Each stage in a child’s life is a unique time of growth and discovery. And each is a time of celebration.
Nonetheless, the changes that come about may catch parents off-guard and they may not feel equipped to handle them.
Truth is, the first years in a child’s life are critical ones. The brain is developing and, at certain junctures, is ripe for development of language or motor skills essential to progress later on.
Jean Cullen, a licensed clinical social worker and trainer for Great Kid, Inc., said understanding that certain parts of the brain are ready for development at particular times helps parents to stimulate learning.
More important than providing toys or a posh environment for children is the habit of touching, talking and cuddling children, she said. Loving interaction brings about chemical changes in the brain, facilitating more learning.
Jeffrey Stotik, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Mobile, said there are major cognitive phases that youngsters go through.
“Children,” he said, “start out kind of self-centered.” Later in their development, they begin to think abstractly and can contemplate the results of actions without even taking them.
The caregiver can facilitate this growth by turning tasks into games and allowing the child to use its imagination, he said.
As for moral development, the child equates right and wrong in the early years with what it can and can’t get away with, said Stotik.
During the stage when peer groups become more important, what other people think is right becomes the standard, he explained.
Rod Marshall, director of counseling for Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries in Birmingham, said parents can ask the pediatrician for suggestions on books that outline normal growth and development.
Dan Sandifer-Stech, associate professor of human develop and family studies at Samford University, suggests the “What to Expect” series of books. These parenting books, he explained, cover all.
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