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Developing children can be one of the most challenging responsibilities, specifically through the first three years of child’s life that no one but parents should undertake. Should you ask what is child development; child development refers to the sequence of physical, language, thought and emotional changes that occur in a child from birth to the beginning of adulthood. On this critical process, child development is strongly influenced by parents, teachers, environment and additionally child’s learning capacity. Therefore, problems in child development can arise due to parental or school circumstances. As for children above 5 years old spend most of their time in school and the teacher is in charge of education, so that the teacher plays an important role in child’s development and child’s social skills. According to Rick Lavoie, the effective educator must be ever mindful of the simple fact that children go to school for a living. School is their job, their life and identity. As a result, the critical role that school plays in child’s social development and self-concept must be recognized. Essentially, children’s social categories are classified in to four basic types: Rejected, Isolated, Controversial and Popular. As a teacher it is important to identify child’s strength, interests, weaknesses and most importantly child’s type. For instance, teacher should assist the student’s classmates in changing their view of the child or furthermore, assign the isolated child to leadership position in classroom where in his classmates become dependent upon him. Noteworthy, a teacher should always bear in mind that every child is worthy of attention; hence, the teacher must constantly search for opportunities to promote and encourage appropriate social interactions. After all, either parents or teachers should identify child’s needs and their goals should focus on promoting age-appropriate communication skills for the child. It is rather obvious that we are supposed to figure all these age-based and various needs out. As a concrete example, a six-year-old child needs to be in a safe place, since it is her/his first year so they might be less independent, whereas an eight-year-old child is absolutely more independent and he/she tries to do well in school. Children from nine to eleven are still “little kids” who are trying to think logically and like to work on a real task, thus, we should not expect them to act like an adult. Besides, they are extremely energetic and are interested in physical activities. All in all, despite all the differences, according to my own experience, yet the teacher can conduct alternative games in or outside of the class, because games are always motivating for students so that these activities can be used as positive reinforcement, though these sort of activities should be limited to a few times a week, otherwise it would not be that effective. To sum it up, parents and the teacher are the first people that have significant impacts on child’s development, so take this serious. How? By being a good listener, encouraging the students, understanding their needs and respecting their privacy. In the end, in the words of Robert DeBruyn, “Coming to school every day can become a hopeless task for some children unless they succeed at what they do. We teachers are sentries against that hopelessness”.
