Tag: temperament

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1.3 Social and Emotional Development: Development in Early Elementary

How Development in the Early Childhood Years Affects Development in the Elementary School Years

How a child is treated during their early years1 has a clear and direct impact on how well they do in their later childhood, adolescent and adult years. A child who lives in a tolerant home may learn to be tolerant. A child who lives with firm but flexible rules may grow to be firm, flexible and capable of understanding and following everyday rules. A child who understands early on that things “may not always go their way” will probably become an adult who accepts other people’s opinions and decisions without feeling rejected or belittled.

Securely vs. insecurely attached children. Many people believe that if we respond to a baby or toddler’s every emotional need (if we pick up an infant every time he or she cries, for example), we will end up with children who are clingy and who won’t let go of their parents. In fact, research strongly indicates that the opposite is true. Children who have had their needs met most of the time and in a timely manner tend to be securely attached to their primary caregivers and they will not cling to their parents when they are older. They may not like it when Mom leaves, but they will be ok, because they know that Mom will be back. On the other hand, children whose needs were not met on a regular basis and in a timely manner may end up feeling that they cannot always trust that their parent will come back, because earlier experiences have taught them that. These are the children who will cling to their parents. They do so because their experiences with their parents leaving were inconsistent. They were not picked up consistently when they cried so they may not be confident that their parents will be there when they need them. So, an emotionally secure child, who grows up in a loving, consistent, firm but kind environment has better chances of learning how to listen to their teacher during their school years. The benefits of emotional security may also be seen later on, as adults who can work well with their employer, who can stand up for themselves, and who value diverse and different opinions from their own.

Key Point. Parents and caregivers should understand that a child’s early environments have long-lasting effects. It’s necessary and important to provide safe, loving and secure environments, especially during the early years, when children are extremely dependent on their caregivers.

1. see References

 

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1.3 Social and Emotional Development: Temperament

Temperament

Temperament refers to “the way people are.” The definition of temperament refers to “stable individual differences in quality and intensity of emotional reaction, activity level, attention and emotional self-regulation.”

Thomas and Chess looked at nine areas of temperament :

  • activity level: the amount of time a child spends in active versus more quiet modes.
  • rhythmicity: regular or irregular eating patterns, bowel movements or sleep
  • distractibility: the child’s ability to stay focused on a task, even when something is happening in their environment.
  • approach/withdrawal: the way a child responds to someone or something new in their environment.
  • adaptability: the ease and speed with which a child adapts to changes in their environment.
  • attention span: how much time a child spends on a certain activity.
  • intensity of reaction: how intensely (e.g., in terms of being more or less loud or forceful) a child responds to events in their environment.
  • threshold of responsiveness: how strong a stimulus or event has to be in order to get a response from a child.
  • quality of mood: a child’s general mood (i.e., predominantly “sunny” or positive, “negative,” or “labile” or up and down.

Three major categories define children’s temperament. This will mostly depend on how children react to changes in their environment and to new situations:

  • The easy child: usually complacent, these children are generally joyful, adapt easily to changes in their environments and usually establish sleep and eating routines quickly.
  • The difficult child: usually with irregular sleep and eating routines, these children may react intensely to changes in their environments. At the same time, they tend to be careful; they are unlikely to jump into new situations without having first “testing” them out them carefully.
  • The slow-to-warm-up child: usually slow to react to changes in their environments, these children tend to have low-key responses.

Having “easy” or “difficult” temperaments is not just what makes it easier for those raising or working with children. It’s instead how parents can read their infant or child’s cues and how well they respond to those cues. This is what child development experts refer to as the “goodness of fit” (see full Glossary).

  • For example, the parents of a child with a difficult temperament who are “in-tune” with their child’s feelings and emotions and respond to them are likely to find less challenges. This child, in turn will have more opportunities to develop other positive qualities because their needs were met.
  • In contrast, a child with an “easy” temperament growing up in a non-responsive environment (see full Glossary) may become more demanding because of not having their needs met during their early years.

Parents can fill out a very short temperament scale, rate their own temperament in order to find out how likely they are to react to new situations and see how their own temperaments fit with those of their children.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE:
How would an easy, difficult and slow to warm up child react to the following situations?
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1.3 Social and Emotional Development: Emotional Skills

Emotional Skills

Emotional development is a broad term that describes how a child develops, displays, regulates and understands feelings and emotions. The development of a child’s self-concept and self-esteem (see full Glossary) are part of emotional development.

Emotional development includes the development of emotional regulation, learning how to soothe and calm oneself. This process starts early, with parents or caregivers providing young children with the comfort they need when distressed; for example, crying, hurt, scared and needing comfort.

  • At first, children need their parents to calm down. Later, they do it mostly on their own. Most parents know what to do, for example rocking their baby back and forth, and do not need to be taught how to soothe their children. It  is something that comes naturally.
  • Some children may take more time to soothe than others. Their parents may find it harder to read their children’s emotions.  These children tend to be a bit more irritable than others, but this does not mean that these children cannot be soothed. It’s important for parents to know that this may be their child’s temperament. Parents should not feel guilty if their child is not easy to comfort and should do their best to comfort their child regardless of how irritable they are or how difficult it’s to read their emotions.

Children should develop certain skills and reach certain developmental milestones, in order to become emotionally competent and stable adults. The most important of these emotional milestones/skills, including self-concept, are listed below:

  • establishing eye contact with others
  • establishing and maintaining eye contact with others
  • smiling, and later laughing
  • enjoying being handled
  • smiling at familiar people
  • knowing the difference between familiar people and strangers
  • enjoying daily routines (such as bathing and feeding)
  • responding to name being called
  • recognizing self in mirror
  • using parent or other familiar adults as a 
    social reference (see full Glossary)
  • playing, alone in solitary play (see full Glossary), and later, with others in parallel (see full Glossary) AND cooperative play (see full Glossary)
  • engaging in pretend play (see full Glossary)
  • displaying basic emotions
  • exploring their surroundings
  • having a “favorite” or “best” friend
  • displaying complex emotions
  • recognizing feelings and emotions in self and others
  • showing pride in achievements
  • making positive statements about self or showing a strong self-esteem (see full Glossary)
  • showing guilt over mistakes and/or having done something they should not have done
  • avoiding dangerous situations that may place them or others at risk
  • describing their own feelings and emotions
  • describing feelings and emotions in others

Vignette

Johnny was a term baby like his sisters, but was not an easy baby like them. He had trouble sleeping and reflux problem. But Johnny’s parents knew that each baby is different. They did not compare the children. They loved and accepted him. His needs were met and he was given what he needed to grow and thrive. He turned into a happy and fulfilled boy.

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1.3 Social and Emotional Development: Social Skills

Social Skills

Social development is a broad term that describes how a child relates to others around them. The ability to share, to take turns, to understand someone else’s perspective, and to carry on a conversation with people a child knows and with strangers, with children their own age, and those older and younger, are  all part of social development.

Babies and children are social beings. Babies are born social. As they grow older, they learn how to act in socially acceptable ways. They learn how to do so by watching others around them.

  • For example, a child watching their parents being kind to others will likely develop a sense of kindness.
  • In contrast, witnessing violence, and especially at home on an ongoing basis, increases the chances that a child will use violence as an adult.

Children develop and refine their social skills mostly by watching others. A child’s culture and family structure will heavily influence what is viewed as socially acceptable behavior and what is viewed as as socially unacceptable behavior.

  • For example, children who are always teased may grow up thinking that teasing is a socially acceptable behavior; although feeling hurt, they might tend to tease others.
  • In contrast, children whose opinions are listened to and valued will most likely listen to and value the opinion of others.

Children’s environment plays an important role in shaping their social skills. Parents may not always be able to protect their children from outside circumstances, but they are able to provide them with a safe haven, inside the walls of the home. This safe haven is what helps children become healthy well-adjusted adults. Home stability and safety are key elements in the development of social and emotional development and the child’s overall well-being.

Children need to develop certain skills and achieve certain milestones in order to turn into socially competent grown-ups.

The following are the most important social skills/milestones that children need to achieve

  • establishing eye contact with others
  • establishing and maintaining eye contact with others
  • smiling, first as a response, then to familiar persons (one of the first signs of attachment), then laughing
  • enjoying daily routines (such as bathing and feeding)
  • establishing joint attention (see full Glossary) with others
  • establishing joint action (see full Glossary) with others
  • participating in simple turn-taking games (e.g. peek-a-boo)
  • playing alongside other children, or parallel play (see full Glossary)
  • making choices
  • imitating simple actions of others (e.g. clapping hands, waving bye-bye)
  • sharing (when being asked)
  • sharing spontaneously
  • saying “no” (first in perhaps socially “unacceptable” and then in socially acceptable ways)
  • playing with other children, or cooperative play
  • trying to comfort those in distress
  • asking for permission before using something that does not belong to them
  • putting toys (and other things) away, when asked
  • following simple rules (e.g. no jumping on furniture)
  • following complex rules (e.g. not hurting others’ feelings)
  • performing simple chores
  • answering the phone
  • conversing with someone on the phone
  • imitating complex actions of others (e.g. vacuuming, shaving, putting on make-up)
  • imitating complex expressions of others (e.g. honey, I’m home)
  • engaging in pretend play
  • having meaningful  conversations with peers, and then with adults in their family and home circles (for a few minutes)
  • negotiating with peers, and then with adults, in their family and home circles, and finding solutions to conflicts
  • choosing own friends
  • defending themselves and/or what is of their property in socially acceptable ways
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1.3 What is Development: Social and Emotional Development

Social and Emotional Development: A Brief Overview

Social and emotional skills are key to child’s overall development.  Babies, even at birth, are social beings! Newborns are hard-wired to get the attention, love and care of their parents, or anyone else who may be taking care of them. They are biologically programmed to be near people.

Emotional development is a broad term that describes how a child develops, displays, regulates and understands feelings and emotions. It also includes the way a child feels about him- or herself. The development of a child’s self-concept and self-esteem (see full Glossary) are part of emotional development.

Social development is also a broad term that describes how a child relates to others around them, including people they know, strangers, children their age and older or younger children. The ability to share, take turns, understand someone else’s perspective, and carry on a conversation is part of social development.

Babies are also born with distinct personality features or temperaments (see full Glossary). Babies are different also from their siblings in sleeping and eating habits, arousal level and how much stimulation they can tolerate. These are qualities that we all have when we are born. They develop as we grow older to form the adult personalities that we will later have.

Social and emotional development is the area of development more likely to be influenced by the environment. The different temperament styles and how babies learn to relate to their parents and others around them are greatly influenced by the kind of care they receive.

  • A child growing up in a healthy, loving and nurturing environment has a better chance to develop into an emotionally healthy and well-adjusted adult.
  • On the other hand, a child growing up in an environment where their basic needs for love, food, shelter, and safety are not met, has less opportunities to feel secure and to develop good relationships with others.

Although these are important factors, not all children growing up in adverse situations will show atypical development or will become maladjusted adults. As we have seen earlier in Module 1, development is a complex process that includes a combination of biological and environmental factors.

Providing security, love and support is essential for our children to ensure their well-being and optimum development.

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