Iqra Sajjad Rawalakot
Child psychology is the study of subconscious and conscious childhood development. It observes the behaviour of the children among themselves, their parents and to the surroundings around them, in order to better understand the needs of the child in the mental development age. Parents who are keen on understanding the psychology of their children are far better at parenting than those who don’t. It is a process with which every person, parent or not, should be aware of.Getting to know your child as they grow is one of the most wonderful aspects of parenting. It helps the children in becoming more aware and is vital for their personality growth. Instead of referring to a child psychologist for every new thing that you observe in your child, it is better to understand this yourself. You can take help from a child psychologist, but be the judge should be you, yourself in the end. It is even easier in today’s world as the internet provides us with almost every information we require. Everyone wants their children to have a sound and safe mind development. However that is not the case every time. And if the parents are keen and observing about their children any malfunction can be diagnosed early. Professional people in this field help recognize the abilities of children. They help the parents identify the normal as well as the abnormal psychological patterns of the child. This can help them to relate to the child’s needs and better communicate with their children. In order to teach the children about coping mechanism for managing emotions, and help their children progress and thrive in life, child psychology play a vital role.According to researches and studies, there are a few main areas of development, child psychology interacts with:
Physical Development
Physical development in children depends on a series of movements they are expected to perform. As the child grows their physical actions become strong with everyday passing. The children hold their head up, roll over, crawl, walk and run respectively. If there are any abnormalities, one can observe them in time. The parents should observe their progression towards the milestones of development and ensure that everything is going normal. As delays in physical development may reveal other underlying development issues. If the parents themselves are aware of these things, it will make things a lot easier for them and the child. It can save lives.
Cognitive Development
Cognitive development is the intellectual learning and thought processes of a child. The child becomes interested in the environment around him as soon as they can open their eyes. They may not have a language to express it, but still they develop the thoughts. The cognitive development deeply understands and identify the observations of the world around the child, their memory, their learning, their decision making powers, problem solving capabilities, their imagination and how the child uses basic reasoning. All these factors are heavily influenced by the child’s environment and genetics.
Emotional (Social) Development
As the child grows the behaviours change accordingly. That’s when the emotional and social development come in the scene. They are however deeply intertwined with each other. Emotions are when a certain child expresses how he/she feels about something. This can be shown at a very young age too, such as joy, anger, sadness etc. as the child develops these emotions start growing more complex such as hope, guilt, love, confidence, pride. This can be tricky for a parent as the child is going through many things at a time. But with proper guidance and friendly environment the child can go smoothly. Children can have a hard time in having empathy if they are not guided right by their own parents. A child’s need of attention from the parent is one of the social development technique. If you give them attention on something bad that they are doing, they will continue doing it. As the only thing they want is the attention of their parents. Now it depends on you weather you want your child to do good things or not, depending on the aspect to which you are giving your attention.A child’s early relationships can have a huge impact on their development of age-appropriate social skills. Trust, friendship, conflict management, and respect for authority are examples of social development. Child Psychology is an important branch of family health. It gives parents the resources to help their children advance through the stages of development and gives a deeper look into the mental health and possible challenges a child might face in regards to learning or social differences, or developmental delays.Child Psychology should not be a reactive measure. Make it part of your active family routine. Parents need to learn that if they are giving their children a child psychologist, it is well and good. But not everyone can afford to have one financially as well as on daily basis. So, The parents need to be aware of these things on their own too. The above mentioned points are to make you better understand your children without having to go to a child psychologist. Parents should make use of the growing technology and keep a strong parenting guide for their children. As they are their first and sole responsibility.