Reading. Playing. Working. Parental Attention to Children – What is Involved?

There are a few claims regarding each aspect.  Some believe that playing is more important than reading.  Some believe that reading is more important, and some just say “We didn’t have time to play or read when we were children.  We were helping our parents around the house.  Look how well it turned out for us.”  Their arguments are valid and supported by the results, but their results will not necessarily be the same for their children.  It is easy to understand why.  The world is changing around us constantly and past conditions are not the reality of today.  Only our responsibility to teach and guide our children in the right direction never changes.

As parents, we ought to pay attention to our children’s minds and their behaviour, and we all do just that.  Usually we monitor everything automatically.  Sometimes we notice changes in their physical, mental, emotional and social development and sometimes we miss it. Yes, we are not perfect but many of us try our best by learning and analysing.  Our children may be small, but their unique and complex psychology is a big worry for us.  We know that they think differently and perceive the world around them differently too.  We love and adore them and we want to help them in anyway possible. The question is how?

However, the question of “how” often creates more questions than answers.  We know that newborns have physical and cognitive characteristics that are partially inherited and partially altered by natural, biological processes.  There is an initial blueprint of individual personality and that blueprint is still incomplete without the processes of further development.  Development will have a vital influence in formulating one’s character.  Through perceptions affecting one’s attitudes and resulting behaviours, any one individual will be influenced by the environment (social, economic and cultural) which will alter their understanding of relationships with others, views on education, initial sets of values and overall perception of the world around them.  Everything above is tightly interconnected and on top of this, there are complications with emotional and biological connections within the family itself.  Go figure it out if you are not a trained psychologist.  Even now, with all our knowledge, we are only beginning to put many puzzle pieces together in the overall picture of child psychology.

One thing is for sure, we are now in a better position to observe and describe our children’s behaviour.  We are better educated today than decades ago and we can use our common sense as well as our own reasoning to understand and explain our children’s behaviour.  We are also in a better position to predict our children’s behaviour based on our past observations.  We are definitely in the best position to influence them, and by intervention, to change and improve their attitudes and actions with the best intentions in our hearts and minds.  All we have to do is to take into consideration all three aspects, which are equally important in their development.  Playing, reading and involving them in common activities around the house.

Through playing games we are able to teach children to learn and to practice social skills.  Through reading we are able to teach them how to listen and imagine, as well as exposing them to a better understanding of language so that they can become independent readers in the future.  Through listening to stories our children learn to deal with known and unknown problems, feelings, situations and more importantly, how to solve problems now and in the future.  When we ask them to help us around the house, we are not only teaching them to cooperate, we are also giving them the opportunity of becoming more independent, which also means more confidence.  Remember that all of these three aspects are greatly interconnected and will have a huge affect on our children’s overall development.  Don’t overcomplicate it for yourself and your children.  Just allocate as much time as possible to play, to read and to do housework together.

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About the Author:
Elena Ornig. Member of GCWA. Author of eBooks: ‘The Queen of The Castle’ and ‘Stories from Cherry Street’. Owner of www.realpeoplerealanswers.com.au
I am wishing you well!
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