The importance of Family

As a child grows and develops, his or her first human interactions are typically with family members and associated caregivers. These first contacts are vital for the development of a child’s socialization skills as well as teaching children how to have a better understanding of themselves and of people around them.
Because children learn by observing, family members and caregivers are also the main influencers that determine how a child will socialize and learn—contributing to their overall physical, social and intellectual development. Having loving family and caregivers around helps a child build a solid foundation that will affect their future relationships, work, health and sense of self. 

Developmental Skills

As soon as a baby is born, family members and caregivers can play a huge role in a child’s overall development in the following ways:

  • Building motor skills: Motor skills involve such learned behavior as how to sit up, walk, run, climb, hold a cup, etc. These skills may seem basic and not something that you teach, but a parent or caregiver is responsible for teaching these skills at a young age. As a child learns motor skills, they help a child feel independent and leads to their overall development.
  • Building language skills: Parents and caregivers should always talk to their child—even as infants. Even if a child can’t yet respond, they are most definitely listening and learning when they hear adults speak to them.
  • Building emotional skills: It’s very important to help a young child develop emotional skills, and parents and other adult caregivers should be the earliest teachers. By teaching a child about such basic skills as smiling or waving at others, they can learn to be open to the world and other people. Educating a young child on basic emotions and naming them (fear, love, etc. can also help a child learn to describe how they are feeling and be better at expressing themselves. As they begin to get older, teaching emotional skills such as sympathy, compassion and sharing can help a child have an emotionally healthy life—and be more grounded in dealing with the highs and lows of life.

By ABC Quality Team on May 18, 2021