Tracking child development through metrics
Stages of Emotional Development
Did you know that the care children receive in the first few years can have a terrific impact on the rest of their lives - that's what makes childcare work so important! But do you know what, exactly, children must have in order to get a good start?
There's more than one answer to that question, one recognized model is Erikson's Stages of Emotional Development.
According to this theory, children in different age groups are learning to balance different needs and expectations. Children who successfully resolve those conflicts will become confident, happy adults, while others may develop lifelong problems.
| Stage/Conflict | Age Range | What happens? |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Trust vs. Mistrust | Infants (birth-18 months) | Babies must learn to trust that caregivers will meet their needs and keep them safe. |
| 2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt | Toddlers (18 months-3.5 years) | Toddlers must believe they are capable to do things on their own. |
| 3. Initiative vs. Guilt | Preschool (3.5-6 years) | Children must feel comfortable expressing themselves and trying new things. |
| 4. Industry vs. Inferiority | School-age (6-12 years) | Children must feel that they have meaningful skills and talents that others can respect. |
| 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion | Adolescence | Teens must form an identity and sense of self to understand who they are and how they fit in society. |
| 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation | Young Adults | Young adults must be open to forming relationships and depending on others. |
| 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation | Adults | Adults must feel that their work is meaningful and will have a lasting impact on the world. |
| 8. Integrity vs. Despair | Older Adults | Older adults must be proud of and satisfied with what they have accomplished during their lives. |
Erikson has a model for healthy emotional development that puts human beings into different stages depending on their ages and the major conflict (or identity crisis) in their lives.
A person who resolves these conflicts should have a strong sense of identity. In addition, he is proud of accomplishments, able to form close relationships, and satisfied that life has purpose and direction.
People who do not resolve these conflicts during the appropriate stage may have lifelong social and emotional problems that require therapy and hard work to overcome.
Maslow's Theory of Human Needs for Family Child Care
Maslow's Theory of Human Needs arranges everything that's important to people into a hierarchy; until the basic needs for food and shelter are met, people cannot worry about feeling and addressing higher-level needs like love, self-esteem, or justice.
If a person is able to meet all those needs, he or she may achieve self-actualization, a state of satisfying engagement with life.
According to this theory, children learn to be happy and healthy from the bottom up, by meeting certain basic needs first before they can focus on more complex, higher-level development.
