Encouraging social and emotional feelings in children is essential to the structured development of children in early childhood. Nurturing these skills is critical because some skills such as communication are not instinctive. Socialization is important in cognitive development and children to benefit from the process acquiring language skills, social skills, and emotional stability. Over time, children develop to adults who can adapt to cultural values and norms and become intelligent individuals who succeed at different professions. This essay presents discussions on the activities that promote social skill development in early childhood, based on theories and readings that link basic psychology to social development as a process. The first section will overview the phases of social development while the second will illustrate a variety of social skills that are fundamental to active learning and teaching in a classroom. Children at the sensorimotor stage of development learn predominantly through the five senses – they touch, taste, see and smell most of the elements that are around them during formative years. This curious phase is characterized by inquisitiveness and the desire to explore surroundings.
During the preoperational stage, improved language skills emerge within a child, and young boys and girls raise questions and think about their perceptions of the world. The concrete operational phase enables toddlers to begin understanding their friends, teachers and other family members. They also interact more with the subjects of their interest such as other children they frequently communicate with, nature, and toys. Children over the age of 10 are likely to use the formal operational stage to define their abstract thinking, logical skills and critical thinking abilities (Piaget, 1976).
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Researchers such as Lawrence Kohlberg agreed with Piaget’s theories on the development of children and the characteristics of each phase and their contribution to mapping processes for early childhood learning. Children being able to recognize feelings of others and themselves, exhibit feelings of empathy, forging positive relationships with others, and managing emotions are crucial during childhood. Numerous hours are spent in learning institutions, and these skills help children address anxiety, fear, happiness and help them understand feelings that they do not fully understand such as trust, intuition, and analytical reasoning.
Dealing in a constructive manner during challenging situations is another essential skill that children incorporate into their daily lives and engage in activities that foster it each day. Combining the expertise during the early stages of moral development to determine the difference between right and wrong occurs during the pre-conventional stage (Kohlberg, 1977). During the conventional period, children are profoundly influenced by the opinions of those around them. During the post-conventional phase, children consider abstract ethical concepts that they learn and explore more distinctions, rather than merely the differentiation between right and wrong. Scolding and feedback in the form of conversations with members of society inform children about the need to distinguish wants and desires from earning and receiving rewards. For example, a child who wants a packet of candy understands the difference between asking his parents for it, rather than accepting it from strangers or picking it from a store before paying for it. The distinction between receiving it as an award for good performance can also be introduced to the child to incentivize them. Over time, grey areas are more accessible for the child to comprehend.
Socialization comes to play at this point because some studies have found that the way in which distinctions are made by boys is different from that of girls. In effect, boys are more likely to utilize the formal rules provided to them to determine the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Gilligan, 1988). Even as adults, females are more affectionate and their perspective is oriented towards responsibility and empathy. Therefore, we can conclude that all children are highly likely to interpret the consequences of social skills differently. There is an inherent nature to each child that teachers consider during education. For example, intuition plays a significant role in educating a child on how to behave in public. It comes as a result of watching how others in the classroom may react such as smiling, nodding and maintaining eye contact during conversations with others.
According to the psychologist George Mead, interactions play a significant role in the development of children. Social interactions influence the thoughts of a child and encourage them to take on the responsibilities that they see their teachers and parents carry out each day (Mead, 1934). Therefore, teachers can utilize role-playing through volunteers in class to teach children social skills. In this case, a child can learn how to carry on a conversation to obtain information that they desire, manage to control emotions such as frustration and anger rather than irrationally acting them out.
Teachers play a dominant role in showing children how they can anticipate the needs of others. Anticipation is a fundamental component of teamwork, which fosters friendship, especially during sports and recess periods. Teachers can teach children to take on roles in different games to show them how to relate to others. That means exposing children to various game activities requiring reading, writing, physical activity and coordination can enhance social skills. These exercises improve levels of autonomy that children need at school and home. Since children come from different backgrounds, the results of play can even be considered therapeutic and heal wounds from earlier interactions with older and younger siblings (Arends & Castle, 1991). Social isolation has negative consequences in children and prevents them from becoming upstanding citizens of society. Teachers and parents need to increase involvement for children and occasionally address them indirectly to build confidence and understanding. Stimulation is vital for children and can enhance inquisitiveness that can improve literacy skills. These instrumental skills in establishing interactive skills contribute to teachers passing down cultural teachings such as the roles of parents in family settings. The sessions also provide avenues for knowledge sharing among children and can inform teachers on the quality of life that the children experience. Studies lead teachers to realize that a more substantial amount of learning takes place during social gatherings and can improve leadership skills.
Mind-building activities teach children more on abstract concepts such as stratification in society. Different societies have different expectations of people and categorization can begin even during early childhood. The likelihood of success, good health, and longer life are all probably based on the quality and level of education that children attain during earlier years. Confidence, flexibility in thought and other characteristics of children are learned in class and lessons internalized by all learners despite the disparaging levels that children witness at home. With the open systems that children are exposed to in the United States, teachers can choose to adjust the adverse outcomes to children from less privileged backgrounds by interactive videos and sessions with children from different schools, nations and states. They have the power to embed achievement in the hearts of young children and improve competitiveness and desire for success and can show them that hard work and perseverance can overcome social division, encourage meritocracy.
References
Arends, R., & Castle, S. (1991). Learning to teach (Vol. 2). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Fischer, K. W. (1980). A theory of cognitive development: The control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological review , 87 (6), 477.
Gilligan, C. (1988). Mapping the moral domain: A contribution of women's thinking to psychological theory and education (Vol. 2). Harvard University Press.
Kohlberg, L., & Hersh, R. H. (1977). Moral development: A review of the theory. Theory into practice , 16 (2), 53-59.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self and society (Vol. 111). University of Chicago Press.: Chicago.
Piaget, J. (1976). Piaget’s theory. In Piaget and his school (pp. 11-23). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
