Week 5 · Readings & resources

Week 5 — Readings & Resources

Child Development Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 5 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 12 items (6 readings and 6 videos). Allow 53–67 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–21 min total)

① How a baby's brain wires itself

Chapter 5, Section “Grow the brain: synapses, pruning, myelination, and plasticity” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Brain growth” · Remember: the brain makes far more connections than it keeps, prunes the unused ones, and coats the kept ones in myelin to speed signals.

What are the most important changes in the brain after birth? — ZERO TO THREE — a short explainer, titled as a question, on the burst of synapse formation after birth, the later pruning of synapses, and myelination starting in the motor and sensory areas. Its synapse counts are the page's own figures, not numbers this course pins, so read them for the shape of the story rather than for memorizing. (reading, 3–5 min)
Stages of Brain Development in Infants — Boston Children's Hospital — a researcher in developmental medicine sketches synapses and myelin by hand: the brain overproduces synapses and then prunes them back, and myelin makes signals along a nerve fiber travel faster. This builds on Week 4's prenatal periods: the video opens with the neural tube forming in the first weeks after conception. Listen for the closing point that much of the brain's growth after birth is driven by experience. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)
How a child's brain develops through early experiences — NSPCC — an animated explainer from a children's charity that says brains are built over time by experience, using the picture of a house's foundation and of serve-and-return exchanges between a caregiver and a child, such as eye contact, singing, and peekaboo. Use its middle section as an example of plasticity; its later parts on stress and self-control belong to later weeks of this course. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)

② Reflexes nobody taught

Chapter 5, Section “Spot the newborn reflexes: six automatic responses” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Newborn reflexes” · Remember: a reflex is automatic and unlearned, and most newborn reflexes fade in the first months.

Movements and reflexes of a newborn — AboutKidsHealth — a short article from a children's health information site that describes the rooting, grasping, startle (Moro), and stepping reflexes, along with crawling and placing reflexes, which this course does not name; it does not treat sucking as a separate reflex, and it does not cover the Babinski reflex. The ages it gives for when each reflex fades are the page's own, where the chapter says only that most fade in the first months, and its remark about how strong a newborn's grip is describes the reflex, never something to try; this course never asks anyone to test a child. Use it while completing the Week-5 module overview. (reading, 4–6 min)
Newborn Reflexes: The Power of Your Newborn — Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan — a family-education video from a tribal health organization that reviews the root, suck, grasp, step, and Moro reflexes and the tonic neck reflex, with plain descriptions of what each looks like. Its explanations of what each reflex does for survival are the video's own; compare them with the ethological view in the chapter, and notice its reminder that families are not expected to test these reflexes. (video, 5 min) (captions: automatic)

③ Big muscles, small muscles, and wide windows

Chapter 5, Section “Read the windows of achievement: ranges, not deadlines” · Session 2, Segment 4, “The WHO windows” · Remember: a milestone is a window, not a deadline, and walking alone runs from about 8.2 to 17.6 months.

Crawling 8-10 months — HSE Ireland — a short video from Ireland's national health service in which children's physiotherapists show the steps toward crawling: moving in a circle and backwards, belly crawling, rocking on hands and knees, and then crawling on hands and knees. It says crawling typically happens between 8 and 10 months; set that beside the WHO window for hands-and-knees crawling, about 5.2 to 13.5 months, to see how much wider the real range is. Its tips for helping a baby crawl are the video's own suggestions, not guidance this course pins. (video, 3 min) (captions: automatic)
Milestones by 9 Months — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the CDC's milestone page for 9 months, which lists things most children (75 percent or more) can do by that age; its movement list mixes gross motor skills, such as sitting without support, with fine motor skills, such as moving things from one hand to the other. Stop here before the checklists' use in conversations with a health professional; next week takes that up. (reading, 4–6 min)

④ Safe sleep and feeding, in the issuing bodies' words

Chapter 5, Section “State safe sleep as the issuing bodies state it” · Session 2, Segment 5, “Safe sleep” · Remember: the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2022 statement says back to sleep for every sleep until age 1, on a firm, flat surface.

CDC SIDS: Safe Sleep — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — two CDC scientists use a baby doll in a real nursery to show a safe sleep space: the baby on the back, a firm, flat crib mattress with a fitted sheet, and soft items taken out of the crib. Notice that they credit the back-sleeping guidance to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the same body the chapter quotes. (video, 8 min) (captions: creator)
Clear the Crib to Reduce the Risk of Sleep-Related Infant Death, with Audio Descriptions — NICHDVideos — a two-minute clip from the NICHD's Safe to Sleep campaign, with spoken descriptions of what is on screen, in which a pediatrician from the American Academy of Pediatrics' task force on sudden infant death syndrome explains keeping soft bedding, bumpers, pillows, and toys out of the sleep space, leaving only a fitted sheet. Its advice on wearable blankets goes beyond what this course pins. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)
Ways to Reduce Baby's Risk — NICHD Safe to Sleep — the Safe to Sleep campaign's own list of ways to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant death; its first two items are placing babies on their backs to sleep for naps and at night and using a firm, flat, level sleep surface. Read the first three items closely; the rest go beyond what this course pins. (reading, 5–8 min)
Infant and young child feeding — World Health Organization — the World Health Organization's fact sheet, whose key facts state its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. Read the key facts and the breastfeeding section, and read them as one body's recommendation, not a ranking of families. (reading, 5–8 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe: AAP Policy Explained — HealthyChildren.org — the American Academy of Pediatrics' family-facing guide to its safe sleep policy statement; read the opening recommendations on back sleeping and a firm, flat sleep surface, and skip the product advice at the end. (reading, 8–10 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com