CHILD TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT: A CALL TO PARENTS.
By Ignatius Ibanga
Children are a welcome edition into every family all over the world. A gift from God with extraordinary uniqueness associated with special blessings and favours.
We recognize that child socialization is a learning process that usually has its onsets in the family but soon transcends family dynamics to entail interaction through communication between the child and other agent of socialization outside the child’s home environment.
Biologically, a child (plural: children) is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child.
The legal definition of “child” generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority.”Child’’ may also describe a relationship with a parent or authority figure, or signify group membership in a clan, tribe or religion, it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place or circumstance, as in “a child of nature’’ or “a child of the seventies’’.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child defines a child as’’ a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier’’. Recognition of childhood as a state different from adulthood begins to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries. Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of lower level of maturity needing adult protection, love and nurturing.
In so far as education is a process of training and developing the various domains of individual's behaviours, one can argue that early childhood training and development normally starts in the family, particularly as the child makes initial contacts with the world through interaction with his or her mother. Although one recognizes that no particular family is solely responsible for child’s socialization-child survival, development, protection, integration and participation in social life, the role of mother in child bearing, child rearing, child care or child development is relatively of central importance.
All children go through social development. An infant or very young child will play along happily. If another child wanders onto the scene, he or she may be physically attacked or push out of the way or perhaps seemingly admitted. The optimal development of children is considered vital to society and so it is important to understand the social, cognitive, emotional, and educational development of children. Increased research and interest in this field has resulted in new theories and strategies, with specific regard to practice that promotes development within the school system. However, my concentration is on the child’s training/development as its affects parents, family harmony and by extension societal peace at the long run.
It is imperative to stress here that parents are an inalienable cameo de facto in the children’s development. As children develop from infants to teens to adults they go through a series of developmental stages that are important to all aspects of their personhood including physical, intellectual, emotional and social. The proper role of the parent is to provide encouragement, support and access to activities that enables the child to master key developmental tasks.
A parent is their child’s first teacher and should remain their best teacher throughout life. Functioning as a coach, the parent exposes a child to age appropriate challenges to encourage development as well as to experiences that allows the child to explore on their own and learn from interacting with their environment. Therefore, as parents it is our responsibility to train and teach our children, for whatever training we give to the children that is what they will grow with.
We need to teach our children how to pray, to respect and be involved in things of God. Matthew 6:1-15. How to live a life of praise and give thanks always to God. Psalm 127:4. We need to teach them how to study the word of God either by books, chapters or characters. Parental responsibility on child’s development is enormous. Significant effort is needed in the area of teaching and training them on how to talk with meaning and dignity using words that edify rather than destroy. We need also to teach the children how to dress and choose their friends by looking out on the character of the friend example lies. A whole lot of task awaits parents in this direction as they contribute to the personhood of children as they grow along. Fundamentally, the act of forming good morals in children is core to family dynamics, peace and growth. They need to learn how to greet politely, how to do domestic work, how to be independent, how to be hard working, how to be organized and thorough all, form part of parental calls to duty in child’s training and development.
Similarly, inculcating the spirit of giving in the children from teen age is a wonderful and unique virtue every parent should offer to his/her child. This, however can only be make possible if the parent themselves are a giving type. For you cannot give what you do not have. Training and teaching children to grow with the culture and life of charity is a way of helping them to break poverty in their life. Proverbs 6: 16-19. Also, parents should teach their kids secret and benefits of humility. Proverbs 16: 18-19. We need to teach them too to be contented. We are all witnesses to what greed and corruption has caused us in our society today. So these virtues and principles when impacted on our children with utmost devotion will facilitate the needed family harmony, thus societal peace.
Training, teaching and child development present quite a couple of challenging scenario for parents. Thus, parents/guardians need to provide guidelines and tools necessary for children activities at critical stages of development. The timing and appropriateness too are imperative to children learning important skills. Children may have certain difficulties mastering certain developmental tasks or academic subjects, parents have to be there to offer help to this kids when they are struggling. Reading skills at their teen is essential to learning subject taught and things relevant for them at that stage. The better the reading skills children have and the early they have them, will determine how rapidly and how well they will achieve in school and life in general.
Failure to read at the age of 8 years is predictive of future learning and behaviour problems. The ability to read is essential to being able to learn any subject taught in school. In our high tech society, proficiency in reading is a must to compete favourably in today’s job market. The information age is upon us. You can expect greater demands to be made upon reading ability. As parents, it is up to us to make sure that our children can read, write, spell and pronounce words correctly. There is no reason why a child with average intelligence cannot achieve this goal with early and appropriate reading instruction.
It is only through this commitment that we can gradually initiate a shift about the reading culture in our society which at present is very poor.
Within the family, parents hold primary responsibility for providing needed love and training to their children. (Titus 2: 4; Ephesians 6: 4). They should teach children values that will make them stand out among their peers and provide loving discipline.
Communication lays a solid and important foundational element and nature to the family relationships and unit. It strengthens it and deepens the bonds, connections, trust and intimacy you share. As parents, we need to offer, create and encourage this atmosphere and make it a home of comfort, reassurance and shared love.
Parenting is not only and all about chores, it is also about playful enjoyment and celebration of family life, each other and your interaction. This creates a unique platform for training, teaching and development.
Children are a rich heritage from the lord. Our joy and life's endeavours are owed to them. To have our expected end and dream future, it is obvious parents rededicate their time to children and offer kids the needed support in their personhood. For sooner or later, they will become parents and we (parents) children again as the continuum of life designed.
REFERENCES:
1. Udoekpo, M. U. (1997) Family Functions and Children's Education in Modern
Society. Patom Graphics, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.
2. Wikipedia: Internet Material
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Ejikeme, G. G. (2000) Child Training Methods and Child Development.
A Journal of Contemporary Social Issues. Vol.1 Nos. 1&2.
6. Ibid