North American Ed - Brain development

3.2 Observing children's development

Understanding children and responding appropriately is key to the kind of responsive care that nourishes early brain development. Although children are ‘wired’ to interact with others from birth, young children’s social signals are not always obvious, especially when they are preverbal. Becoming a skilled observer is key to understanding a child’s perspective. Children experience the world differently. They see with fresh eyes and experience the world on their own terms.

Watch these interactions between seven-month-old Lucy and her Dad.

The first several years of a child’s life have been shown to be central in brain, behaviour and socio-emotional development. During the early years, children rapidly acquire new motor, verbal, socio-emotional, and cognitive skills that are accompanied by changes in their parental needs. As children develop and even as they enter adolescence and adulthood, parents are expected to adjust and adapt their parental strategies and behaviours to comfort, stimulate, discipline, and support and direct their children.

Positive, warm, and responsive caregiving have been demonstrated to buffer children from various environmental adversities and subsequent negative outcomes. However, lack of warmth and responsivity from caregivers, including harsh disciplinary practices and negative reactive caregiving, are related to externalizing behavioural problems, aggression and negative cognitive outcomes. These can subsequently contribute to an increased risk of child psychopathology, obesity, depression and/or anxiety as well as other chronic health related-illnesses.

At the foundation of responsive caregiving (e.g., by parents and early childhood educators), is an affective-emotional approach that includes high levels of warmth, nurturing behaviour and positive affection. Importantly, these responses are contingently associated to the child’s cues and signals and recognition of a child’s unique character.

Dr. Tracie Afifi, a professor in Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, explains how understanding child development and being able to recognize a child’s signals and cues are central to positive parenting approaches.

Observations are more meaningful if they are based on knowledge of child development. Children are individuals, but knowing about what to expect at different ages is helpful to parents, early childhood educators and teachers.  For example, often caregivers are overwhelmed with what they consider negative behavior. In the next clip, Dr. Joan Durrant, professor emerita of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, explains how parents can view their child’s negative behaviour from a different perspective if they have some understanding of the development of emotional behavior and what that behavior means in terms of how their child is growing and changing. It is a good reminder for anyone who works with young children. Understanding and warmly responding to the child’s cue, either positive or negative, is important in supporting and guiding their development.

The following website from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention gives a sense of what to expect of children at different ages.

The next reading, A Child Becomes Strong, provides culturally specific teachings and information about child development within a First Nations context. Learn about the stages of life, and the child rearing practices that support healthy child development.

As we see in this reading, the first stage of life is referred to as “The Good Life”. It is a very important stage in which parents, grandparents, Elders all play an important role in the child’s development.

In the next video, Anne Rundle, a child development curriculum developer and consultant, describes “The Good Life” and some of the ceremonies and celebrations unique to this period.

Recognizing stress cues

As discussed earlier in this module, excessive stress can be particularly harmful to children’s development and long-term well being. The organization Strong Minds Strong Kids: Psychology Canada has some excellent resources to help parents and educators notice and understand stress in children’s lives and how to help them deal with stress. These resources are available, below.

Dr. Megan Gunnar, of the University of Minnesota, discusses some of the effects on the brain when children are inundated with stressful experiences. It helps us understand why we need to pay careful attention to children who face adversity.