Children begin to develop their cognition by learning since they are born. They get to learn about people and themselves as well as the things around them in different ways. As such, many factors come into play in the development of an individual from their time of conception to their old ages, which include genetics and the environment (Berger, 2009). However, this current paper concentrates on three factors in the environment that would produce optimal cognitive and social-emotional development into adulthood, which are the family and the society, exposure to learning opportunities and lay, and parenting and motivation.
The family and the society are important in providing an opportunity to learn as the child observes and imitates others. Cultures vary on what constitutes intelligence, and thus, this affects the cognitive development of a child. For instance, amongst Chinese, intelligence includes humility while Zambians emphasize cooperativeness, and therefore, being born in Zambia will lead to a child becoming more cooperative while being born in China will lead to a child being humble. This can also be explained by the Sternberg ’ s practical intelligence, which explains the ability to do well in informal and formal educational settings. For example, street smarts can learn via exposure to how things that are done in their environment well compared to being exposed to education. They can become more successful than those exposed to an educational environment setting. Besides, the family and the society are vital in forming the cultural identity to a child, which is informed by interactions of various languages, socio-economic, gender, racial, ethnic, and religious (Berger, 2009). For example, while growing up, a child when exposed to Christianity is difficult to be a Muslim in adulthood. Additionally, in the first three years, a child develops language skills facilitated by the family, and thus, from that, they learn about communicating based on words and grammar.
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Learning opportunities and play are vital for children’s cognitive development. This includes exposure to physical, social, and cognitive activities, which makes the child sharper ( Macintyre, 2016) . Physical activity includes exercise, regular doctor visits, and keeping stress down while social activity entails socializing with volunteers, family, and friends. On the other hand, cognitive activity includes continuing to challenge the brain and changing things up, such as having hobbies. In addition, children need plenty of time for free exploratory play for the development of cognitive complexity and enhancing their social dimension. They need to be exposed to various cognitive levels of play, such as functional play (locomotor play), constructive play (use of materials to make something), and dramatic play (involves “make believe” objects, actions, or roles.
Lastly, parenting and motivation are also vital in developing social and emotional skills ( Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017) . Parenting can influence one’s popularity. Besides, the different parenting styles can influence peer relationships. Essentially, popular children generally have warm, positive relationships with both mother and father. In addition, parents’ relationships with one another affect the child’s relationships. For instance, when there is no close relationship between the parents, the child may develop poor social skills. How the parents relate to other people also plays a critical role in the social skills of the child. Additionally, response to motivation stimuli also promotes their development. If bad behavior is punished, the child learns that it is not tolerated, but rewarding positive behavior makes the child develop good behavior while at the same time dropping bad behavior.
References
Berger, K. S. (2009). Invitation to the life span . London, UK: Macmillan.
Macintyre, C. (2016). Enhancing learning through play: A developmental perspective for early years settings . New York, NY: Routledge.
Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School‐Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta‐Analysis of Follow‐Up Effects. Child development , 88 (4), 1156-1171.
