When we look at child development, it's important that we look at it with a whole child approach. This means that we look at all areas of development rather than just a specific area of development. Those are physical, cognitive, social emotional and language areas. Physical development, cognitive development and language development are the areas which we understood on previous article. Today, Gymboree would like to introduce the last area is social emotional development.

WHAT IS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMETN?

Social skills are learned from birth. Infants need to experience positive interactions and relationships in order to master self regulation and develop healthy relationships later. The development of relationships and social skills is influenced by both interactions with and attachment to caregivers as well as by individual temperaments.

WHEN DOES SOCIAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT START?

Babies enter the world ready for relationships (Zero to Three, 2008). They are interested in faces and people and are able to recognize voices. Young infants (birth to nine months) seek security. They rely on and trust the adults in their lives to make them comfortable, to keep them safe and to be predictable and responsive to their needs. Infants who are treated with respect and caring learn that their needs will be met and thus are able to develop trust and emotional security.

These relationships with caring responsive adults allow the infant to express, process and learn to regulate their emotions as well as begin to explore their environment. Once infants start to become mobile, they are able to use the security of the relationship with their caregiver as a base from which to explore. As infants transition to toddlers, they are able to distance themselves more from their caregiver and begin to see themselves as separate from the adult. This helps children form their own identity and sense of self. 

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