Parenting Tip 65 – “Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Well said! What a great introduction to how social skills grow and development!
Another way to say social development is relationship development. The parent-child relationship is the first and most important one. After that are all the family relationships with grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends of the family. The family is actually the training ground for all future relationships, and the bulk of this training takes place during the first five years. All of these relationships continue to flourish and exert influence throughout a child’s lifetime.
As a parent you begin to build your relationship with your child at the time of birth. You go from a position of almost total control over your baby at the time of birth to one of almost no control over your child at the time of adulthood. The whole process beginning on the first day is one of relinquishing control to your child. Day by day your child learns more and more about how to take care of him or herself.
– adapted from Constructive Parenting by Sally Goldberg, pp. 67 – 68
Constructive Parenting… Go back and review the last set of tips on motor development. Then look over the series before that on cognitive development. Beginning next Wednesday we will begin a similar series about social development. It will start with the baby stage from birth to six months. After that it will cover the topic of social development in age segments. Parenting is an active job. First you get information about your child’s particular age and stage. Then you gather on-target advice for how to guide and support your child in optimal ways.
June! The Month of the Dads
Have you heard about the debate this week on Paternity leave? Some dads can’t live without it, and others want no part of it. Have fun with your friends talking about this. Dads do all kinds of different things with their kids, and I’m guessing it would be great fun to share opinions and get new ideas.
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