When I first heard of Julia Gabriel‘s parenting workshop on ‘Developing Your Child’s Social & Emotional Awareness’, I thought, “Oh yeah, Lauren is really shy around strangers. I wonder why?”. Turned out, these areas of development are far more encompassing than I had initially thought.
Social and emotional skill is one of the 3 pillars of children’s development. To read about the other two pillars, go here
Very often, social and emotional development in children is overlooked by parents. Today’s society tend to place more emphasis on academic success. But you know what? Social skills and emotional development are the very foundation of all other areas of development (cognitive, motor skills and language development). Think about it. Children who feel good about themselves and able to express their ideas and emotions are more likely to speak better and learn faster.

Unfortunately, as much as we like to say how a baby is just as calm/friendly/shy like his or her parents, children are not born with social and emotional skills. It is nurtured. It is known as character strengths which parents can start to build right from birth.
So how do we support our children social and emotional growth? Find out more in this video:

“There is no success without emotional success.”


On a side note, I fully recommend Julia Gabriel Centre’s parenting workshops. After every session, Nick and I came home feeling more confident, armed with invaluable tips from Julia herself. To find out when the next session is, contact them here.

This is part 3 of a 5 blogs series on how to support babies development most effectively
Part 4: Developmental activities for 0-6 months baby.