How Families Affect the Development of Infants and Young Children - Essay Example

? Infancy and Early Childhood Development Infancy and Early Childhood Development How Families Affect the Development of Infants and Young Children Families have a huge impact on the development of infants and young children. This is owing to a number of contributing factors. First, infants and children spend most of their time with the family members. As such, they will be highly affected by the behavior of these family members. Children and infants are known to copy what they see their family members do. In so doing, they will have an array of behaviors that are transferred from the older family members to them. Therefore, it is openly stated that a family with acceptable behaviors will be influential in teaching an infant desirable mannerisms. Similarly, good influence from the other members of the family ensures the child develops into a better human being and vice versa (Saracho and Spodek, 2003). Therefore, it is prudent to consider the association between members of the family that have negative or undesirable influence to the children as they are likely to affect them way into their adulthood. Children and infants have certain expectations from the family members. For example, children expect care and love from the other family members. With adequate care and parental love, the children and infants will be more disciplined and controllable (McGee, 2003). However, children that feel that they are not receiving adequate care and love will not have stable growth. In most cases, they will feel disillusioned and neglected. This creates a scenario where the children and infants will seek attention from the other family members. In so doing, they will develop certain behaviors that will affect their life as a whole. Infant, a child will only develop self discipline when the child is in the company of disciplined people. Families help in various aspects of development in children. First, families ensure a child is emotionally attached to other family members. Attachment states that the child is used to the people that surround the child on a daily basis (Turbill, 2003). The first person a child develops attachment is the mother, as they spend most of their time together. The initial attachments shape up the emotions of the child in life. As such, the child will have emotional feelings towards all the family members. A family helps a child in language development, which is a vital role in communication. In the beginning, children and infants can rarely speak, but only laugh and cry. However, as they continue developing, they start making sounds. At this stage, the family plays a major role in teaching the child some basic words. This will go on for a while till the child is able to communicate (Saracho and Spodek, 2003). Without family, it is hard to teach a child the basics of communications. Most families ensure the child knows the language as they continue teaching the preferred language. This is through mimicking and imitation of the sounds and words from the adult members of the family. Families are vital in moral and gender developments. A family will be able to teach a child all the acceptable standards of behavior and conduct. First, families tend to prove to infants that they will leave in peace and do not fight occasionally. In such a setting, the child will learn that violence is not acceptable. Similarly, families are vital in teaching gender development. It is openly known that the male child will be different from the female child. Therefore, there are a set of behaviors that should be inclined towards the male child, while other set of behaviors are inclined towards the female child. Though some set of behaviors are prevalent in both, they should be observed in making a stable development in infants. Parenting Styles and their Influence on Development during Infancy and Early Childhood Different parents use different parenting styles in shaping up their children. This is a vital approach as the child’s development will depend on the parenting style. If the parents are keen on teaching their children, the children will develop to have acceptable behavior in the society (Turbill, 2003). Some parents have to use different parenting styles in ensuring their children have acceptable and balanced growth in the community. The first parenting style that is common is the authoritarian parenting style. In this style, parents have a set of rules which should be observed by the children. These rules are sometimes strict and are not negotiable. When these rules are broken, there is a high possibility of getting punishment from the family. In such a parenting style, the children have to accept everything the rules state without any explanation from the parents. The second parenting style is authoritative parenting. In this type of parenting, there are a set of rules and guidelines which should be followed by the children. Though this type of parenting is common with the authoritarian type of parenting, this one is more democratic. The parents have a greater role to play in this parenting as they are responsive to their children. They have to explain everything that should be known by the children, instead of starting rules and regulations without any explanation. Apparently, when the children fail to observe the rules, the parents have an obligation to explain to the children the need to observe the rules. At times, the parents are open to forgiving their children but give warnings about any future recurrence of the same. This is a way of nurturing the children to indulge in conversations and the need to observe all the rules that are stated. This parenting style is appropriate as it teaches the children to be assertive (McGee, 2003). The parents avoid being restrictive to their children, which balances the growth and development in all aspects. In such a parenting style, the children are socially responsible and have a sense of self regulation. The third parenting style is the permissive parenting. This parenting style depicts a scenario where the parents do not have so many demands from their children. The parents are indulged in all the activities that involve their children. In such a parenting style, the children are rarely punished as the parents do not have high expectations from their children. They consider the children to have low levels of maturity and self control (Turbill, 2003); therefore, some childish behaviors are acceptable. These parents are lenient and avoid confronting their children. They take note of becoming more of a friend to explain everything than being a punitive parent. This last parenting style is defined by uninvolving parent. Parents that use this style are known to have low levels of communication, low responsiveness and have few demands to their children. Though these parents are concerned with the needs of their children, they are often detached from the children. In some bizarre instances, some of these parents neglect the needs of the children and completely reject any association. The best parenting style is the authoritative parenting (Saracho and Spodek, 2003). In this style, there is establishment of acceptable rules and guidelines that should be followed by the children, adopting a democratic way of following the rules and monitoring the children. Though punitive measures are involved, there is communication on how the rules assist in development. Early childhood education and its influence on cognitive development Children develop when they are inducted to education and learning process. This increases their cognitive development as they are in a better learning institution. In most cases, children will take a lot of time to appreciate learning, which is done by increased play. Most learning institutions have noted that children will learn better when they have a better playing environment. As such, most learning institutions develop the cognitive skills of children by indulging in playing games. When the children play games, they are at a better position of grasping what is taught in the lesson. In most of the times, children learn through songs and memorized way of learning. Since they take it as a method of playing, they grasp what is taught in such a manner. Therefore, many earning institutions have taken learning into a new level where play is used to foster the cognitive development in children. Children are made to think when they are in a group. Therefore, a learning institution is a place that provides social experience. When children are in groups, they tend to think faster than when they are alone. Children will help others to think especially when they are in the same learning centre. It is noted that children start to think with others, and this improves as they promote each others’ thinking levels. With such a setting, the cognitive skills of the children are improved to greater levels (Saracho and Spodek, 2003). With such developments, they are likely to record better learning and development. Children that appreciate the company of others have a better position of improving their cognitive skills. This is due to exchange of ideas and thinking at a more precise level. However, children that are secluded have a disadvantage as they do not develop their cognitive skills. Similarly, secluded children are not helped to think from a social point of view. Lastly, social play increases the cognitive development of children. Children that participate in social play develop at a faster rate than children that do not. Social play makes children active in many ways, which ultimately improves on their thinking capacity. Similarly, social play increases the grasping capacity of children as they have to remember the names of their mates and what they learned from the other children (McGee, 2003). Additionally, social play increases the creativity of children. They will have to be more creative so as to play better. References McGee, L. (2003). Shaking the very foundations of emergent literacy: Book reading versus phonemic awareness. In J. Isenberg & M. Jalongo (Eds.), major trends and issues in early childhood education: Challenges, controversies, and insights, 2nd Edn. New York: Teachers College Press. Saracho, O., & Spodek, B. (Eds.). (2003). Contemporary perspectives on in early childhood education. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishers. Turbill, J. (2003). Developing a spelling conscience. In S. Murphy & C. Dudley-Marling (Eds.), Literacy through language arts: Teaching and learning in context. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Read More