Early childhood is a critical stage of human development. During this period, children undergo several important changes. They also learn important social and communication skills. For young children, the early period is characterized by dynamic and rapid changes. We should understand that children are going through a process and provide them with the adequate needed support.
According to Jean Piaget, children's brain development happens between birth to 8 years old. Early childhood is a period of continuous changes for young human beings. During the first eight years, children go through several stages of physical, mental, and emotional development. In addition, they gain basic skills such as eating and walking.
Physical development includes changes in height and weight, while mental development includes changing learning abilities and creativity, and emotional development includes becoming self-aware and the start of self-regulation.
Each stage has its challenges. Parents need to provide their children with a safe environment, which they can use to grow and learn.
Before being teenagers, kids go through periods of physical and brain development. This is called the 'conquest phase' because your child is conquering new territory in their life. For example, your child might tackle difficult social situations. Your child will also have difficulty making decisions and forming plans for future events. Children also have trouble controlling their emotions. This makes it difficult for them to regulate their behavior during anger or happiness.
Parents should allow their children to safely experience as many opportunities and experiences as possible during the pre-teen years. During this time, your child is growing both physically and mentally.
Attempting to actively manage the child's thought process, by making decisions on their behalf rather than helping and guiding their own decision process, can impact your child's development and reduce their chances for future success. Through this behavior, you are directly reducing the variations of experiences that they can undertake and use to build their prior experience.
As a caveat, keep in mind that emotional regulation is generally difficult during this period. Enabling your child to experience negative emotions such as anger or frustration in a safe manner can positively impact their social skills development. There will be instances where they won't agree with their friends and peers, and actively isolating them will reduce their chance to learn.
Early childhood is a crucial period of growth for human beings. Kids undergo growth through several stages including physical, mental, and emotional development while developing in this time span. Parents should enable and allow their children to safely experience as much as possible. This helps build their corpus of knowledge and experiences before being teenagers, which has an impact on them growing as successful adults in their later life.