How child development is determined can be confusing for parents. Development simply means alterations in a child’s physical development. It also includes the psychological changes in a child; of learning, emotional, social, neurological and cognitive development. All of these aspects are interrelated, and all depend on and impact the other. Development can occur in the early years of a child’s life through to the teen years.
Factors such as family environment, home environment, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and gender. But one factor that plays a major part in the development of young children is the readiness of the child to learn and interact with others. Children enrolled in preschool often perform better in school and are more independent compared to those who attend a later stage in life. Pre preschoolers are generally classified into three stages: early childhood, infancy or early adolescence, and late childhood or middle childhood development.
intellectual development of infants
The term ‘infant’ refers to children who were born within the month of their mother’s estimated time of birth. Infants under one year have a very limited capacity for intellectual development. On the other hand, pre-school children refer to those who had been enrolled in a local community preschool before the age of five. A pre-school setting offers an ideal environment for children to explore and develop their senses, communicate and interact with others, while developing interpersonal relationships and developing self-discipline and social responsibility.
How child development is affected by factors such as social environment, family values, academic achievement, ethnic background, gender, housing, parent background and educational preparation form the basis of the multilevel structure of parenting. These four key takeaway factors determine how children develop work habits, how they learn, how they behave, how they talk, how they grow, and how they survive. In the most basic terms, parents set the pace of how children learn and grow. While some parents are highly involved in their child’s daily activities and some parents are not, the overall influence remains. Some parents are highly involved in their child’s activities, and some parents are less so.
Interaction of the child with the community
How children develop work habits reflects how well the child interacts with other people in the community. In the early years of child development, children are able to interact with adults in order to make them understand what is right and wrong. They also learn how to share, take turns, respect others, and how to form relationships. These interactions prepare them for adulthood and enable them to achieve success in the social and economic realms.
How children learn about relationships determines how well they adapt to and develop their own environments. Early childhood development has much to do with emotional intelligence, which refers to how young children can understand how to relate to others and how to get along with others in a group. They also learn how to manage their emotions in order to be able to face life’s challenges with a clear head. Emotionally intelligent young children tend to be more resilient and can bounce back from adversity much better than those who lack the ability to deal with emotions.
presence of siblings
How child development is affected by the presence of siblings also has a significant impact on how early childhood development is learned. For instance, two or more siblings who are removed from an environment where they can have input together can significantly change how they learn.
One sibling may be left behind in the hopes that he can pick up the different skills necessary for him to be able to function as a functioning member of society while the other sibling is left behind in an overly domestic situation where he has little or no input at all.
Final Verdict
How family health care professionals can help with early childhood development has a significant impact on how well children are able to cope with the challenging aspects of growing up. They not only help the child to become a well-balanced individual, but they also help the child acquire coping skills that will be essential for him to deal with the rigors of childhood. In turn, the child learns how to properly interact with peers, how to appropriately interact with adults and how to effectively negotiate social situations. These social skills set the foundation for how a child socially interacts throughout his lifetime.
