Healthy Development
Promote Healthy Development
How does your child develop the miraculous abilities to love, think, communicate, and create, as well as to have self-control and feel compassion for others? Many child development theories focus on only one part of this puzzle, such as a child’s genes, cognitive skills, or a new way to set limits. In fact, what gives meaning to all parts of this puzzle and defines your child as a humane and intelligent person is their continuing relationship with you. There are six essential types of experiences that simultaneously promote your child’s intelligence and emotional growth:
Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities
Capacity One
Self-Regulation and interest in the World
Help your baby look, listen, begin to move, and calm down.
More about promoting capacity 1
Capacity Two
Engaging and Relating
Woo your baby into engaging with you with pleasure and delight
More about promoting capacity 2
Capacity Three
Purposeful Two-Way Communication
Follow your baby’s lead and challenge them to exchange gestures and emotional signals with you about their interests
More about promoting capacity 3
Capacity Four
Complex Communication and Shared Problem Solving
Become an interactive partner with your toddler as they learns to use a continuous flow of gestures with you to pursue their interests and meet their needs
More about promoting capacity 4
Capacity Five
Using Symbols and Creating Emotional Ideas
Enter your child’s make-believe world as a character in his/her dramas. Engage them in long conversations about their interests, desires, and even their complaints
More about promoting capacity 5
Capacity Six
Logical Thinking and Building Bridges Between Ideas
Challenge your child to connect their ideas together by seeking their opinion, enjoying their debates, and enlarging their pretend dramas.
listen TO dR. gREENSPAN
Listen to Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s series of web radio shows about healthy development and how you can help your child to become a Great Kid. To access these audio recordings and transcripts, click here.