News Detail
Early Communication Key For Child's Socialization
11/20/2009 8:25:34 AM
Early communication skills are important as infants grow up and seek to gain parents’ and other caregivers’ trust. This involves self-awareness and the ability to interact with others. Birth to 18 months is the prime time for emotional attachment, which helps the child to have self-awareness and security to feel free to keep learning new things.
When creating a social world for a child to grow up in, it is important to establish a nurturing and bonding with responsive primary caregivers which includes parent and childcare provider. Grandparents also can play a role in nurturing and bonding to help build the trust foundation toward developing a child’s social world.
Overstimulation with too many new experiences and too much stimulation may stress and hinder development. This is really present when there is not consistency in scheduling with different caregivers.
At any early age – 1 or 2 years old – parents and caregivers need to be consistently involved in an infant’s live. This will help the child recognize a face and feel emotional bond. Also at the infant stage, parents should talk, make sounds, sing, play activities involving bright colors, different sounds, or mirrors, like peek-a-boo, for example. This helps the child learn to play and gives him or her an opportunity to develop knowing the difference between self and others.
When a parent first begins to talk with a child, it is important to use varied forms of communication. Singing a song, humming, laughing or using a different pitch level will all help build a child's understanding of all the different forms of communication.
As a child gets older, it is necessary for parents or older siblings to give them room to communicate. When asking a child a question, allow him or her five seconds or so to answer. That gives the child time to think about what he or she is going to say. Children generally will answer in that time frame. Parents and siblings usually answer the question for the child and don’t allow the child to learn to communicate. This is very good way to develop communication so children will be able to communicate better in society and at a early stage in life.
As children get older, parents should help set up play-dates with other children of the same age. This will help them learn social skills with other children they do not know. Remember at 1 to 2 years of age they may still be doing parallel play (playing next to another child, not with them). They need practice in taking turns, sharing, and cooperation, so don’t forget to be patient as you teach them these skills.
As children enter elementary school, parents should continue to keep helping their children with communication so they are able to socialize and communicate with other people. If necessary, arrange play activities for children so that they can continue to be watched. Guide them in communication with others. Remember children learn to socialize by watching their parents and how they communicate.
Sometimes a distance will grow in the communication between a child and a parent. To help with this, set aside a "talking time" with the child everyday.
Each individual child might have a different "talking time." For instance, some children will want to talk about their day right when they get home from school and others will talk during the car ride home from school or at a babysitters.
One of the best times is right before bed. Parents can create this by setting aside time early in a child's development.
