Building good friendships is one of the core foundations in the development of essential skills such as social interaction, communication and negotiation. These early relationships later become the foundations of the type of person that the child could become and influence how they interact with the people around them.
The Benefits Of Childhood Friendships
The formation of good childhood friendships is often overlooked as an important factor to early childhood development. According to a study done on children’s friendship development, early childhood friendships are an essential key to learning skills that are beneficial in the development of your child’s cognitive and social skills as well as the child’s communication skills and emotional maturity. Early childhood friendships also create a sense of belonging, which builds self-esteem and decreases their stress levels. A higher quality of life has also been attributed to successful childhood friendships.
Practices that promote early social development have been recommended as a central component in early childhood growth by leading international organizations that specialize in early childhood education, such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). These include creating environments that are centered on nurturing early childhood relationships, as well as the relationships between children and guardians.
Friendships as well as other interpersonal relationships play a crucial role in molding the person that your child becomes as well as the values that they will carry with them throughout their lives. For this reason, it is important to teach your child to surround themselves with the type of friends that will have a positive influence on their moral development, especially when they are at the age where their characters are still developing and can still easily be influenced. Surrounding your kids with positive influencers could promote a strong sense of self in the developing young mind of a child.
Environments That Can Facilitate Childhood Friendships
Placing your child in an environment in which they will be surrounded by other children in an interactive space where they get to learn and play, is an important start in developing your child’s social skills.
Facilities such as Providence Children’s Academy, provide an environment in which children learn through social interaction and these social interaction skills could be the basis of healthy lasting friendships. Enrolling your child in a preschool that prioritizes your child’s emotional, social as well as physical development is important in the personal growth of your child. It is also of great importance to enroll your child in an institution that has a wide diversity and that caters to children of different backgrounds. In this way, your child can be exposed to different cultures and learn about different people.
Another way of teaching your child to make meaningful friends is by playing an active role in the social development of your child. Organizing regular play dates is a way in which you ensure that your child is engaged in regular social interactions with other children that are the same age.
Encourage your child to participate in after-school programs such as those provided at Providence Children’s Academy, these after-school programs include a yearly Summer Camp where children are given the opportunity to bond with others and develop lasting friendships in an environment that promotes both learning as well as socializing.
Call us at 954-570-6914, for a place that nurtures your child’s social and overall development.