Supporting Your Young Child’s Social and Emotional Health

By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album
Reviewed by David Diehl, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
This post is part of a series recognizing the Week of the Young Child. To learn more, visit http://www.naeyc.org/woyc.

It seems like every day, we hear something new about what parents should or shouldn’t do to help their young children succeed in school. Researchers regularly publish findings about practices that support kids’ ability to read, do math, or even just pay attention and try hard.

But we all know that there’s more to life—and even to success in school—than just academic skills. Now a new study looks at some simple things parents can do in the home to help make sure that their young children enjoy good social and emotional health.

What does it mean to be in good socioemotional health? Children who are strong in this area are good at understanding people’s feelings and showing empathy for others. They’re also able to regulate their own emotions, even when a situation is scary or upsetting. These abilities help them build strong relationships with adults and other children. And as a matter of fact, they do also help children to succeed in school.

In this study, researchers asked the mothers of more than 8000 preschool-aged children whether and how often they participated in some simple activities and routines with their sons and daughters, most of whom were around age 4. Moms indicated how frequently they ate evening meals together as a family, played with building toys with their children, and told stories to, sang with, and read to the child. Mothers were also asked to rate their child’s social and emotional skills. Overall, about 16% of the children were classified as being in “extremely good” socioemotional health.

When the researchers looked at the connection between these nurturing family routines and emotional and social health, they found that it was very strong. The more of these activities children and parents did together, the better the chances were that children would be doing well in this area. The researchers also note that regular, bonding routines like these may be especially important for poorer children or those who have had challenging early life experiences.

In a world of parenting advice that is complicated or sometimes even contradictory, these results should be encouraging for parents. Simple and enjoyable family routines like singing, playing, and eating together, especially when done regularly and predictably, can help your young child feel secure, develop a sense of order, and build stronger relationships. What’s more, these activities really don’t cost anything other than your time. They’ll also create shared, happy memories for you and your child.

(Photo credit: Mega-Blocks by Howard Lewis Ship. CC BY 2.0.)

Further Reading:

Strengthening Families: Social and Emotional Competence, from UF/IFAS EDIS

References:

Muniz, E. I., Silver, E. J., & Stein, R. E. K. (2014). Family routines and social-emotional school readiness among preschool-age children. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 35(2), 93-99.

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Posted: April 8, 2014


Category: Relationships & Family, Work & Life
Tags: Health And Wellness, Parenting


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