Irrespective of the history of an adopted child, responsive parenting is vital to a secure loving relationship and the essentials to a loving and health family attachment are the same whether a kid has been adopted or born into a family. Many parents become worried when a young child comes to them with a history of having lost their loving caregiver at their orphanage as they wonder if the child will form a strong attachment with them. Additionally, the issue with the development of the child is also of concern as parents’ worry of the health, education, emotional behaviour, identity, and social presentation that the child will develop and learn as he or she is growing. However, having prior knowledge on children development as a parent will assist to ensure that they are brought up in an environment that will not limit their potential by bringing the best out of their abilities.
It is important for the parents of young adopted children to be aware of the various ecological theories because they help to recognise the environmental systems that people interact with and explains differences in personal development. One of the vital theories that parents need to be aware of is the Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as it enlightens parents on the manner in which the environment impacts on a kids growth and development. The microsystem is one of such environments that comprise the setting that a child interacts with like the family, which need to be nurturing in order to improve the growth of the child (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Other environments described by the theory include mesosystem that stipulates the various parts of a child that work together for improved development, exosystem that include places and people that impact the child’s development even though the interaction may not be often and microsystem that represent a large set of people with impact on a child growth. This theory is of great importance to parents because it brings up the concept of the community and its role in a child development.
The question on what makes up good parenting poses a challenge to many parents mostly because the kind of parenthood a child is accorded ends up determining his or her the character and behaviour. In the case of the stated parents who have adopted a four year old kid, authoritative parenting is the best style for them to follow. Authoritative parenting style is marked by high awareness to a child and low levels of demandingness and warmth because parents normally believe that they are liable to pleasing their children. In that, the parents to the adopted kid will be able to interact increasingly with the child in addition to granting him or her moderate freedom in terms of negotiation. Therefore, the child will end up developing the feeling of belonging in addition to a positive attachment towards the parents. Moreover, the style will help the child to develop good communication abilities together with high level of independence as he or she grows up.
It is also overwhelming for parents when it comes to choosing the right childcare for their children as they would want to ensure their happiness and safety is not undermined. The best childcare for the parents, in this case, is the family based care because children are taken care of in small groups and within a familiar setting like the parents’ home. In that, family based care is the most ideal considering that the parents can be able to use it before, during, and after preschool because the operational hours are flexible and can be negotiated to fit the parents working schedule. One of the social factor that will determine the parents’ choice of a childcare programme is their social status in regard to the income (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan, 2009). In that, affluent families, middle-class families and lower class families have different resources at their disposal; hence, they tend to go for childcare that best suits their income. As compared to the other two types of childcare, family-based care is the most affordable and offers the kid with many benefits like flexible schedule and close relationship with kids that is important for the adopted kid. The other factor that will greatly determine the choice of childcare is the working schedule of the parents considering that some parents have varying shifts like working at nights while other stay at work until late in the evening.
The use of technology by children is also an important factor among parents especially in an era where internet penetration is on the rise leading to accessibility of websites and programmes that are detrimental to a child’s behaviour. Therefore, parents need to consider the implementation of safe technology use practice at home like the implementation of programme locks on certain TV programmes that are not suitable for kids aged below four years. Additionally, the parents can block certain websites from accessibility so that the child is restricted to visit only those that are productive at his or her age. However, it should be noted that media could be of an advantage to a child’s growth despite the many demerits that has been associated with it in today’s technological era. In that, watching the television can be a platform for learning because various programmes emphasizes on the importance of visiting the zoo and museums among other educational places. Additionally, video games may be helpful to the child’s in helping him or her to develop fine coordination skills, but the fact that it takes away the time that could have been used for reading books makes it a problem.
Children develop their perceptions of self by taking part in interactions that parents among other caregivers have structured on the basis of cultural values regarding the nature of human existence. Therefore, children should be made aware of their cultures and ethnic backgrounds because an association to the two memberships results to emotional significance that is vital in the realisation of one’s self-concept. According to this case, the parents will need to apply a number of measures to ensure that the child is aware of his or her culture like visiting her own town frequently. The parents need to make the child a tourist in his or her own home by facilitating visits to groceries, attending cultural events, and attending religious gathering among many others. Additionally, the parents can avail playing materials and reading books that are associated with the child’s culture and ethnic group in order to increase his or her familiarity with it. Getting to try types of foods that are related to the child’s ethnic group is also a good way to increase the kid’s awareness of his or her culture.
Increasing a child’s self-esteem is important in the development of the child, even though it is challenging as compared to increasing a grownup’s self-esteem. According to research, one of the main aspects that help in building a kid’s self-esteem is ensuring that he or she feel appreciated and loved at all times. In that, a parent should focus on paying attention to the child like not answering the phone as it rings or avoiding distractions when playing with the child. Additionally, the level of love that the child needs to be accorded should be unwavering, and he or she should be corrected by making it clear that it is on the basis of good character (Martin, Fabes & Fabes, 2009). Children should not feel hated when being corrected for something that they have done wrong, but the correction should be felt as a sign of love. The tone of correction should not be harsh, as the child will perceive the correction negatively; hence, a statement like “Why can’t you be a good boy” should be used instead of “you are a bad boy.”
Socialisation is a lifetime process in which children learn to issues regarding various social expectations and the kind of interactions that they should develop with their mates, parents, and teachers. Families form the most important setting for socialization among children because they are dependent on other for survival; hence, that need to be taught how to function and take care of themselves. The school offers a different form of socialization that is also important as it helps children to develop their social communication skills via interaction with their classmates (Talay-Ongan & Ap, 2005). The socialization that takes place at the school is different from that at home because children are practically taught on how to obey the authority and to observe silence while in a class setting. Each of these settings are important for the development of the child because of the different socialization roles they play and the different skills they impart on the child. The importance of the home as a haven for kids is seen in the manner in which it cultivates close social ties and teaches the basic norms and beliefs that children cannot effectively learn anywhere else like sharing. On the other hand, schools are vital because they form the best places in which life socialization skills are learnt in addition to teaching children extended relationships.
Positive peer interactions are associations that occur between peers that are constructive in nature and helpful for all the children who are involved by improving their skills all round. Constructive peer interactions are significant because they result in desired emotional and social development among kids. According to research, kids who can effectively intermingle with their peers become more known, develop strong friendships, and take part in most of the class activities as compared to kids who do not have these skills. Parents at home can organise for their kids to play together with their neighbour’s kids as a way of developing positive interaction and ensuring that their children have friends in the neighbourhood. Such interactions may involve coming together during birthday parties where the children get to engage themselves in activities for the better part of the day and share a birthday cake.
In conclusion, the child can be prepared for a teaching profession in the future where he or she will get to engage with students from diverse backgrounds with different skills. It is important for teachers to comprehend the how kids and families relate to the society considering that they are at the center of it all. Teachers need to know the social settings of families in order to relate them to children when helping them to realise self. In fact, the theories of socialisation will help to ensure that children are moulded into individuals who can speak with confidence and with good command of English. In that, the knowledge of these theories are vital for a teacher as they will need to use them in developing a positive interactive culture among children at school. Finally, a teacher also needs to understand a child’s development in order to assist him or her through the stages in making sure that the learning goals are attained in each stage.
References
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press.
Martin, C. L., Fabes, R. A., & Fabes, R. A. (2009). Discovering child development. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2010). Developmental psychology: childhood and adolescence. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Talay-Ongan, A., & Ap, E. A. (2005). Child development and teaching young children. Southbank, Vic: Thomson Social Science
Watts, J., Cockcroft, K., & Duncan, N. (2009). Developmental psychology. Cape Town, South Africa: UCT Press.
