Critical period of relationship development
- 6 months: Begin to develop empathy and prefer to help those who help others. 6-9 months: Begin to establish one’s first attachment relationship (usually with his mother), which directly affects his social pattern. 12-24 months: Social skills have greatly developed and real peer relationships have been established.
Critical period of self-development
- 4 ~ 10 months: self-sense gradually strengthened, and began to establish attachment relationship with parents as social companions. 10 ~ 15 months: due to the further development of self-awareness, began to distinguish oneself from parents. 15 ~ 18 months: began to develop a deeper self, able to better interact with different people.
What should parents do when the critical period comes?
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Provide adequate resources
During the critical period of language development, children often talk to each other, during the critical period of attachment development, children actively respond to their needs, and during the critical period of social development, children are brought into contact with their peers.
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If some behaviors do not come as promised, don’t worry, haste makes waste.
The absence of matching progress during the sensitive period does not necessarily mean that there is a problem of sluggish development. Don’t label your child hastily because of this. Analyze calmly before making a decision.
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Don’t force the child
Most of the time, if we temporarily forget the constraints of the critical and sensitive periods and interact and contact with children casually, it will often have very good results.