They learn from and from everything that is in their immediate environment. And what is around a child? A lot of things, a lot of people, and a lot of situations—an infinite amount of stimuli.
Now, learning is never as great as when an adult is present. The adult is in charge of mediating, transferring and translating each stimulus to the child how to build resilience in children.
The mediating role of the adult in the learning process
The adult’s role is to facilitate the child’s understanding of their environment— to act as a link. There is increasing evidence showing the impacts on child development of positive and responsive interactions with adults . For example, it has been shown that when teachers manage behavioral aspects intentionally, attend to the child’s interests and channel their attention receptively, children improve their behavior in the classroom and also have better academic performance.
Toys, siblings, other children in the care center or at school are necessary and contribute to the learning process. But they are not enough. Child development is enhanced by interaction with the adult caregiver —at home or in the care center, where many children spend a considerable proportion of their time. Additionally, consistency—the presence of a primary caregiver in each environment—gives the child security and reinforces her self-esteem.
Below, we explore 5 ways adults can enhance children’s learning:
- Pay attention to the signs and follow your interests. Beyond offering affection and affection, fundamental in and of themselves, the adult can identify and respond to the child’s forms of communication, for example:
Naming the object or action of interest: “What are you pointing to? Ah! “The Sun and Moon Storybook!”
Responding if the child smiles or babbles when performing an action: “You like it when I tickle your feet, right?”
Talk to him about what is happening: “Yes! “I’m putting socks on for you so your feet don’t get cold.”
- Introduce new concepts, naming everything in the environment. During the bath, for example, talk about how cold or hot the water is, about dry and wet, about the parts of the body, mentioning and pointing to them. Or at lunch time, take the opportunity to talk about the textures, sizes, shapes and colors of foods.
- Expand the child’s knowledge. When you watch or read stories together, if the child says: “woof-woof”, add: “yes, he is a big dog and he has four legs!”, pointing to them.
- Play! Playing is the main means of learning for children, as well as great fun. By playing, the adult can participate and enhance the role-play —remember that children imitate everything adults do! — or introduce challenges and problems that the child has to solve : playing to open a jar and take out what is inside, to put together a puzzle, to find an object that we have hidden, and a long etcetera.
Recommendation: the adult can vary the game, posing increasingly complex but achievable challenges. If a game is very simple, and the child can solve it immediately, she gets bored and loses interest. If it is too complex, he gets frustrated and doesn’t want to continue.
- Recognize and reinforce attempts and achievements in a positive way: congratulate the child with applause, kisses, verbalizing their achievement and attempts , thus promoting their self-esteem and encouraging them to continue learning.
Benefits of adult interaction
All of these practices help the child in multiple ways:
- Developing your language . They expose him and familiarize him with many new words—which he understands, internalizes, and which little by little he will introduce into his own vocabulary.
- Promoting their cognitive and motor abilities . The child becomes familiar with complex concepts such as cause and effect, or the permanence of objects (the object does not disappear simply because you no longer see it).
- Developing and stimulating aspects of executive function , such as attention, perseverance, self-regulation, among others, through facing and overcoming challenges.
- Promoting their creativity and socio-emotional development . Promoting attachment , the affectionate bond between the child and the adult caregiver, weaving a warm and close relationship between both.
- Provoking his curiosity and encouraging him to want to learn new things.
Lack of time, tiredness, the presence of other children, other responsibilities often limit the quantity and quality of interactions between the adult and the child. Therefore, as adult caregivers, it is important that we remember its benefits. All of us, from our spheres as parents, family members, neighbors, caregivers, teachers, have the responsibility of playing this important mediating role in our relationship and interaction with children, thus contributing to promoting their development to the maximum potential.