Personal, Social and Emotional Development

A very important area of child development and learning in the early years is an area called 'personal, social and emotional development'. It is concerne with such things as: self-confidence; sociability; 'good' behaviour; popularity; respect for others; sensitivity towards others; independence; self-control; honesty; reliability; cleanliness, practice of good hygiene; sensible eating. .. the list could be never-ending really.

This important area focuses on all of those abstract matters which go towards building a child's personality and the way the child relates to other people in the family, in friendship groups, in the wider community.

The way a child develops as an individual and as a member of different groups such as the family, friends or community, affects a child's ability to learn. Happiness, security, good relationships and a feeling of well-being are vital aspects for their personal, social and emotional development.

The New Baby
Babies know more or less nothing when they're born. They're suddenly plunged into an alien world that totally surrounds them. They have a few reflexes and instincts. Apart from those, from the moment they're born, they're on a quest to make some sort of sense of the world. The psychologist Piaget called this the child's effort to 'construct his own reality', and you can see why. From everything that happens to them, children have to try to work out what the world is all about, and how it fits around them or how they fit into it.

Egocentricity
To begin with, of course, they think, feel or have an awareness that they are the centre of the world, that everything that surrounds them is linked to them in some way, or is for their benefit. They are, in essence, writing their own scripts for this life drama they've joined. It takes quite a bit of time for them to realise that they're not the only ones with scripts, that everyone else they come into contact with has one too! Gradually, with help from you, they begin to understand that others have needs and feelings as well as them.