Definition of social development of a child: Social Development in Children | SCAN of Northern Virginia

Social Development in Children | SCAN of Northern Virginia

Ask any parent about their child’s development, and they’ll often talk about speech and language development, gross motor skills or even physical growth. But a child’s social development—her ability to interact with other children and adults—is a critical piece of the development puzzle.

What is social development?

Social development refers to the process by which a child learns to interact with others around them. As they develop and perceive their own individuality within their community, they also gain skills to communicate with other people and process their actions. Social development most often refers to how a child develops friendships and other relationships, as well how a child handles conflict with peers.

Why is social development so important?

Social development can actually impact many of the other forms of development a child experiences. A child’s ability to interact in a healthy way with the people around her can impact everything from learning new words as a toddler, to being able to resist peer pressure as a high school student, to successfully navigating the challenges of adulthood. Healthy social development can help your child:

• Develop language skills. An ability to interact with other children allows for more opportunities to practice and learn speech and language skills. This is a positive cycle, because as communication skills improve, a child is better able to relate to and react to the people around him.
• Build self esteem. Other children provide a child with some of her most exciting and fun experiences. When a young child is unable to make friends it can be frustrating or even painful. A healthy circle of friends reinforces a child’s comfort level with her own individuality.
• Strengthen learning skills. In addition to the impact social development can have on general communication skills, many researchers believe that having healthy relationships with peers (from preschool on up) allows for adjustment to different school settings and challenges. Studies show that children who have a hard time getting along with classmates as early as preschool are more likely to experience later academic difficulties.
• Resolve conflicts. Stronger self esteem and better language skills can ultimately lead to a better ability to resolve differences with peers.
• Establish positive attitude. A positive attitude ultimately leads to better relationships with others and higher levels of self confidence.

How can parents make a difference when it comes to social development?

Studies show that everyday experiences with parents are fundamental to a child’s developing social skill-set. Parents provide a child with their very first opportunities to develop a relationship, communicate and interact. As a parent, you also model for your child every day how to interact with the people around you.

Because social development is not talked about as much as some other developmental measures, it can be hard for parents to understand the process AND to evaluate how their child is developing in this area. There are some basic developmental milestones at every age, as well as some helpful tips a parent can use to support their child.

Infants & Toddlers:

During the first 2 years of life, huge amounts of development are rapidly occurring. You can expect your child to:
– Smile and react positively to you and other caregivers
– Develop stranger anxiety—though it can be frustrating, this is a normal step in development
– Develop an attachment to a comfort object such as a blanket or animal
– Begin to show anxiety around other children
– Imitate adults and children—just as a child develops in other ways, many social skills are learned simply through copying what a parent or sibling does
– Already be affected by emotions of parents and others around them

As a parent, you can:
– Respond to your baby’s needs promptly—your child is learning how to trust someone
– Make eye contact with your baby—get down to their level and connect visually when you interact with them
– Babble and talk to your baby, always pausing to allow them to respond
– Play copycat with words and actions
– Play “peekaboo”—this teaches your child that even if you “disappear” you will come back, and sets the stage for less stranger anxiety in the future
– Involve your baby in daily activities such as running errands or visiting friends—this shows them how you interact with others in a respectful, positive way
– Begin to arrange playdates so that your child can interact with peers

Preschoolers:

By this age, the stage has been set in the earliest years (mostly by parental and other family interactions) for a child to branch out. As preschool begins your child can:
– Explore independently
– Express affection openly, though not always accurately—there can still be much frustration for your child as language development is still happening
– Still show some stranger anxiety
– Perfect the temper tantrum—it can be stressful, but tantrums are a normal part of child development
– Learn how to soothe themselves
– Be more aware of others’ emotions
– Cooperate with other children
– Express fear or anxiety before an upcoming event (such as a doctor visit)

As a parent, you can:
– Demonstrate your own love through words and physical affection—which is a great way to begin teaching a child how to express other emotions as well
– Help your child express their emotions by talking through what they are feeling
– Play with your child in a “peer-like” way to encourage cooperative play—this is helpful when they are in a group environment and have to share toys and cooperate
– Continue to provide play dates and opportunities to interact with other children
– Provide examples of your trust in others, such as your own friendships or other relationships

School children:

By 5 and older, a child’s social development begins to reach new levels. This is a point in time when most children will spend more hours in a day with other children than with their parents. It is normal for them to:
– Thrive on friendships
– Want to please friends, as well as be more like their friends
– Begin to recognize power in relationships, as well as the larger community
– Recognize and fear bullies or display bully-like behavior themselves
– As early as 10, children may begin to reject parents’ opinion of friends and certain behaviors—this is a normal step, but can be especially frustrating for parents

As a parent, you can:
– Talk with your child about social relationships and values by asking them about school and friends every day
– Allow children the opportunity to discuss social conflicts and problem-solve their reactions/actions
– Discuss the subject of bullying and harassment, both in person and on the Internet
– Allow older children to work out everyday problems on their own
– Keep the lines of communication open—as a parent, you want to make yourself available to listen and support your child in non-judgmental ways

Your child’s social development is a complex issue that is constantly changing. But the good news is that parents can have a big impact on how it progresses. By modeling healthy relationships and staying connected with your child, you can help them relate to the people around them in positive, beneficial ways. By encouraging them to engage with other children and adults, you’re setting them up to enjoy the benefits of social health—from good self esteem to strong communication skills to the ability to trust and connect with those around them.

Social Development during Different Ages

Meaning of Social Development

Human beings posses a unique characteristic which separates them from animal beings. Their behaviour is social. Society is essential as food to them. They believe in the maintenance of social relationships and try to adjust with others. But this does not mean that the child is born with such social behaviour and social qualities. Like other aspects of growth and development, he develops the necessary social characteristics in him.

The process of the development of such qualities which brings desirable changes in his social behaviour is referred to as social development or socialisation of the child. Social development occupies very important place in the overall process of growth and development. We cannot even describe an individual a person if he has not passed through the process of social development or socialisation.

Social development theory attempts to explain qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize aims and objectives. Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment.

Definitions of Social Development

Some of the definitions are given below:

1. According to Sorenson, “By social growth and development we mean increasing ability to get along well with oneself and others.”

2. According to Freeman and Showel, “Social development is the process of learning to confirm to group standards, more and traditions and becoming imbued with a sense of oneness, inter-communication and co-operation. “

3. According to Mrs. Hurlock, “Social development means the attaining of maturity in social relationships.”

4. According to Garret, “Socialisation or social development is the process whereby the biological individual is converted into a human person.”

During the process of social development there is a progress in the social abilities or skills of an individual. Social development refers to the process by which a person acquires the necessary knowledge, skills and disposition that makes him an acceptable member of his own group. If develops group loyalty and encourages mutual dependence, co-operation and cohesiveness. It is the process which helps an individual to behave in accordance with social traditions and mores and thus makes him able to adjust in his social environment.

It asserts that as in the case of emotional development, the goal is to attain emotional maturity. similarly there in the case of social development, the goal should be the attainment of social maturity. An individual should have all the opportunities to modify or improve his social behaviour so that he may be able to maintain proper social relationships and can adjust himself to his social environment. Socialisation and social development the process of social interaction-helps the individuals to attain essential personality characteristics.

Social Development during Different Ages

1. Social Development in Infancy

The behaviour of the human infant is not social at birth. He is too much self-centered. He is only concerned with the satisfaction of his physical need. He does not even distinguish between people and inanimate objects.

Social behaviour is said to be taking is birth when the infant first distinguishes between persons and objects. He is dependent upon the adults for the satisfaction of his needs, therefore, normally the baby’s first social contacts are with an adult Mrs. Hurlock in her book Child Psychology’ has beautifully explained the process of social development during the first two years as a result of the contact with adults. Below we give the summary of her findings.

S.No.	Duration of Age	Pattern of Social Behaviour
1.	During first Month	Cannot differentiate between the human voices and other noises.
2.	Second Month	Recognises the sounds of human beings and gives smiles to the person.
3.	Third Month	Recognises its mother and feels unhappy on separation.
4.	Fourth Month	Shows selective attention to the human face and feels happy in company.
5.	Fifth Month	Reacts differently to smiling and scolding and distinguishes between friendly and angry voices.
6.	Sixth Month	Recognizes familiar person a smile and shows define expressions of fear of strangers.
7.	Eight and Ninth Month	Attempts to imitate the speech, simple acts and gestures observed in others.
8.	Between the tenth	Plays with his image and even kisses it as and twelve month if it were another person.
9.	At twelve Month	Can refrain from doing things in response to ‘no-no or some other form or request.
10.	At two years	Can cooperate with adults in a number of routine activities and becomes an active member of the family.

2. Social Development during Childhood

As we have seen that during the period 2 to 6 years a child progresses from being relatively unsocial to distinctly socialized individual. He learns to share, to cooperate and to do things with others. But the circle of his social contacts is limited at this stage. Therefore, we cannot expect much from him regarding his social development.

With the entrance in childhood most of the children begin to go to school. The area of their social contacts is now widened. We note the following changes in the social behaviour of a child:

1. This period is marked by greater degree of social awareness. There is a great expansion of child’s social world. Most of the important types of social behaviour; necessary to adjustment with others, begin to develop at this stage.

2. He tries to seek independence from his parents and others elders and spends less time with them. In actual sense he now drives no enjoyment from them. Thus, interest in playmates of his own age gets increased.

3. He becomes an active member of a ‘peer groups and this group gradually replaces the family group in its influence over his behaviour and attitudes. The members of such a group are almost of the same age. They believe in group loyalty and thus try to confirm to the rules and the values maintained by their group.

4. We find a sort of segregation among boys and girls of this age. They form their group among members of their own sex because of a definite and clear differentiation between their habits, interest and attitudes etc.

3. Social Development during Adolescence

Adolescence is a period of rapid change and adjustments. In the social sphere also it holds a greater significance. The social development of this age is marked by the following characteristics:

1. Adolescence is marked with too much sex consciousness, sexual development and the accompanying attraction for opposite sex. Boys and girls of this age try to attract and hold the attraction of each other through their style of dress, manner of taking and other forms of social behaviour. They also try to seek friendship and even sexual relationships. In this way. the social behaviour pattern of the adolescence is almost dominated by sexual needs and desires.

2. During this stage group loyalty becomes very much pronounced Like childhood, it does not confine itself to the gang only but extends to the school, the community, the province and to the nation. Martyre and patriots are the product of this age. Cooperation reaches its speak during this period and the individuals are in mood to sacrifice their own interest for the greater cause of the group, society and nation.

3. Adolescence is also marked with the increase in friendly relationship. The nature of friendship maintained at the stage differs much from that of childhood. While in the childhood the friends are generally chosen from the neighbourhood or class, in adolescence there is no such bar of distance. The adolescents tend to choose friends of their own age, mental level and from the same socio-economic group to which their own family belongs. Their friendships are based on their common interests, hobbies and skills or the satisfaction of their mutual needs and subsequently tend to last longer than the friendship made in early childhood. It sometimes ties them in life long relationships.

4. Adolescence is a period of intense emotions. Emotional behaviour dominates the social characteristics and qualities of adolescents. An adolescent is highly sensitive, idealist and social reformer by nature. He feels strongly for the weak and sufferers. He is always ready to do some sort of social and community service. From time to time he exhibits his desire for bringing reforms in the social set-up and is highly critical of social evils and injustice.

Read also

• Physical Growth and Development
• Meaning, Nature, Characteristics, Principles and Stages of Human Development
• Difference Between Growth and Development

Social development of preschool children | Consultation (senior group) on the topic:

The preschool age of a child is a period of formation of social development and behavior, an important stage of his social education. So, what should be the social education of the child and what is the role of the preschool institution in this?

What is the social development of a preschooler?

The social development of a child is the assimilation of the traditions of the society, culture, environment in which the child grows up, the formation of his values, communication skills. Even in infancy, the child establishes the first contacts with the world around him. Over time, the child learns to establish contacts with adults and trust them, control his body and actions, build his speech and frame it with words. To form a harmonious social development of the child, it is necessary to give him and his curiosity maximum time and attention. This is communication, explanations, reading, games, in a word, arming the child with a maximum of information about the human environment, the rules and norms of communication, behavior.

The family at the first stage is the main cell for the transfer of experience and knowledge accumulated earlier. To do this, the parents of the baby, his grandparents are required to create an optimal psychological atmosphere in the house. This is an atmosphere of trust, kindness, mutual respect, which are called the primary social education of children.

Communication is a key factor in the social development of a child’s personality. Communication underlies the social hierarchy, which is manifested in the relationship “children-parents”. But the main thing in these relationships should be love, which begins from the womb. No wonder psychologists say that a desired child is a happy, self-confident and, in the future, successful person in society.

Social education of a preschooler

Social education is the basis of a child’s social development. It is at preschool age that the formation of a system of relationships between children and adults takes place, the types of children’s activities become more complicated, and joint activities of children are formed.

In early childhood, children learn a wide range of activities with objects, they discover ways to use these objects. This “discovery” leads the child to the adult as the bearer of the way to perform these actions. And the adult becomes a model with which the child compares himself, whom he inherits, repeats his actions. Boys and girls carefully study the world of adults, highlighting the relationship between them, ways of interaction.

The social upbringing of a preschooler is the comprehension of the world of human relations, the child’s discovery of the laws of interaction between people, that is, the norms of behavior. The desire of a preschooler to become an adult and growing up consists in subordinating his actions to the norms and rules of behavior of adults accepted in society.

Since the leading activity of the preschooler is the game, the role-playing game becomes the main one in shaping the social behavior of the child. Thanks to this game, kids model the behavior and relationships of adults. At the same time, in the foreground for children – the relationship between people and the meaning of their work. By performing certain roles in the game, boys and girls learn to act, subordinating their behavior to moral standards. For example, children often play hospital. They take on the roles of patient and doctor. Moreover, the role of a doctor is always more competitive, since it has the function of recovery and assistance. In this game, children inherit the behavior of a doctor, his actions with a phonendoscope, examination of the throat, syringes, writing a prescription. Playing the hospital reinforces the relationship of mutual respect between the doctor and the patient, the implementation of his recommendations and appointments. Usually, children inherit the pattern of behavior of the doctors they visited at the clinic or their district pediatricians.

If you watch the children in the role-playing game “Family” or, as the children say, “like dad and mom”, you can find out what kind of atmosphere reigns in the children’s family. So, the child will subconsciously take on the role of leader in the family. If it’s a dad, then even girls can be a dad, go to work, and then “go to the garage to fix the car.” They can give instructions to their “half” to buy something in the store, cook their favorite dish. At the same time, the moral climate, the relationship between parents, can also manifest itself in children’s play. This is a kiss of parents before leaving for work, an offer to lie down after work and relax, the tone of communication is ordered or affectionate. The copying by the child of the standards of behavior of the parents indicates that it is they who form the model of relations in the family in the child. Equality will be either submission, mutual respect or dictate – it depends on the parents. They must remember this every minute.

Social education of a preschooler — is the formation of humanistic feelings and relationships. For example, attention to the interests of other people, their needs, interest in their work, respect for any profession. This is the ability of a boy and a girl to sympathize with troubles and rejoice in other people’s joys. Today this is very important, because envy is often formed in children already at preschool age. And this is precisely the inability to rejoice for one’s neighbor, which, as the child grows up, develops into duplicity and chameleonism, the predominance of material values ​​over moral ones. Social education is also the child’s ability to experience his guilt for violating generally accepted norms of behavior. For example, a boy should feel remorse for having taken a typewriter from a peer, he should ask for forgiveness for an offense. The girl should worry about the damaged doll. She must understand that it is impossible to spoil toys, they should be treated with care, like all things, objects, clothes.

Social education of preschool children is the ability to live in a team of peers, respect for adults, compliance with the norms of behavior in public places, in nature, at a party.

Social development in kindergarten

Since the majority of parents are busy and working people (students), the kindergarten and educators play an important role in the social development of girls and boys of preschool age.

The social development of children in kindergarten is the purposeful formation of values ​​and traditions, culture and norms of behavior in society. This is the assimilation of ethical norms by the child, the formation of love for nature and all the people around. Such tasks of the social development of children, covering their activities in a preschool institution. Playing and communicating with adults, the child learns to coexist with others, live in a team, take into account the interests of members of this team. In our case, kindergarten groups. If a child attends a kindergarten, then educators and music workers, nannies and physical education teachers take an active part in his socialization.

The child trusts the teacher and gives him authority, because the whole life of a boy and a girl in kindergarten depends on him. Therefore, often the word of the educator will be dominant over the word of the parents. “And the teacher said that you can’t do that!” – such a phrase and others like it are often heard by parents. This suggests that the teacher is really an authority for the child. After all, she arranges interesting games, reads books, tells fairy tales, teaches to sing and dance. The teacher acts as a judge in children’s conflicts and disputes, she can help and regret, support and praise, and maybe scold. That is, the behavior of the educator serves as a model for the child in different situations, and the word of the educator serves as a guide in actions, deeds, and relationships with other children.

The social development of a child in a kindergarten can only take place in a warm atmosphere of relations between children created by the educator. A favorable climate in the group is when children feel relaxed and free, when they are heard and appreciated, praised and correctly given comments. A good teacher knows how to make the child feel significant in a peer group, while maintaining individuality. The child thus develops self-esteem and self-confidence. He knows that they hope for him at the matinee, that he is obliged to help the nanny and water the flowers on time on duty. In a word, the social development of a child is the ability to live in a team, conscientiously fulfill the assigned duties and prepare for a more serious and adult stage of social relations – studying at school.

The concept of social development of children in preschool

The concept of social development of children in preschool

Prepared by:

teacher MBDOU “CRR – kindergarten “Luchik” 90 003

Mastina O. V.

One of the modern tasks of preschool education is the development in children of the foundations of socialization in the process of playing activity, when they are introduced to the elementary generally accepted norms and rules of relationships with peers and adults, civic affiliation, patriotic feelings are formed.0067 The social development of the child in DOO represents the process of assimilation of universal human values ​​by a preschooler, the accumulation of experience in cooperation with the whole world around him: people, nature, technical devices, art and, of course, with himself. Forming the child’s social behavior, we are guided by special goals:

The conditions for the full social development of children are created for this: the child is given the opportunity, showing social motivation, the ability to independently choose the style of behavior adequate, improve personal relations with others.

Pedagogical guidelines for the social development of the child in the preschool are the following:

• the formation of a child’s self-esteem, confidence in their abilities;
• development, stimulation of a child’s positive attitude towards others;
• education of the child’s social skills and the formation of social competence.

Let’s allocate basic skills formed in kindergarten:

• skill to follow the rules of etiquette;
• the ability to follow safety rules;
• skill of cooperation and interaction with others;
• the skill of observing general rules, agreements;
• skill in applying positive ways of resolving conflict situations.

According to the research data of T. V. Antonova, M. I. Ivanenko, E. O. Smirnova, R. B. Sterkina, it is expedient to control the level of socialization of a child in preschool conditions with the help of special indicators. skills of children can serve as indicators of the successful social development of a preschooler in a kindergarten:0085

The level of social development of a child in a preschool educational institution can be determined using indicators that characterize the social and personal qualities of preschool children: firstly, the child’s interest in himself, secondly, interest in peers, thirdly, the child’s attitude to the kindergarten group and other.

A child of preschool age perceives the social world around him not quite the way adults see and understand him. The process of familiarizing children with social reality is complex, contradictory and complex: the tasks of developing the intellect, feelings, moral foundations of the individual are solved in conjunction with each other and it is impossible to separate one from the other. However, social reality in itself is not a means of educating children. It becomes such in the case when the subjects, objects, facts, events that the child encounters are accessible, understandable, personally significant for him. Therefore, an important pedagogical task is to analyze and select the content from the social environment that carries a developing potential and can become a means of introducing the child to the social world.

The process of social education of preschoolers will be effective if:

• the means of education is the development of cultural and historical traditions of the environment, including natural monuments, memorable places, objects associated with historical events in the life of the people, as well as a set of cultural objects – things, ideas, images, samples of people’s activity;
• mastering the cultural and historical traditions of the environment has a holistic impact on the social education of preschoolers through the unity of cognitive, playful activities, interpersonal relationships, diverse communication and is aimed at developing their spiritual interests, the free manifestation of socially valuable initiative among peers, in the family;
• criteria for social education of preschoolers will be: the child’s ideas about the cultural and historical traditions of the microsociety, the child’s need to master these traditions, the presence of practical experience of preschoolers in preserving and transmitting the cultural and historical traditions of the environment;
• preschool educational organization will act as an open educational system interacting with other social institutions of the environment;
• mastering the traditions of the cultural and historical environment will be ensured by the readiness of the teaching staff of preschool institutions for the social education of the child.