Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or other family member, regardless of your experience, you are a student. It is normal to feel confident in what you know. It is also normal to admit when you do not know something, to ask and seek help. When we focus on raising a child, we can easily neglect taking care of ourselves and our own health. When we pay adequate attention to our own physical, mental and emotional needs, it definitely helps the proper development of our children.
In the first years of life, various experiences and relationships stimulate a child's development, creating millions of connections in the child's brain. In fact, these relationships develop incomparably faster in the first five years than at any other time in life. This is the time when the foundations of perceptions, health and good patterns of behavior are laid. Nevertheless, both scientists and psychologists differentiate a number of stages in the development of a child.
Babies are born ready to learn, and the stimulating and caring environment, with a variety of activities, provides children with a number of ways to play, develop and learn, as well as the opportunity to practice what they have learned.
Physical Aspects of Child Development
Along with their mental development, in the process of which they create different skills, psychologists pay special attention to the physical changes that occur in children's lives. For example, a child's genes and factors such as healthy eating, physical activity, health and habitat also contribute to your toddler's development and well-being.
Healthy food gives your child the energy and nutrients he/she needs to grow healthy and develop properly. It also helps to form health preferences. Creating good eating habits in early childhood predisposes to their further development.
What is more, regular physical activity is vital for a child's health. It makes him/her move, develops his/her motor skills, helps him/her think and navigate properly in his/her environment. Therefore, your child needs a variety of opportunities for active play both at home and outside.
Relationships as Foundation of Child Development
In fact, it is relationships that underlie child development. The relationships of children affect all areas and stages of their growth and their transformation into full-fledged individuals. Through various connections with others, the child learns vital information about the world around him/her. For example, they learn whether the world is safe and secure, whether they are loved and by whom, and what happens when they cry or laugh.
Your child also learns by observing relationships between other people - for example, by seeing how you treat other family members. This training is the foundation on which the development of your child's communication, behavioral and social skills is based. The experts have come to the conclusion that the relationship between the child and their parents is one of the most important in their life. Relationships with other family members, educators and other children are also essential for proper child development. However, parents always play the key role in the upbringing of their own children and have a special place in their hearts.
Enroll in Class For Child-Development
In order to support you during the upbringing process and to provide you with helpful information about the development of your children, OnlineParentingCenter has designed courses for child development which can be taken completely online without the need to attend any physical classes.
In addition, our child development classes are written by a certified instructor and a member of the National Parent Instructor Association in order to meet the national standards of both the United States and Canada. The certificate of completion which you will receive once you complete the training is known to be accepted by almost every state and province that allows remote education. In fact, you may be required to enroll in such a parenting class by the court, a social worker, foster care or adoption agencies, child protective services, schools, colleges or other entities.
What is more, keep in mind that the different organizations usually have specific requirements. For instance, the hourly duration required by the court and the Child Protective services may vary. And in order to fulfill all of their requirements, we have designed a number of programs for child development with different duration. Our training starts from 4 up to 52 hours and we provide weekly courses as well. We highly recommend you to not enroll in shorter programs. Still, in case during the education the requirements change, we will adapt the curriculum to your needs.
