Developing
social skills is an important part of your child’s growth. He needs to learn
how to share his things, consider others, communicate well, and have a positive
self-image in order to grow into a mature, emotionally balanced adult. Your
child also needs to learn how to feed, wash, and dress himself and go to the
toilet.
You
can do lots of things to aid your child’s progress. Get him to socialise with
other children, expose him to new environments on holidays and at playgroups,
give him lots of love and affection, and praise and encourage him. All of these
help him develop confidence, sociability, and independence.
From
birth to 24 months
For
the first month, your baby’s totally dependent on you. He communicates through
touch, his eyes, crying, and smiling. He learns how to interact with you by
watching your facial expressions.
By
3 months, your baby expresses his happiness and discomfort through different facial
expressions. He enjoys touching and being held by you. At 5 months, he may be a
little clingy and anxious about being separated from you or having to deal with
strangers. He may play alongside other children, but not necessarily with them
– this is known as parallel play.
By
6 months, your baby may be more accepting of other children. At 9 months, your
baby’s familiar with his family and may still be wary of strangers. At 1 year,
he’s affectionate towards you and enjoys playing with you. He may demand his
own way. At 15 months, he’s keen to get out into the world and explore his
environment – as long as you’re close by! He begins to use single words to
communicate and points to express his meaning. He starts to develop a sense of himself
as a person. He knows that he needs the toilet, but he isn’t yet able to control
his bladder.
By
18 months, your child’s vocabulary has increased and he communicates more
easily. He may express stronger emotions such as fear or anger. He signals that
he needs to go to the toilet, and he can undress himself.
From
2 to 4 years
At
2–3 years, your child’s a lot more independent and able to feed himself with a
fork and spoon, use the toilet, and wash and dress himself without your help.
He may be prone to temper tantrums. He likes to pretend play – act out ideas
and copy what you do – and parallel play – play alongside, but not with, other
children.
At
3 years, your child is more aware of other children and more likely to interact
with them – known as cooperative play – by sharing roles and activities. He may
have a special friend and be less egocentric.
By
age 4, your child forms longer-lasting bonds and friendships. He may have friends
of the same sex. He can wash his hands and face and clean his teeth. By age 5,
he can tie his shoelaces.
From
5 to 7 years
By
school age, your child has more awareness of a special or ‘best’ friend and knows
who he likes to play with – although this may change from day to day. He begins
to be more social, as he’s now interacting with teachers, other children, and
other adults. As a result, he start to develop values and becomes aware of what
is and isn’t socially acceptable. He gains independence and confidence. Play
time becomes more complex and competitive, with games such as hide-and-seek and
school sports. Being popular with his peers is very important and has a huge
impact on his self-esteem. This is an important and scary time in your child’s
life, so talk to him regularly about school, his friends, and his feelings.
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