Ace the observational skills to set the mind of your child on the right track

 

Crucial early years of child development: -

Early years of child-rearing are most critical. Science supports the fact that most of the brain development takes place in the early years of a child. Things that babies experience in their early years shape their personalities for life. Children aged between 2-5 years learn to express their feelings. 

Not just this, most of the social, emotional, and behavioral development takes place during these years. They learn to communicate and observe their surroundings. Children are very curious and inquisitive by nature. They tend to ask a lot many questions. 

This is a healthy phenomenon that opens us their thinking and analytical abilities. The way adults as parents and guardians respond to these questions and overall behavior of children is very important in determining what kind of adults they will become as they grow up.

Importance of observational skills in child development: -

Every child is different and unique. As responsible and caring parents you must have sharp observational skills so that you sense right in time how your child is learning and developing. Here are some important reasons why observational skills are important: -

·         Identify your child’s interests: -

With the help of the right observation and assessment, parents are able to figure out their children’s learning capabilities, their strengths and weaknesses. A child may show signs of being interested in reading books while another may be more interested in playing with Lego blocks. With the right observational skills parents can realize their child’s interests and likely proficiencies. Like some children take interest in smartphones. See this to know more about kids and cellphones.

·         Identify your child’s potential problems: -

Some children enjoy the company of their peers while some throw tantrums in crowd. Some children may demand undivided attention from their parents while others may be good to go. There are different ways how children respond to different situations. 

By identifying a certain kind of behavior that is unusual or requires special attention at the right time you can nip in the bud most effectively. Hence it is very important for parents to rightly observe their children and their behavioral, learning, and socializing patterns.

·         To support child learning and development: -

Once the parents are able to understand their child’s interest, developmental progress, and hindrances, they can effectively plan and prepare for an uninterrupted child learning and development process. Once they identify the activities their child enjoys the best they can positively engage them into a relevant set of games and plays so that their skills and interests are nurtured. 

Parents can also review the opportunity to enroll their child into educational and co-curricular programs that cater to a particular field. As parents, you must provide all sorts of support and guidance to your child that lets him or her explore his strengths and interests to the fullest.

Ways to assess skills child development: -

Nowadays when both the parents are usually working, it gets really difficult to observe child behavior. Nevertheless, it is very important to spend time with your children and observe them. A healthy, positive, and constructive environment at home allows children to grow to the best of their potential. 

Parents must strive to achieve such kind of productive environment at home along with being keen at observing their children. Observe what the things that your child enjoys are. Identify his interests. It is important to ascertain whether these interests are positive or negative. Click here to know more about positive and negative effects of smartphones on child development.

 For instance, it might not be very pleasant to discover if your child is fond of destructive things such as toy weapons or finds it amusing to hit his peers or siblings. In that case, further probing might be required as to why the child behaves in this way. 

Identify what area of development is your child progressing fast. Some children become emotionally intelligent quite early in life, while others are more adept at socializing. Some children learn to play games quickly while others learn to speak and communicate fast.