Young children first differentiate between positive and negative emotions, and subsequently between negative emotions such as grief, rage, and fear. Infants start to detect these emotions in facial expressions, and as they get older, they start to comprehend the situational determinants of emotions. Their capacity to empathise and manage feelings, perception and expression across the many stages of their life is what emotional development substantiates.
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What is Emotional Development?
Emotions are what allow us to make sense of our surroundings. Our life is meaningless without them. Our experience of life would be like reading a nonfiction book. We’ll live just like a machine or a robot. Only through social and emotional skills, our life will have a motto and an encouragement to live. Many research has proved that emotional development is a key tool of a healthier life. It starts from the birth of a child. In the first five years of life, children grow and develop fast in all four domains of development. They are motor (physical), cognitive, communication and language, and social and emotional.
A child’s growth is very directly linked to how they learn about their environment and their feelings and relationships with others. Parents play a key role in developing socio-emotional skills so that the child can have a healthy relationship with family, friends and relatives. Even though your child is bad he/she slightly knows how you respond to their social and emotional needs, therefore the connection you have with your child is lifelong. They feel safe in the presence of their loved ones, and will gradually learn to empathize and express and behave according to a situation.
Social-emotional development does not occur instantly or over midnight. It takes a lot of time. Experience with friends, family members, caretakers will mould the social-emotional skill of a child. Most importantly such development does not have a specific end. Throughout our life, we continue to create experiences and change our individuality according to the situation. These experiences include making new friends, getting into a new job, overcoming difficult situations or even travelling.
Importance of Social And Emotional Development in Early Childhood
- Gain confidence
- Make friends and keep friendships
- Learn strengths and weaknesses
- Resolve conflicts
- Resist negative social pressure
- Manage stress and anxiety
- Make appropriate decisions
- Learn social norms
- Gain awareness of what others are feeling
You remember the first time you gave a piece of chocolate to your best friend? At that time, you might have felt that your dear friend needed some cheer up. During that time, you may not be aware of your positive actions. But it was a stepping stone of emotional development which you received from the guidance of the adults in your life. On the other hand, if an individual does not get proper emotional guidance, especially before the age of five, he/she may struggle physically, mentally, academically, and behaviorally. Therefore train your child from a very early age onwards.
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Characteristics of Emotional Development in Childhood
1. Interactions with Adults
Interaction with elders is regular and part of an infant’s daily life. The connection between interaction and relationship with the adults is interconnected. Infants show active reactions based on the supportive social establishment built by the adults around the baby. It can be members of the family and outside the family. Gradually they will learn to build the skills that allow them to interact with people that they are less familiar with. These interactions are related to children’s developmental state and serve as the foundation for relationships formed between teachers and students in the classroom or at home.
2. Relationship with Adults
Children create a close relationship with adults who always engage with them positively and strengthen the child’s ability to learn and develop. These special relationships encourage the infant to develop his/her sense of self-understanding, as well as an understanding of others. Infants rely on adult relationships for a variety of reasons, including comfort that they are safe, assistance in reducing distress, assistance with emotion management, and social approbation or encouragement. It is a part of their sense of self and the world around them.
3. Interactions with Peers
Children interact with each other in infancy by doing simple acts like staring at or touching another infant. From repeated or routine back-and-forth exchanges with peers to cooperative activities, infants’ social interactions with peers become more complicated. Thereby, children learn to explore their interests in others and develop social interaction. Interaction with peers teaches skills such as problem-solving, sharing and cooperation, and also builds the foundation of empathy.
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4. Relationship with Peers
Infants develop a close relationship with children that they have known over a period of time. It includes their siblings, school friends or neighbours. It provides children with a great opportunity to develop skills like social connection and social interaction. Infants show more interest in playing with children that they know compared to less familiar children. Similarly, the nature, stability and number of friends vary among infants, toddlers and preschool children.
5. Identifies Self in Relation to Others.
Sense of self is a key factor of social-emotional development in children. For example, your child responds when you ask his/her name and also shows the body parts which you ask. As time passes infants will learn to see themselves through the eyes of others. They will learn to behave according to the situation and their role as a social well being. They will learn to understand the likes and characteristics of others also.
6. Recognition of Ability
Infants develop a sense of self-efficiency. In other words, they understand that they have few abilities. It cultivates a sense of competition in the mind of the child which is a part of human existence. They try to exaggerate those qualities because they don’t know the limits. Especially preschoolers who often try to prove themselves as the best of all kids in the class. By the time they reach middle school they realize the fact that there are few limits and will learn that other children have capabilities too. By comparing with others children learn to figure out what they are good at and what they are not.
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7. Expression of Emotions
Children convey their emotions through facial expressions, vocalizations, and body language as early as infancy. In later stages, children will start using and will create social relations and will gain support and response from the people around them. Culture plays a crucial role in the expression and understanding of emotions. Gradually they learn to express emotions in the appropriate situation. Expression of positive emotion has more chances to create a social relationship with children, and expression of negative emotion acts just the opposite. Infants are more likely to respond to an adult who makes a positive vocalization.
8. Empathy
By the age of three, children will learn to understand the emotional state of a person. Because human life is founded on relationships, one of the most fundamental functions of empathy throughout life is to strengthen social links. Prosocial acts, such as assisting, sharing, consoling, or showing concern for others, are examples of empathy development. Through caring and nurturing examples adults develop empathy in children. Helping children understand the emotions of others is integral in maintaining a healthy relationship among family, friends and teachers.
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Conclusion
Every day, you make sure that the children in your care are safe, secure, and loved. You are assisting in the establishment of a foundation for children’s health, social and emotional development, which will enable them to grow into happier individuals and achieve success in school and life. So make sure that along with physical health, your child’s mental health is also given importance because social and emotional skills have a long-term impact on how a child perceives, how he/she thinks and interacts with his/her environment, and what he expects from others.
