Emotional Development And Self Esteem In Children
By Debbie Cluff, Sat Dec 10th

Emotional and Social Development

Many theorists have suggested the emotional development of achild, or the core of one's needs to be understoodand fostered at home and in the classroom. Teachers and parentsshould focus on children's emotional development or the"feelings that generally have both physiological and cognitiveelements which influence behavior" (Feldman, 2000, p. 329), at ayoung age. These feelings need to be positively reinforced todevelop a high self-esteem through out the child's life. Mosttheorists agree that there is a link between a child'sdevelopment and their respective emotional levels. The views ofthe theorists also clarify the most influential stages in achild's life when emotional development is necessary and howthis development reinforces a child's self esteem. A child'semotional development needs to be built at home and school inorder to develop a high self-image. By the time a child is threeyears old, he or she is an emotionally complex person who hasexperienced a wide range of emotions. As parents, teachers, andcaregivers we need to help promote our children's emotionaldevelopment so that they will be able to develop healthyrelationships with their peers and learn how to manage theiremotions effectively. This will help them get the most benefitout of their learning and eventually adulthood development. Achild's emotional development begins with the relationship withtheir caregiver. The type of responses that a child receivesfrom their first caregivers (i.e. parents, daycare providers)will determine how that child will learn to deal with theiremotions later on in their live (Ashiabi, 2000). A child who hasa secure relationship with their caregiver will initiatepositive interactions and respond positively to initiations withothers (Ashiabi, 2000). Conversely, a child who has an insecurerelationship with his or her caregiver will show more negativeemotions while interacting with others (Ashiabi, 2000).Elizabeth Cady Stanton once said, "Self-development is a higherduty than self-sacrifice" (Quote, 2004). Having a good selfworth or attitude about oneself can define self-esteem. Childrenwith a "healthy" self-esteem feel, "that the important adults intheir lives accept them, care about them, and would go out oftheir way to ensure that they are safe and well" (KidSource,2004). In younger children, self-esteem is not measured by theirself worth, but by how well the loved ones in their livesrespect and respond to their particular needs. For example,children with a lack of role models or a lack of parentalsupport tend to have a lower self-esteem because they feel thatthese adults do not accept or care about them. This is the mainfactor which children base their level of self-esteem on throughout their childhood and then on into adulthood. An example ofthis can be seen in early childhood development of infants whorespond and attach themselves to the adults who love and areresponsible for them. In the magazine American Baby it states,"What's usually the fastest way to soothe a crying baby? Snuggletogether while gently stroking him. Your touch has an amazingpower to communicate love" (Wu, 2004). What this is pointing outis that the infant is responding to the trusted adult's touchbasing its emotional development on this form of communicationand overall establishing the child's future trust andself-esteem. One big question about self-esteem is, "The moreyou praise your child, and the more your child willhave. This is correct, isn't it?" (Cyperparent, 2004). Theanswer to this question is not as simple it seems. It has beensaid that if you continuously praise a child, it may make thechild question the sincerity of that adult, causing them to soondismiss these praises as "fake" and eventually hindering theirself esteem. Even young children can see through excessivepraise and flattery (KidSource, 2004). This is very important intoday's classroom. Research suggests that we should praise, butalso challenge and encourage the student to take risks. Praisingyour children and your students should be only one aspect ofraising self-esteem. The main aspect of this development shouldfocus on how, "Helping children develop self-esteem involveslistening, accepting, and praising. Self-esteem comes fromacceptance. Provide positive self-esteem. Help your childrengrow self-esteem" (KidSource, 2004). A child's self-esteem isnot something imprinted in their DNA when born, isestablished and planted by parents and teachers through a lot oftime, dedication, and positive reinforcement. Remember that achild,

also, does not and really cannot develop self-esteem overnight. Self-Esteem is something that is trail and error for eachchild and with the positive help and influence of parents orteachers, a proper and high can be established,building upon each event through out their life, representingtheir emotional development. It has been established for a longtime that emotion does play a role in learning (Gewertz, 2003).Recent research has also shown that a deliberate approach toteaching social and emotional skills in the classroom increasestest scores and grades, increases students' enthusiasm andmotivation to learn and reduces behavior problems. Children whoare distracted by emotional issues do not learn effectively(Gewertz, 2003). By focusing on developing emotional and socialskills, teachers and parents can help students to maximize theirlearning potential. There are many ways a teacher can establisha child's emotional development. As we have stated previously,children build their self-esteem and emotional development basedof the adults who they are close to and whom they spend a lot oftime with. Teachers need to encourage children by building upontheir self-esteem in their lesson plans so that their studentswill feel comfortable and confident with themselves. A teachercan make their students feel more confident by giving each childa specific responsibility. This is not only exciting for thechild, but it also provides an opportunity for the student togain some ownership of the classroom. A teacher can also showthe students to how to learn from past failed attempts (Researchand Children, 2004). In order to make this work, a teacher needsto let go of their instinct to overprotect the students andallow them to be creative and encourage any questioning.Building or growing a child's emotional development is differentthan teaching it. Teachers also have to keep in mind that theymight be the sole provider for this form of development if thechild is not receiving it at home. Thoroughly planning lessonsaround positive thinking will help to reinforce this theory.There are many lesson plans teachers have access to via theinternet. Most of these can easily be adapted to fit a teacher'sspecific situation. The K-5 lessons range from a "Who am ICollage," by Linda Bauck, which teaching the child who they are,to a "self esteem/class pride chain," by Kimberlee Woodward,which teaches them teamwork and self worth. The collage allowsthe students to create and present a piece of work about them.This allows the students not only to talk about their interestsand characteristics, but also to work on presentation skillswith peers. The chain lesson plan allows the student to listfive talents on separate strips of construction paper. Then withthe teachers help they will be linked to form a chain. Thestudents each present their talents to the class, then link theentire chain together. This serves as a reference point and areminder throughout the year. A student can always look up andsee that he does possess talents, and so do his peers. Lessonplans building child development can be found on the internet atsites such as www.eduref.org/, which these lesson plans werelocated at. Another route the teacher can look into is charactereducation which is a theory based on teaching childrencharacter. Really the focus of the teacher should be to learnabout emotional development then implement it into theclassroom. There are outlining stages for emotional developmentand children. Parents and by teachers need to understand thesestages so that they can aid in building their children'semotional development and positively mold children's selfesteem. Emotional Development is important to understand becauseit can really help the child all the way into adulthood. AmosAlcott once said, "The true teacher defends his pupils againsthis own personal influence" (Quote, 2004). Teachers and parentsare responsible for the emotional development of the childrenand the influence they share with these children can affect thechildren's lives forever.

About the author:Debbie Cluff is the founder and owner of Links for Learning,www.links-for-learning.com. Links for Learning is the onlinetutoring and instant homework help site for students in Reading,Writing, and Math. Debbie is the mother of 2, with one on theway, and has been married for 5 years. She has her BA in LiberalStudies, her Master's in Education, and is currently in the 1stgrade classroom.