The growth and development of a child does not just mean the physical aspect of change but also the behavioral, emotional, social, and communication skills. Children are born without any knowledge; however, they are born with brains that are ready to learn (Doom et al., 2018). Children tend to observe and learn through the things they have experienced in seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, and hearing. Therefore, through interaction, families, and the community is responsible for the development of a child’s social attributes, values, skills, and security (Moran & Stansbery, 2017). Many factors can influence the growth and development of children, but family and community are the most influential.
Importance of Families in the Growth and Development of a Child
Families are essential in ensuring children acquire acceptable societal values. A family is the first and most important social group for a child, and they see their parents and older peers as their role models (Doom et al., 2018). Children tend to be like sponges that soak up everything as they watch interactions in their surroundings. They tend to understand what is right and what is wrong based on how they see people in their families relate to each other. Families should teach children about healthy and unhealthy values and ensure they behave in the same manner they want to impact their kids (Widiastuti, Hartini & Rakhman, 2020). Parents observe to reward and reprimand their children’s habits.
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Families are essential in the growth and development of a child’s skills. A child will require language emotions, motor, and cognitive abilities to fit in society (Doom et al.,2018). The family needs to talk to their child to develop their language skills. As they grow, the parents are responsible for teaching them motor skills like sitting upright, walking and running (Widiastuti, Hartini & Rakhman, 2020). Families should impact emotional skills by teaching the children to be sympathetic and compassionate to others and teaching them a sense of sharing with others as they grow.
Importance of Community in the Growth and Development of a Child
The communities are essential in giving the child a context for learning and socialization. It follows that the community offers an environment to interact with and learn. In this regard, communities enable children to develop social skills through direct involvement in the issues that affect them directly (Moran & Stansbery, 2017). The children’s interaction with other people broadens their understandings of the world. A community allows a child to apply their newly acquired knowledge into use. As they interact, they develop their communicating skills, as they need to fit in. Children gain experience in how to create and maintain relationships.
Communities are essential in giving the children identity and a sense of belonging. Communities have a way of making things uniform through set standards, norms, and values that individuals follow (Moran & Stansbery, 2017). Through interactions with others, children identify themselves to their set rules and thrive to achieve them. They become self-connected to their communities (Moran & Stansbery, 2017). Although they interact with others of diverse and multicultural communities, children hold on to their ways of life. Interaction with the community makes a child have a sense of belonging and self-identity, which helps them develop confidence in involving in more social activities.
Conclusion
Children depict the behavior of the families and communities that they belong to. During m teaching practice, I attended a workshop on child growth and development. I learned that the main factors that affected children’s cognitive and emotional growth were the family and community. An example was given of children from different cultures, explaining how children from Indian or Muslim backgrounds have different beliefs on how the world functions as compared to children born in America. As in the above points have proven, attitudes, values, and skills from family and community affect a person’s entire life. Families have a responsibility to ensure they expose their children to only positive attributes for proper growth and development.
References
Doom, J. R., Cook, S. H., Sturza, J., Kaciroti, N., Gearhardt, A. N., Vazquez, D. M., ... & Miller, A. L. (2018). Family conflict, chaos, and negative life events predict cortisol activity in low‐income children. Developmental psychobiology , 60 (4), 364-379.
Moran, M. A., & Stansbery, P. (2017). Engaging Families and Communities to Support Early Childhood Development. YC Young Children , 72 (4), 24-30.
Widiastuti, N., Hartini, S., & Rakhman, A. (2020). THE ROLE OF A FAMILY IN CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE IN CHILDREN. EMPOWERMENT: Jurnal Ilmiah Program Studi Pendidikan Luar Sekolah , 9 (1), 95-99.
