Child Development

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Child Development

Although there is a characteristic genetical inheritance from parents to their children, certain characteristics of children are acquired through external environment. In the development of an individual’s characters, external environment other than genetical environment plays a greater role. The nurture theory promotes the role of non-genetics in personality development. Harris (1998) argues that the nurture theory assumes that among those factors influencing children development, apart from gene, is the way they are brought up by their parents.

A fair comparison of character growth in terms of parental guidance and other external (peer) influences is the different characters of identical twins. In as much as they share a lot in common, even phonotypical resemblances, they social interaction with different children ultimately determines what character they end up having. In the same way, those who grow up in a harsh environment normally end up being harsh and the reverse is also very true. Generally, it is true that parents have big influences on their children, but the ultimate character of a child is majorly determined by his or her peer group. This group consist of those that the child interact with most of the time, at school, church, play grounds and other social places.

Human being is a social animal and normally follows up to the characters of fellows. This aspect of humanity throws its weight behind some claims that people are defined by their peers. Throughout childhood and the progression of adolescence, peer interactions, according to Harris (1998), is very important as well as essential for language, social, and cognitive development. In most cases, children are found to acquire most language components when interacting with others. In this way, they learn how to argue and negotiate as well as resolving conflicts, apologizing, and supporting each other. According to…..peer interaction serves as the foundation for many important aspects of emotional development such as the development of self-concept, self-esteem and identity. In addition to that, it also essential to realize that children learn more about themselves during such interactions with each other and use this information to form a sense of their own selves.

In a recent study, it was found out that children of Chinese ethnicity perform better than others; especially science-related subjects e.g. calculus. This fact may be true when supported with statistical data. According to ….statistics show those children of Chinese ethnicity at GSCE. In line with that statistics, Chinese kids, who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) perform better than the national average for all pupils, rich and poor. All in all, according to ….., the gap between the children from poor homes and the rest is very narrow among the Chinese communities. With the Chinese educational policy, children from all walks are allowed to mingle freely with each other. This policy place upon children high expectation from parents as well as from, most importantly, high support from peers. According to …, a child performs better when there is high expectation and support accorded to that child. This is the Chinese policy hence higher performance in scientific related subjects which require high intellectual capacities.

The experience of teaching children from different social and economic backgrounds is one of the experiences that many teachers.............