Competency 3 – Details

Competency Standard III: To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance

Developmental Contexts

Self:

Young infants (birth-8 months), during the first few weeks and months, begin to build a sense of self-confidence and security in an environment where they can trust that an adult will lovingly care for their needs. Infants are only emerging in their ability to regulate their temperature and recognize signs of discomfort such as hunger or feeling cold. An adult who cares for a young infant provides immense support for future abilities in self regulation by being consistently available. The adult feeds the child when hungry, keeps the child warm and comfortable, soothes the child when distressed and offers learning opportunities by providing interesting things to look at, taste, smell, feel, hear and touch.

Mobile infants (9-17 months), a loving caregiver is a resource or “home base” who is readily available and provides warm physical comfort and a safe environment to explore and master. This emotional stability is essential for the development of self-confidence as well as language, physical, cognitive and social growth.

Toddlers’ (18-36 months) sense of self and growing feelings of independence develop at the same
time that they realize the importance of parents and other caregivers. The healthy toddler’s inner world is filled with conflicting feelings and ideas – independence and dependence, confidence and doubt, fear and curiosity, hostility and love, anger and tenderness, aggression and passivity. Understanding the wide range of toddlers’ feelings and how they might be expressed can help support the adult’s ability to provide a calm and emotionally secure environment.

Preschoolers (3-5 years old) experience many conflicting feelings and ideas: independence and dependence, confidence and doubt, fear and power, hostility and love, anger and tenderness, and aggression and passivity. They continue to need a reliable environment and secure relationships with adults as they deal with these feelings and learn more about themselves in an expanding world: peers, school, neighborhood, and society. They are proud of their new skills in caring for themselves, developing friendships, building and making things work, understanding and achieving. Adults can support them by respecting and recognizing the strengths and needs of each child and by providing experiences that help them grow as individuals.

Social:

Young infants (birth-8 months) enter the world with an innate capacity and need for social contact. Yet each baby is unique in styles of interacting and readiness for different kinds of interactions. Infants need both protective and engaging social interactions with a few consistent, caring adults who get to know them as individuals. When adults respond to the cues and signals of young infants, they model social interactions. It is through these early experiences that babies learn to read and respond appropriately to the cues of others.

Mobile infants (9-17 months) are curious about others but need assistance and supervision in
interacting with other children. They continue to need one or a few consistent adults as their most
important social partner(s) and as a bridge to creating additional social partners.

Toddlers (18-36 months) social awareness is much more complex than that of younger children.
Toddlers can begin to understand that others have feelings too – sometimes similar to and sometimes different from their own. They imitate many of the social behaviors of other children and adults. As toddlers become increasingly interested in other children , adults should guide and support their interactions, recognizing that they continue to rely upon familiar adults for emotional stability.

Preschoolers (3-5 years old) welcome social interactions with adults and children. Their social skills develop rapidly, first through parallel play, near other playing preschoolers, and gradually throughmore cooperative play, with them. Adults can promote understanding and respect among preschool children by providing experiences in sharing materials, responsibilities and social problem solving. Preschoolers can begin to learn about differing individual and group needs in a positive way.

Guidance:

Young infants (birth-8 months) begin to adapt their rhythms of eating and sleeping to the expectations of their social environment through the gentle guidance of sensitive caregivers who meet their needs. Infants basic trust in adults and their environment that is established at this time directly affects the child’s responsiveness to positive guidance later and promotes the development of self-regulation.

Mobile infants (9-17 months) want to do everything but they have little understanding about what is permissible and may no remember rules. Adults can organize the environment in ways that clearly define limits and minimize conflicts. While respecting the child’s experiments by saying “no,” they can reinforce positive social interaction (for example, hugging) and discourage negative behaviors (for example, biting).

Toddlers (18-36 months) move through recurring phases of extreme dependence and independence as they gain new skills and awareness. They require an understanding caregiver who remains calm and supportive during their struggle to become independent. Adults must be resourceful in recognizing and encouraging self-regulatory behavior while setting consistent, clear limits.

Preschoolers (3-5 years old) can participate in the process of setting group rules and can benefit from learning why those rules are necessary. They require an understanding adult who remains calm and supportive as they continue to become self-regulated. They will continue to “test” limits from time to time as they grow more confident and independent. Adults can support them by acknowledging their feelings and remaining consistent about expectations, routines, and limits.