Age appropriateness

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this article. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Age appropriateness" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and Canada and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Age appropriateness refers to people behaving as predicted by their perspective timetable of development. The perspective timetable is embedded throughout people's social life, primarily based on socially-agreed age expectations and age norms. For a given behavior, such as crawling, learning to walk, learning to talk, etc., there are years within which the behavior is regarded appropriate. By contrast, if the behavior falls out of the age range, it will be considered age-inappropriate. Most people are adhered to these age norms and are aware of whether their timing is "early," "delayed," or "on time."^[1]

Age appropriateness is considered essential for children's skills development. Children's motor, cognitive and social skills are formed through several development stages. Looking at a child's functional development involves observing whether or not the child has mastered certain developmental milestones and expectations for their age. Lack of exposure to age-appropriate activities and experiences in a specific stage is thought to prevent a child from gaining the skills necessary for their current and thus their next stage of development.

There are various sanctions associated with age inappropriateness, ranging from social isolation, damage to physical health and cognitive development, and forming of improper behaviour.^[1]