Social emotional development

In this chapter, we review the basics of social and emotional bases of growth and development, and renew our understanding of how essential early positive and rewarding experiences with caring adults are in children's lives for them to flourish. Babies are 'wired' to be interactive with their caregivers from birth and depend on them to receive social emotional sustenance to thrive and develop. Infants, as they grow older, will become more adept in self-regulation of their emotions and states, while being socialised by their caregivers into what the adults deem to be culturally and socially appropriate and desirable behaviour patterns. Parents and children exert mutual influences in shaping each other. Both their biological inclinations and their socio-cultural formations transact in forming young children's sense of self, self-worth, self-esteem, self-reliance, self-efficacy - in short, their sense of purpose and pursuit of happiness in life.