Mom's Guide to the five Love languages of Children

Social and emotional growth: 2-3 years

The significance of social and emotional development is seen in every area of a child’s life. Your child will have a strong foundation for her development if she can manage her own feelings, understand others’ feelings and needs, and interact positively with others.

" Two-year-olds enjoy playing alongside other children, but usually keep to themselves. Although your child is starting to build his independence, he still very much needs your help – especially when conflicts arise, as you’ll need to step in to calm everyone down and teach appropriate behaviours. " Comfort objects like blankets or teddy bears can help two-year-olds cope with new situations or strong emotions.

Emotional development
- Your child will extend trusting relationships to other adults and to children with whom he plays frequently. - - He’ll show preferences for these adults and children – for example, he might hug a friend when he arrives at preschool, or go to his favourite child care worker for comfort after a fall on the playground.
- Your child will show a strong sense of self as an individual. For example, she’ll say ‘No!’ to an adult’s request, simply to assert herself.
- Your child will recognise feelings when emotions are labelled by adult. For example, when his teacher says, - ‘I know you feel scared about that’, your child might calm down a bit.
- She’ll increase her understanding and use of language related to emotions, and will be beginning to label feelings she recognises in herself and others. For example, she might say, ‘Mummy happy now’ or ‘Why you cross, Papa?’
- Your child will continue to find it hard to regulate his emotions – as a result, he might get frustrated and have the occasional tantrum. He’ll use a wider range of coping strategies, such as comfort objects or words that label feelings, but will still need a great deal of adult support.

How to teach your baby to speak?

Babies absorb so much in the first few years of life. It is amazing what an impact everything you do has on an infant. With infants, it can sometimes be hard to tell what they are taking in because they cannot yet communicate with words. Teaching a baby to speak is fundamentally important for their development.

Talk to them all the time. As you change them, tell them what you are doing, and always speak in a soft, calming voice. Go through each step of everything you do with them. It may seem strange to say, "Now, I am taking off your diaper. I see you're wet." or, "Look at this nice big bowl of applesauce! Doesn't it look yummy?" But babies respond to it, even if it may be hard to see it.

Watch your baby's responses. When you talk to them, pause, as you would in a normal conversation, and give them time to respond. Sometimes they may smile, babble, or giggle, or sometimes they may just make a face or sit there and watch you. Either way, you are showing them the pattern of communication that they will use later on in life.

Read to them at least once a day. Show them the pictures and point out things in the pictures that go along with the story. Even if you are just reading a baby book of words, point out the picture of the ball, or the cat. They identify with things they can see. They make the connection between the words spoken and the pictures they see. Even taking objects that they are familiar with and speaking the name of the object will enhance their vocabulary, and make important connections between words and the world around them

Encouraging Life Long Learning

Many people have realized continuous learning is essential to stay ahead, not just to maintain the standard of living. If your child specializes too early and limits his own learning, he may not be able to find the niche that best suits him. However, even if he has found his niche, he still has to constantly upgrade his skills.

The job market is becoming more competitive. Employers are demanding more from their staff. They want team players because we are moving out of one-man operations into a corporate world. As we increase our interactions with regional economies, we need leaders and entrepreneurs equipped with these skills to live, learn and flourish. These leaders will be your children.