The family is the first unit that a child comes into contact with after they are born. A child learns more about who they are, learn to understand and interact with others and the world around them by interacting with family. For this reason family has a critical role in the growth and development of every child. Interaction with family members promotes or hinders all aspect of the growth of a child.
Three patterns of interactions in a family have been associated with the development of a child. They are; parent-child transactions, Family-orchestrated child experiences and health and safety provided by the family (Richards, 2017). Richard states that Sensitive-responsiveness is how a parent reacts to a child. Parents who warmly responded to their children enhance the intellectual development of a child. Parents also arrange children experience both at home and in society. A child experience can be through the toys they play with and community activities. Finally, the last family pattern of interaction focuses on how a family provides the basics needs of children which are safety and health.
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Emotional growth, social growth physical growth, and cognitive growth are all aspects of growth that may be affected by the above interactions with a family member (Pachucki, 2018) . Emotional growth entails development of a child ability to control emotions and feelings and the ability to form relationships with others. The bond that occurs between a child and its family fosters emotions such as self-confidence, trust empathy, and compassion.it is through interaction with the family member that a child first learns how to manage their feelings and form friendships with others. On the other hand, kids can also acquire negative emotions from their family. For example, children who grow in abuse families are likely to develop a sense of insecurity and fear.
Secondly, the social growth of a child is also affected by the interaction with the family member. Social development entails the ability of a child to interact with other.it is through the relationship with the family members that a child learns how to communicate and solve disputes with others. A family that does things together with love and respect teaches a child how to socialize and bond with others. Families characterized by violence and abuse hinder the ability of a child to acquire essential skills in live like conflict resolution.
Thirdly physical growth is also affected by family interaction with a child. For good physical growth, every child needs a balanced diet, good hygiene, and regular exercises. Since kids learn through imitating they adopt either negative or positive habit that may affect their physical growth. A harmful habit that is likely to affect the physical growth is eating of junk food. Low-income families are also not able to provide a balanced diet that is important for the physical growth of a child.
Finally, the cognitive development of a child is also affected by the family. Cognitive development deals with the ability of a child to solve problems, their intelligence, and conscious thoughts. The dynamics of a family affect how a child learns and understand issues. Spending quality time with kids enhances their academic performance. Kids that experience prolonged stress or lack support from adults may have poor cognitive development. This is because when a child exposed to the stressful environment, their brain architecture weakens and may result in cognitive impairment (Guralnick, 2016).
In conclusion, the family is at the center of when it comes to the growth of a child. The ability of a child to deal with life and interact with other people depends on the functionality of the family they come from. Hence all family members should strive to provide a conducive environment for the proper growth of their kids.
References
Guralnick, M. (2016). Family Influences on Early Development: Integrating the Science of Normative Development, Risk and Disability, and Intervention.
Richards, F. (2017). What Child Issues Can Affect Cognitive Development? https://healthfully.com/562005-what-child-issues-can-affect-cognitive-development.html
Pachucki, D. (2018). What Is the Family Impact on Early Childhood Development? https://living.thebump.com/family-impact-early-childhood-development-10352.html
