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. But in fact what gives meaning to all parts of this puzzle and defines your child as a humane and intelligent human being is his 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 him/her to exchange gestures and emotional signals with you about his/her interests
More about promoting capacity 3
Capacity Four
Complex Communication and Shared Problem Solving
Become an interactive partner with your toddler as he/she learns to use a continuous flow of gestures with you to pursue his/her interests and meet his/her 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 him/her in long conversations about his/her interests, desires, and even his/her complaints
More about promoting capacity 5
Capacity Six
Logical Thinking and Building Bridges Between Ideas
Challenge your child to connect his/her ideas together by seeking his/her opinion, enjoying his/her debates, and enlarging his/her 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.