Children grow at different rates depending on the environment they are exposed to daily. There those children who develop a sense of cooperation early especially those born in big families while others take a more extended period especially those born in small families. Children development despite the changing circumstances they are exposed to are important to parents to ensure that they understand the role they play in the development. Children undertake various forms of playing and interacting when interacting with each other. These forms of interaction vary depending on the children’s age group. The development of children differs from one culture to the next depending on the age of the children. The essay will state the various forms of playing and interaction among children, the comparisons between child development in different ages and cultures and the theories that exist on children development.

Firstly, parallel playing among children of between one to three years old is the standard way of interaction among children. In parallel playing the children play side by side and ignore each other. At this stage, the children believe that the world revolves around their needs and people will do whatever impresses them. In the stage, the children do not know how to share their toys, and hence they tend to cry if another child tries to touch them. Also, the children try to seek attention in everything they do for example regularly crying when nothing is wrong. The parallel playing shows that the children are satisfied with having their toys and they feel self-sufficient. At this stage, they do not possess any moral guidelines, and hence parents should be willing to guide them when they get into the next phase. The children do not feel lonely for they appreciate playing side by side and they do not form any friendships with the children that are in their vicinity.

Moreover, associative playing takes place from the ages of three or four years old and the children are willing to form friendships with others. Playgrounds filled with the children of these playgroups are noisy as the children play with each other. Since the children are still struggling with trying to accept the other new children in their lives, there arise various conflicts. For example, a child can refuse to give another their toys when the time for going home arrives. At this stage, parents need to educate their children and ensure that they teach acceptable social skills. When a child makes another cry, a parent should be available to teach the child that whatever they have done is wrong. In some cases, they can make the child say sorry to the other child. Children are moulded to possess the necessary skills at this stage. This stage is critical due to the increased socialisation among children as most long-lasting friendships are formed in this stage.

Children of different cultures develop at different rates, and their ages of development differ depending on the parenting styles. Parents have different parenting styles that they have set to ensure that their children attain their maximum potential. German parents are known to focus on the needs of their children such that they guarantee that the children are at all times satisfied by what is taking place in their lives. On the other hand, African parents focus on making the children identify themselves with various social groups present in the community. Due to these German students are likely to describe themselves as ‘smart’ while African children describe themselves as ‘good students’.  This shows that the motivation of the students’ matter and the German students are likely to have a faster child development rate compared to the African children. The children of the Western culture are reported to question their parent’s authority from the age of five years old while in African culture this never happens and when it takes place is when the child is going through puberty.

Nevertheless, children born in culturally diverse countries such as the United States of America tend to notice the disparities that exist from the ages of seven years old. A white child can understand that they differ from their Indian or African friends. Due to this parents should be willing to impact positive knowledge on their children from a young age concerning their culture. An African American child can understand the challenges the people of her race face at the age of eight tears old while a White child may understand this a bit later. This is because the issue of racism is commonly talked in African American households which expose young children to such information. Hence when an African American child is told that she is not smart enough and later she starts failing her exams, she becomes worried that the information given is correct. The information passed to children should be filtered to ensure that they do not grow up believing the stereotype information present in various communities.

The theory of psychosocial development takes place when a child develops strong relationships with family members and other people. The child identifies the people that they feel comfortable around especially when they are associating with their parents. It is at this stage the female children become close with their father and the sons become close to their mothers. The children then form friendships with other children that they play with during play times (Hutchinson, 2018). Also, the children understand their emotions such that they can express when they are hungry or want to sleep. Even though the speech capability has not fully developed amongst the children, parents should start teaching them the accepted morals of society. They should also give the child a form of independence to ensure they can make their own decisions. These factors were evident in the park as children of five years old would regularly run to their parents to report any child that was hurting them. In cases where the child was in the wrong, a parent would hold their hand and take them to the child they had wronged and taught them to apologise.

Finally, the theory of attachment focuses on the relationships that exist between a child and their mother. There exists three forms of attachment which are secure attachment where a child believes that a mother provides the security they need. The anxious attachment that makes a child reluctant to leave the mother’s side and do not think that the mothers can protect them. The avoidant attachment is where the children are not affected when their mother lives their vicinity (Hutchinson, 2018). These forms of attachment are dependent on how parents associates with their children. German mother has both anxious and secure attachment as their children depend on them entirely. The mothers are always willing to ensure that their children lack nothing and hence at the park the German mother were seated near the place where the children were playing. African children mostly have the avoidant attachment with their children as they have been taught to identify themselves with various social groups and not their parents. This theory highlights the significance of the parenting styles of parents.

In conclusion, children development is key to understanding the various stages children undergo before they fully grow. At the young stage, children interact with each other through associative of parallel playing. The culture a child is born into determines their social skills and the development rate they will experience. The theories of children development inform the significance of parenting styles in children development. Children development is critical as a parent may never understand that their child has a mental or physical issue unless they understand the concept of children development.

References

Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of human behaviour: The changing life course. Sage Publications.