The environment in which a child lives and the people around him play a major role in the development of his behavior. Parents ‘ habits and the attention they pay to their children are important factors in shaping their children’s personalities. It’s essential to take them into account.
Today, there are several personal development programs for children from the age of 5 to 15. However, shaping character begins at birth with simple routines to be adopted on a daily basis. If you’re not sure how to do this, we’ll guide you through the various methods that promote the cultivation of happiness and tell you about the tools that will help you in the process of raising your children.
What is personal child development?
Child personal development encompasses several types of practices designed to improve..:
- Self-esteem
- Self-confidence
- Talents
- Self-expression
- Courage
- Gratitude
- Respect for others
From the age of three, you can observe major behavioral changes in little ones. Their personality is becoming increasingly assertive. That’s why it seems important to devote more attention to them, in order to forge a positive character in them.
This will not be an easy task. As a parent, you are the pillar around which your child ‘s personality will be forged. So it’s your duty to devote time to this essential part of your child’s upbringing. Among the factors that are essential to this are the following:
- Good listening skills
- Kindness
- Patience
- Playfulness
- Amount of time spent with children
- Parents’ daily behavior
Between the ages of 3 and 12, a child ‘s character is still malleable and flexible. During this period, parents can still easily remedy their children‘s bad habits. From adolescence onwards, their personalities are virtually defined. Hence the importance of good parenting from an early age.
The different phases of a child’s personal development
As they grow, children adopt different types of behavior. From birth onwards, there is a long phase of self-discovery and discovery of others. You need to be patient with your child’s changing moods, and learn to identify the whys and wherefores of each reaction. That way, you’ll find it easier to find solutions that will help you improve the situation. To help you, here are the stages of personal development you need to distinguish in your child.
Between 0 and 18 months: discovery of self and others
This period is undoubtedly one of the longest for parents. Throughout, you have to deal with various changes in your child‘s temperament. Both parties are still discovering each other. Sometimes baby will be calm, sometimes irritated. Learn to detect his expressions. The intensity of crying will enable you to recognize hunger, pain or stress. This means of communication develops from the age of 2 months.
Little by little, baby recognizes members of his household and “strangers”. His behavior towards both parties will not be the same. You need to learn to calm your child down and get him used to the presence of other people. All this while respecting his moods and without forcing him.
From 7 months onwards, physical development is sufficiently advanced to enable him to sit up and crawl. He then begins to experiment with his surroundings, asserting his personality by, for example, throwing away objects that don’t interest him.
Between the ages of 10 and 18 months, new abilities are acquired. Your baby eats, drinks and walks on his own. To ensure your child’s safety while learning, you need to know how to set limits. Don’t let your child experiment with everything, on the pretext that mistakes make you grow. Expect opposition and sometimes violent tantrums. Raising your voice won’t help, so keep calm and try to appease your child.
2 and 3 years: between imitation and inventiveness
It’s often said that children ‘s character is a reflection of their parents‘. There is some truth in this statement. Knowing nothing other than their home, babies tend to reproduce what they see. That’s why they imitate certain family members’ facial expressions or a parent‘s walk. Watch out for bad habits during this period.
From the age of three, children develop their imagination. They talk to their figurines and create stories. It’s a good idea for parents to take part in this burst of inventiveness. This is the time to start teaching children to brush their teeth
Ages 4 to 6: Who am I?
As they seek to discover their own personality, 4-year-olds take turns identifying with one of their parents. As a result, they tend to be closer to one parent than the other. Don’t conclude from this that their love for one is stronger than for the other, or vice versa. It’s just a passing phase.
Avoid changing your behavior by spoiling your child more than usual to get him closer to you. This can lead to aggression when he doesn’t get what he wants. Learn to say “no” and to make a distinction between imposing yourself and taking your child’s wishes lightly.
6 to 8 years: theage of reason
Children are becoming aware of their intellectual faculties. Don’t push them too hard in their studies, and let them learn at their own pace. This will reduce the number of stressful situations for both you and your child.
Between 9 and 11: the transition to adolescence
At this stage, your child is fully autonomous. He will ask less and less for your help, and will tend to want to spend more time with his friends than with you. He will question parental authority. However, some of life ‘s constraints will still drive him to seek your support and love.
Just because your child pretends not to need you, don’t let go. Always make an effort to maintain good communication between you without infringing on his privacy.
The relationship between personal development and self-confidence
Self-confidence doesn’t come naturally. In children, it depends on a number of factors, the most important of which is parental esteem and the esteem of the people around them.
A child raised with love and respect is more likely to develop self-confidence. To teach him this lesson, you need to encourage him in his activities. Avoid making fun of his mistakes, even if you’re not laughing out of malice. If you do, your children will become fearful. They will then tend to doubt their actions. In the long term, this will consume your little ones’ state of mind.
To help your little one believe in his abilities, play mind games with him from an early age( construction games, puzzles, card games, etc.). Congratulate him on both his failures and his successes.
Cultivate happiness by asserting your personality
Believing in your own personality makes for a happy child. Cultivating happiness means first and foremost being in harmony with yourself. Don’t forget that your child will be on his own as soon as he starts school. He must learn to assert himself while respecting his classmates. This will put an end to bullying and harassment.
A child who takes a back seat to others risks being mistreated without knowing how to defend himself. It’s a situation that will have the effect of stressing and distressing him. It can also affect his happiness.
To teach your child to assert himself in a healthy way, you need to:
- Act as a role model, expressing your opinion while respecting that of others
- Teach your child to recognize his emotions, so that he can better express himself without violence
- Not interfere inchildren’s quarrels. It’s good for them if you let them stand up for themselves. This will teach them to deal with conflicts on their own, without waiting to be defended by others.
- Ask your children ‘s opinion on everyday choices. For example, what to eat for dinner, what color for their bedroom, or whether they have any ideas for managing chores around the house.
Feeling and knowing that your child‘s opinion counts will contribute to their happiness. What’s more, they’ll be able to share this esteem with their peers.
The impact of the parental relationship on a child’s personal development
Looking after a child is not just about caring for his or her health and physical growth. Their personal and psychological development is equally important. That’s why it’s so important to create a healthy atmosphere in the home, and to maintain good relations between children and parents.
The absence of parents greatly affects children’s behavior. They can become more temperamental, more anxious and sometimes even aggressive. As a result of lack of attention and being left to their own devices, they begin to misuse their freedom. According to experts, neglected children are more likely to smoke and drink alcohol before the age of 15.
A child in need of affection will do anything to get his parents‘ attention. He’ll throw tantrums and do all kinds of mischief to get you to care about him.
On the other hand, a parent who spends too much time brooding over his child could make him too dependent. In fact, you need to know how to let go to enable your child to be more autonomous. Otherwise, the absence of a parent for one reason or another could lead to separation anxiety.
To guarantee our children‘s moral well-being, we need to find the right balance. Being present enough without overprotecting them.
What tools are needed to develop a child’s personality?
As well as gradually instilling good habits in your child on a day-to-day basis, you can also use different play materials for specific lessons such as :
- Self-esteem
- Respect for others
- Gratitude
- Patience
- Emotions
One of the most highly recommended games is emoti-cards. This card gameteacheschildren about emotions such as anger, sadness, joy, disgust and pride. The Montessori children’ s card and cube game comes close to this concept. As a bonus, it also helps children recognize shapes and colors.
To develop children’s sense of gratitude, we recommend starting a gratitude journal with them. What’s a gratitude journal? It’s a little notebook in which you and your children get into the habit of writing down the various things you’ve been grateful for during the day. This will help your child appreciate life’s little pleasures.
For self-esteem, respect for others and patience, the best development tools are board games in which there are no winners or losers. Only the pleasure of spending time together counts.
Children’s personal development: points to remember
What is a child’ s personal development? The expert answer talks about the various methods for turning children into positive individuals. To achieve this, it’s important to take advantage of the pre-adolescent period between the ages of 3 and 12. During this phase, children are more receptive and flexible, making them easier to correct.
Although they will spend most of their time at school, parents bear the greatest responsibility for their children’s personal development. They need to be present, attentive, supportive and ready to set a good example.
A well-supervised and supported child will naturally develop self-confidence and respect for the opinions of others.
If, however, you don’t know where to start with education, you can use a self-help book or children’s games such as cards or the gratitude journal.
Now tell us about yourself. How have you managed behavioral changes throughout your child’s development? What tips would you give to other parents to help them in the personal development process? Please feel free to leave us a comment and share your experience with us.