Saturday, November 20, 2010

Social and Emotional Skills - 1


The early years of life is a time of huge development and growth. Studies on early childhood has proved that the first five years of a child’s life have a major impact on his social and emotional development. Depressing incidents in early childhood, can harm a child’s psychological health and effect the development to a large extent. Social and emotional development starts from birth, but these developments tend to be primitive and incomplete, until the child becomes toddler.

Fifteen months onwards, children develop a sense of individuality. A new set of emotions such as of self-importance and of being self conscious, are developed. At this age children develop the ability to work in groups. Many of their behavior patterns are being formed based on their environment. They learn how to share, compromise, cooperate, adjust and take turns with other children.

Big A, who is five-year-old, feels sad when his baby brother cries! Big A’s emotion of unhappiness is the result of his younger brother condition rather than his own. Once, when I fell from the staircase, hurt myself badly and started to cry, Miss A was sad and brought her favorite toy to cheer me up. This type of emotional responding is identified as explicit emotional responding, i.e reactions that are caused as result to another's emotional condition. Children often cry when they hear the other, crying. Throughout early childhood, children are likely to react to another's emotional pain in ways that they themselves find soothing.

Misbehavior in children, to a large extent, also depends on the social and emotional environment at home. Punishing the child without bringing the necessary change the environment, is like treating the symptom without addressing the disease. Making a change in the environment, will not only does benefit the child, but also the parent. Behavior is determined by nature and nurture. Both, the genetics and the environmental factors, determine a child’s temperament. Children learn from observation, and then they imitate. It is very important for us as parents to create the necessary social and emotional environment to up-bring an emotionally healthy and social child.

Next week, we shall discuss activities that aid the emotional and social development of a child. Till then, be loving to your little ones.

2 comments:

  1. hi, it is amazing that you are observing child behavior so minutely. I have a request to both of you please raise them with a sense of respecting aged person that is where from wisdom flows.

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  2. Thank you. We already have a blog post planned on family values which will be published in the near future.

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