Quotes About Development

Especially in the first years of life, connection with caring and responsive parents and other caregivers is critical for your child. You influence the very structure and wiring of your baby's brain; you influence the person she becomes and the future she will have.

what children really need to grow and develop is unhurried time with caring adults

in fact, what children really need to grow and develop is unhurried time with caring adults, people who will focus on the child and follow his cues without distraction or expectations

There is simply no substitute for time and attention, and children who have the opportunity to bond well with parents find it easier to get along with others and to be comfortable in their world as they grow up.

Remember that while repetition may be boring to you, it isn't to your child. Babies and toddlers learn through repetition, which is why routines are such an effective and important teaching tool for this age group.

Knowing that you are shaping a healthy brain may give you the patience it takes to tell favorite stories over and over again. Incidentally, television does not have the same effect on babies and toddlers as real speech.

There is a popular cartoon that shows a mother talking to her child. "Honey," she says, "when you're older, I want you to be confident, assertive, and independent. But right now I want you to be compliant, quiet, and obedient." Most parents know the feeling: The very same qualities that we want for our children as adults can make life challenging when they're young.

Often adults fail to realize that they simply can't reason with a toddler and thus they spend more time talking than acting. No matter how well you use them, words are often little more than sounds to young children. Actions, like removing a child from a forbidden temptation by picking him up and carrying him to another location, provide an unmistakable message.

Your child is constantly making decisions about himself and the world, and how to find belonging and significance in that world.

children are shaped by both the raw material they inherit and the forces around them, they also bring to the world something unique to them: their own spirit and identity.

Children do cooperate (most of the time, at least) when they're involved in finding solutions to problems; they will understand "no" when they are developmentally ready; and they listen when parents listen to them and talk in ways that invite listening. Problems are solved more easily when parents use kind and firm guidance until children are old enough to be involved in the process of creating limits and focusing on solutions.

He's not deliberately trying to drive you insane; he's either exploring at his age-appropriate level or learning about consistency and making sure adults mean what they say (an important part of trust).

Toddlers are highly impulsive little people, and warnings are simply overpowered by the desire to touch, hold, and explore.

He is a small scientist using his hands, mouth, and imperfect coordination to determine the properties of the marvelous world around him. Your real tasks as a parent are prevention, vigilance—and very quick reflexes.

Understanding the belief behind behavior. All human behavior happens for a reason, and children start creating the beliefs that form their personality from the day they are born. You will be far more effective at changing your child's behavior when you understand the beliefs behind it.

Encouragement celebrates effort and improvement, not just success, and builds a long-term sense of self-worth and confidence.

Your child will need lots of opportunities to exercise his imagination and creativity as he grows. (Sometimes that includes time to play alone.)

don't get the impression that your baby needs constant stimulation. Babies need private time to explore by themselves.

wonder, "Would they rather have weak-willed children?"): children who won't obey, won't listen, or have temper tantrums. Some of this behavior is typical of a young child's development, as children explore and experiment to discover who they are and what they can do.

Home wasn't built in a day.

If the cup is empty, it can be filled.

On life's journey, every person met, every place, every new word, language, scent & sound changes the traveller a little: forms who they are and whom they become

Children under the age of 16, 17, or even 18 are generally not psychologically or emotionally mature enough to consent fully to sexual relationships with adults, or to participate in them on an equal footing.

Blame the mother," Mac interjected. "Children are what they've been taught." "I