Session 1
1. Session 1
1.5. Inquiry 2
Session 1: Social-Emotional Development
Inquiry 2: Understanding Children’s Needs for Healthy
Social-Emotional Development
© Monkey Business/8653785/Fotolia
By playing with the children, this child care provider is establishing positive relationships with them.
One of the first steps in developing a child’s self-esteem is to establish a good relationship with the child. Relationships that are mutually loving, caring, honest, and supportive create an atmosphere for healthy human growth. Respect for the child is the basis of a healthy relationship with the child.
In the following chart, the Canadian Child Care Federation lists behaviours that are respectful and disrespectful to children.
Respectful behaviour includes the following actions:
- listening to what the child wants to say
- taking time for the child even when busy
- playing with the child
- recognizing the child’s accomplishments
- showing interest in the child’s projects
- making eye contact
- letting the child have privacy
- considering each child a unique individual
- calling the child by her or his name
- encouraging independence
- trying not to interrupt the child (allow time for transitions)
- allowing the child to make mistakes
- giving the child a chance to communicate
Disrespectful behaviour includes the following actions:
- not taking the child’s opinion seriously
- avoiding an issue that the child feels is important
- walking away from a child who is crying
- not stopping to listen
- talking in a baby talk tone of voice
- using angry words
- interrupting the child when he or she is speaking
- not letting the child finish tasks
- using sarcasm or shouting
- focusing on the child’s “bad” behaviour
- calling the child names
- setting expectations that are too high
- ignoring the child
For children to gain a positive sense of self, they need to feel accepted, respected, and safe in their environment. It is important that child care providers give children affirmation. Children also need the following:
- an atmosphere of trust
- activities that they can do successfully
- predictable people and environments
- people who understand, appreciate, and celebrate their culture
- opportunities to be independent
- opportunities to make choices
- opportunities for privacy and quiet time
- to feel secure that they will not be ridiculed or judged
Important: To further develop your understanding, partner with a peer in your class or with a colleague in the child care facility. Discuss strategies or ideas for developing strong relationships with children that you have come up with or that you have seen others using.
You might also discuss how you felt as a child when adults interacted with you in respectful or disrespectful ways, or how the environment influenced how you felt. If it is difficult for you to remember your childhood, or if you do not wish to discuss your childhood, you may wish to focus your discussion on children or situations you have observed at the child care facility or elsewhere.
Course Project
How is your strategies box coming along? How could you apply information you gained in your reading and in your discussions to items and strategies for your strategies box? Now would be a good time to work on items and strategies.