Growth Spurts

Allow your child to develop by exploring independently.

He lifts the rock to see the creatures living there. The experience expands knowledge, builds vocabulary, and helps him understand about the happenings in his environment. If you are afraid he will be injured, help him as he explores but let him lead the way.

© SW Productions

Figuring Things out One of your goals as a parent should be to help your child become capable of doing things independently. For a preschooler, this means he can dress himself, select and eat his food, run, climb, and use toys. He becomes capable by doing these things. Is there a potential for mistakes, minor hurts, or difficulties while he learns to accomplish these tasks? Yes. But before he can refine his abilities, mistakes will be made, things will be tried that do not work, and practice will be needed.

Finding the Balance

watcH your cHilD Develop tHrougH exploration.

Helicopter Parents A contemporary parenting style that is being examined is helicopter parenting. This term originally referred to parents of college-age students who were overly involved in their adult children’s lives after leaving home. This extreme parenting behavior often begins during the preschool years.

By dr. rebecca Isbell, Ed.d.

YOUNG CHILDREN need a balance of both protection from harm and freedom to explore. It is essential to protect your child from physical threats, dangerous people, and harmful products. However, it is easy to overprotect your child, which has the potential to impact his development negatively.

intellectual Curiosity Your preschooler is interested in learning about everything. He wants to see, touch, smell, hear, and manipulate things in the world. This is how he learns about objects and their properties. He may be curious about what lives under a rock in the yard. How does he learn about what is under the rock?

THINGS HAPPEN
Your preschooler will run, jump,
explore, fall, and climb. She will get
scratches and bruises but also will
develop improved balancing skills.
She will be included in play with other
children, but occasionally she may
be excluded. Sometimes she will be
successful, and sometimes she will
not. Learning to deal with life’s dif-
ficulties is an important skill that is
helpful during the preschool years and
throughout development.

12 PARENTLIFE MARCH 2008