Growth, development and personality

Growth is getting bigger; development is getting better organised, more capable and more complex. A child grows taller (growth) and also learns to reason, relate and regulate emotions (development). Development follows principles: it proceeds from general to specific, from head to toe, and at different rates for different children. Worked example: two ten-year-olds of the same height may differ greatly in reasoning and social skill — same growth, different development — which is why a teacher must not judge readiness by size or age alone.