7 key ideas to understand child psychology

Child psychology is a fascinating field of research and intervention, as well as being one of the most important.

Knowing better or worse how little ones behave, think and feel can have very important implications for their physical and mental development. Not surprisingly, childhood is a stage in which we are especially sensitive to what happens around us, and if we don't we do not have the knowledge or adequate supervision as parents and guardians, the consequences can be very negative.

Therefore, in the following lines we will see a selection of fundamental ideas belonging to the world of child psychology, with which it is possible to better understand the little ones.

• Related article: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

7 keys to better understand child psychology

These are several fundamental ideas that are worth knowing as parents, guardians or educational professionals when helping children to develop.

1. Children are not incomplete adults

One of the most erroneous ways of understanding what childhood is is to believe that boys and girls are like adults with missing components.

It is much more appropriate and realistic to understand that they have their own way of thinking and feeling, and that despite the fact that as they grow their mind will evolve, they are already "complete" people by themselves: they create their own explanations about what they do not know, they develop their own way of playing and relating, they create their codes of behavior in all areas of life, etc.

2. Childhood is not a race to learn

There are those who strive for their children to learn as much as possible in the shortest possible time. This is a mistake; in the childhood, The possibility of enjoying free time, socializing and playing are essential, as well as constituting an inexhaustible source of learning done spontaneously.

3. The referents of the children are the rest of the children

Another key insight from child psychology is that as nurturing adults, you give them love and contribute to educate them, our role is very important in terms of promoting a good development of children. However, the vast majority of children have children their age or a little older than them as their main referents.

This is natural and there is nothing wrong in itself; nothing happens because our children do not adopt our values, our tastes or our way of thinking, and of course, it is totally harmful to try to "force" this to happen. What can be done is to allow those ideas, knowledge and values ​​to be available in the home in which our children grow, so that if they are compatible with their way of being, they have the opportunity to make them too his.

4. They need an environment with stimuli, contact with others, and affection.

Scientific research shows that all children need regular physical contact with other people and with environments that contain a variety of stimuli. Otherwise, they can develop severe psychological and psychiatric disorders. In any case, most households and families already meet these conditions.

5. Curiosity is the engine of your learning

Curiosity is one of the hallmarks of childhood, and it is through it that most learning situations take place. So don't make them feel embarrassed by asking too many questions, even if it can wear you down.

6. Incentives are much more effective than punishments

In the medium and long term, create an incentive system (not necessarily material, they can also be symbolic or based on praise and admiration) is more effective than punishing children when they misbehave. In this way, it is easier for them to share goals with their parents or caregivers.

• You may be interested in: "Childhood tantrums: why they appear and how to manage them"

7. Imagination and play cannot be separated

As a general rule, boys and girls who don't have opportunities to play alone or with others, won't have as many opportunities to imagine either.

The habit of getting lost in imaginary situations is an extension of the game that is produced by interacting with the environment: instead of manipulating toys and exploring places, imagined elements inspired by stimuli that the child has encountered in the real world are manipulated and explored.

Therefore, being able to afford to play, read, watch movies... All of this provides them with more references with which they can create more interesting and nuanced imaginary situations.

Bibliographic references:

Berk, L.E. (2015). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood (7th ed.). London: Pearsons. Cromdal, J. (2009). Childhood and social interaction in everyday life: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Pragmatics. 41 (8): p. 1473 - 1476. Grotewell, P.; Burton, Y. (2008). Early Childhood Education: Issues and Developments. New York: Nova Sciences Publishers, Inc. Taylor, L.C.; Clayton, J.D.; Rowley, S.J. (2004). Academic Socialization: Understanding Parental Influences on Children's School-Related Development in the Early Years. Review of General Psychology. 8 (3): p. 163 - 178.