Modeling: Middle Childhood

Modeling:

As children develop emotionally and socially in middle childhood, they also mature physically, cognitively, and their social relationships with family and peers also mature and change as well. During this turbulent time of middle childhood, peer friendships take on a more prominent role than ever before, and can include friends at school, in the neighborhood, teammates, and siblings close in age. Communication and cognitive skills continue to improve, white middle childhood children developing increased interpersonal awareness skills, as a result, becoming improved at reading and responding to others, understanding others’ intentions and needs, and why they behave the way the do. These social skills lay the foundation for the formation of closer friendships.

During this adjustment period, is when middle childhood adolescents begin to take on some key components of adult relationships and the dynamics of friendships begin to take on new dynamics. These include mutual regard for another’s individual personality, abilities, and behavior. They grow closer together because they learn to respect on another, in the form of the other child’s kindness, humor, loyalty, fearlessness, and intellect. Mutual trust and willingness to support each other are the cornerstones of these friendships.

This is where modeling comes into play, Modeling is when the children learn from someone else, such as their parent, adult, older sibling or role model. If these “models” have positive relationships with their peers, the children will more than likely develop the same type of positive relationships as well. It is human nature for people to form relationships in some fashion, so it is imperative that adults and others set up a positive environment for children to follow. Bandura illustrates how modeling is extremely important in childrens’ lives by stating that a positive environment for a child to follow is healthy and one of the important steps in development.

A prime example would be a young male person who had many friends in early childhood age group, but as he matured, his group of peers narrowed down to two or three close friends who have much in common. They have learned to respect each other and understand the boundaries of limitations each young middle age child presents.

Social & Emotional Development

The emotional and social development of infants and toddlers begin from birth and spans to three years of age. This is the time where this age group develops the foundation for all social interactions. They experience feelings and emotions for the very first time and it is up to the parents and other adults in their lives to model and teach them how to react and behave socially.

From birth to one year of age, they learn to communicate by expressing their needs through crying, laughing, and eye contact. Twelve to twenty-four months of age, these young toddlers use parallel play where they will not interact directly with other children, rather they play side-by-side with others. During the second year up to twenty-six months, the older toddler should develop the ability of interacting with others among their own age group and in pretend play. By the age of three, the toddler begins to actively use their imagination and together, develop stories. They will begin to clearly state their own feelings and wants by using imaginary play.

From birth to the age of three, there are humongous social changes in both social and emotional development in children. Parents and others that interact with infants and toddler can positively impact them through appropriate social and emotional interactions. This can be achieved by providing words for talking about feelings and expressing them verbally. Other avenues would be to introduce videos and books that teach children appropriate behaviors and manners. An adult should respond by modeling proper behavior and by gently redirecting the child’s actions. By demonstrating with both verbal and physical instructions in a positive way, and by telling them the correct way to act and react, it will give them expectations and guidelines to adhere to.