Together, We Create!

Sharing, listening, belonging, communicating. These actions and feelings can all be associated with how a child learns an important life skill called socialization. During the critical developmental period of a child’s life, from birth to 8 years old, relationships are created with his or her parents, siblings and friends. These relationships require a bond, whether it’s reading a book, sharing a toy or playing a game. The more social interaction a child can experience, the easier it is for them to achieve shared goals.

A scholastic.com article titled The Power of Playing Together states that “through team building and collaboration, a child learns to respect others and to control his own immediate needs and impulses.” The article gives parents helpful tips and activities on how to set up environments that encourage all types of socialization. Sometimes it can be difficult for children to “play nice with others” or even have the desire to work with their peers to achieve a common goal. Education.com’s Lisa Medoff emphasizes the importance of a parent helping their child interact with others in her article When Your Preschool Child Struggles to Play With Others.

“It is important for you to pay attention to the difficulty your child is having with others; excessive problems interacting with other children can prevent your child from developing the social skills that are necessary for further social and cognitive development, and constant exclusion from friendship groups may harm your child’s self-esteem.”

Socialization is vital to building collaborative efforts between children. With that in mind, FasTracKids encourages these interactions within the classroom and at home.

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