g. ‘tell mum to bring a towel container next time’
 - Take part in role-playing games
 - Engage in group games that require turns taking
 
Language Development
- Understand why things happen in daily life, e.g. why people have to drink water?
 - Enjoy jokes and riddles
 - Understand and recount simple stories
 - Engage in telephone conversation
 
Gross Motor Development
- Stand on 1 foot for 5 seconds without losing his balance
 - Stride and jump forward for 2 feet
 - Jump with two feet over a fence with a height up to his knees
 - Catch an 8-inches plastic ball thrown from 6 feet away with both hands
 - Throw a tennis ball, which hits the wall 5 feet away after hitting the floor once
 
Fine Motor Development
- Draw simple pictures by imitation, e.g. ‘+’, ‘X’
 - Cut with a pair of scissors along a straight line for 8 cm
 - Thread a rope with one hand through a pegboard panel held by another hand
 
Life Skills Development
- Shove food into his mouth with chopsticks
 - Put on and take off T-shirts, underwear and other causal clothes
 - Twist a towel roughly and wipe his face
 - Brush his teeth and wash his mouth with clean water
 
5-6 years
Intellectual Development
- Draw simple pictures of people or animals, and tell the names of those pictures
 - Do addition and subtraction of numbers up to 5 by counting fingers
 - Tell his birthday
 - Grouping objects of the same nature, e.g. fruit, animal, clothing
 
Social and Emotional Development
- Remain silent during learning activity on request by adult
 - Leave classroom only with consent of teacher
 - Finish task independently without close monitoring from adult
 
Language Development
- Comprehend the speech of adult
 - Speak fluently with adult’s sentence structure
 - Use reasoning to figure out why things happen, e.g. ‘why did he walk so fast?’
 - Reason with the aid of language
 
Gross Motor Development
- Stand on one leg and maintain balance for 10 seconds
 - Throw a tennis ball against the floor with one hand and use the same hand to catch the ball
 - Hop on one foot for 8 consecutive times (for both feet)
 - Hit a balloon upwards with alternate hands for 4 times
 - Hit a basketball with one single hand for 3 consecutive times
 
Fine Motor Development
- Cut shapes out with scissors
 - Write words (such as flower, dog) within a square with sides of 2 cm in length.
 - Draw straight line of 10 cm in length with a ruler
 
Life Skills Development
- Clean himself with toilet paper after emptying his bowels
 - Distinguish inside and outside, front and back, left and right sides of clothing
 - Take a bath and apply cream to his body on his own
 - Make the bed roughly