Se refiere al patrón que el niño va siguiendo, a su propio patrón de desarrollo o comportamiento. Hay que seguirlo para poderlo guiar.

This is a phrase which would seem to be appropriate in this case. It refers in particular to learning i.e. letting the child learn "at its own pace" which is considered to be beneficial to the child, rather than setting schedules and possibly pressurising the child to learn which can be counter-productive.

See:
http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/prekPrograms.html
"If the school is child-centered, learning is done at each child's pace, and the teacher's role is to arrange the environment and provide ideas and materials for children to choose their own activities."