Development of Parenting Skills - Paper Example

Parenting can be considered as one of the tough tasks that an individual has to undertake. It entails the development of knowledge, roles, skills, experiences and resources as well. Parenting issues are similar for those with challenging problems and those without as well. One of the vital elements of parenting is to develop good communication with children and the entire family. In this way, a child will be in a position to influence and even learn from other parties (Knapp, & Jongsma, 2010).

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One of the ways of developing parenting skills is to interact with other parents. Listening to the experiences of other people can be quite efficient and act as a guide to come up with the required skills as well. Moreover, it is also encouraging. Observing others has further been pointed out as a way of enabling people to learn about parenting. Individuals, in this case, can be parents, friends or other adults who are around a kid and are parenting. These stakeholders are quite useful especially when one is growing up as they will gain one or two things on parenting (Kail, & Cavanaugh, 2015). People who are in the life of an individual usually go through various experiences that one may not be able to handle. In the process of observing, one may then gain valued intuition and understanding (Leifer, & Fleck, 2013). Children who usually undergo poor parenting from their parents can look up to others and learn as they continue to grow.

Practical or good parenting skills are described as being responsible for the provision of children in an emotional, intellectual and physical manner. The most relevant are the delivery of the physical aspects concerning the essential elements which are a home, clothing, and food. On the other hand, the intellectual needs are also significant to excellent parenting skills. The provision of a peaceful environment is necessary for children as well as being imparted with ethics in the right manner (Riley, Scaramella, & McGoron, 2014).

The development of parenting skills can further be obtained from various media, books, and experts as well. These sources can be a useful and efficient way to recall the skills acquired once a person becomes a parent. They can further be utilized as a point of reference when one is parenting (Knapp, & Jongsma, 2010). Children are mirrors that enable a person to learn from them concerning the actions they undertake as they are growing up. When they portray individual skills, a parent can then reflect, learn and improve.

Subtopic 2

Parental values and attitudes that accompany stages in the development of a child

Parents require various values, and even beliefs as their children are going through the development stages. There is the aspect of understanding whereby they need to comprehend different behavior that may be displayed by their children. These are such as throwing tantrums and being rude. Additionally, parents need to have a high self-esteem as it will initiate the same in their children (Schneider, Attili, Nadel, & Weissberg, 2012). Being honest is relevant as it will develop among the kids as they grow. Moreover, honesty will encourage the children to be open on issues that they may be facing such as peer pressure that may make them engage in drug abuse (Roman, & Pinto, 2015). Positive values and attitudes will result in children who are self-disciplined and have high moral standards as well.

Subtopic 3

Methods of effective guidance

Various strategies can be applied to guide children in an efficient manner. One of these is knowing and understanding the child. An adult will be in a position to guide a child once they listen, learn and observe them as well. Furthermore, they should also be in a position to comprehend the interests, temperament and various styles of conducting actions such as reading and interacting. Acknowledging what a child does or even says will also pave the way for corrections to be performed thus giving effective guidance (Gordon, 2016). The feedback that is more accurate is also an effective way of guiding a child. Instead of giving general comments, children should be informed in a more precise way on where they have gone wrong or right. Respect to a child is a method that will enable them to know that they are being guided and not punished. As such, a parent, guardian or adult can undertake actions such as looking into their eyes in a kind manner or moving to them instead of calling them to address an issue. Natural and logical consequences can further be utilized for effective guidance. A natural consequence is when an action happens, and the outcome is left to guide the child. On the other hand, logical consequences are the natural ones that are perceived to be logical. Being an active listener will also support non-verbal and verbal messages and enable them to be concrete (Miller, 2015). In this way, a two-way form of communication will also be developed between the adult and child.

Subtopic 4

Role of Discipline; Similarity and Difference of Punishment and Discipline

Discipline plays a significant in the development of children. It enables the right rules to be taught. In the process of disciplining, it is necessary for an adult to consider the safety of the method being applied. There is also the aspect of encouraging the right behavior among children when discipline is passed on to children. Operative parenting entails disciplinary procedures that are aimed at increasing desirable behaviors. There are critical parts of control that involve assisting children in learning the right behaviors. These are such as meeting the expectations of parents, supporting them to develop a sense of self-discipline and resulting in the form of positive self-regard (Innes, 2011). Children may develop behavior that is inappropriate. Nevertheless, by punishing them, it discourages this conduct. The provision of the right learning environment and the right example is also enabled through discipline (Dobson, 2014).

Punishment and discipline have similarities and differences. They are different in that punishment is employed to scold a person for conducting an illegal action while discipline is applied to prevent an action that us unlawful from recurring. Discipline is thus a positive method of teaching children the values of confidence, self-control, and responsibility. It also encourages the right behavior in children. Additionally, punishment focuses on mistakes done in the past and does not give a lot of options to assist the child to behave in a better way presently and the future (Innes, 2011).

Subtopic 5

Constructive and Destructive elements in parenting styles

Constructive items in parenting styles entail positive attributes that contribute to the active growth and development of a child. It may further involve the conversion of negative practices that are exhibited in the environment of a child being converted into positive elements. On the other hand, destructive elements in parenting are activities that may hinder the efficient development of a child. They may be in the environment or undertaken by parents and thus imitated by children (McCoy, George, Cummings, & Davies, 2013).

Categories of Parenting Styles

Parenting is considered a form of personal practice that is based on the mind of the parents. The style of parenting depends on the whole distinct behavioral patterns that have an effect on the development of children mentally. Parents usually apply various styles of parenting. There is the authoritarian parenting where parents set the rules and regulations that must be followed by children (Frost, 2010). If a child fails to follow these rules, they are punished. It is considered an unproductive and even closed way of parenting (Grant & Ray, 2010). Children can thus not question the authority of their parents, and there is no advice of explanation given to the children.

There is also the authoritative parenting that is more tolerant as compared to authoritarian. It can be related to the democratic approach of management and training. In this case, parents still have the authority, but they are tolerant of issues that may be raised by children. Moreover, it is considered to be a responsible form of parenting and does not use punishment. Children are groomed to be accountable and thus does not establish authority (Frost, 2010).

Parents are more lenient with the permissive form of parenting and thus do not offer many disciplines. Misbehavior displayed by children may result in few consequences since there is a sort of mentality among parents where they consider kids to be just kids. The role of the parent in the life of the child may thus be considered to be friendlier. Children who are brought up with this style of parenting usually have more problems with behavior due to the inability to appreciate the rules and authority. Additionally, they often have low self-esteem and may even report a significant degree of sadness (Grant & Ray, 2010).

Subtopic 6

Challenges to Responsible and Effective Parenting

Being the primary caregiver means that an individual is the most significant person the life of a child. Kids are bound to imitate the actions displayed by their parents or caregivers. They will thus emulate the positive and negative attributes shown by their parents. The actions of parents thus have a greater impact on the children as compared to words. It is thus a challenge and responsibility (Callahan, 2011). Consequently, parents need to be the kind of figures that they want their children to grow and become and this can be challenging for some of the caregivers. They further need to fulfill themselves through their work, relationships, and activities. By parents following their interests and even lives in an active way, they will be acting as the role models for their kids (Celio, 2011).

Parents also face a challenge in disciplining and socializing their children. Some of them do not understand that disciplining entails guiding children and helping them to develop into people who are likable, decent and capable of surviving in the social environment. Moreover, they may also lack ideas on traits that they admire and even values that they wish to cultivate in their kids. This thus makes it hard for them to bring up their children in an efficient manner (Callahan, 2011).

Pregnancy and Birth: Stages in the Life Cycle

Subtopic 1

Pregnancy as a stage of human development

Every person has been considered to begin developing before they are born. This is at the moment of conception. The embryo is thus a human being that from the period of fertilization as a result of its human chromosomal composition. On the other hand, the zygote is the beginning of a developing human being. Pregnancy further entails the determination of gender which is done at fertilization. A chromosome from the sperm of the father defines if the child is female or male. There is also the aspect of heredity that is determined at fertilization by information that is found in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). It entails the determination of coloring of the eyes, skin, hair as well as the sex (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2016). The development of human beings during pregnancy also leads to various changes in the body of the mother. These are metabolic, anatomical and physiological changes.

Human life is also protected during pregnancy. The embryo usually develops a fluid that is protective which then surrounds and cushions the developing body to prevent any form of injury. The development of a person begins by twenty-five days from fertilization. It continues to grow, and the various body parts also start to develop. There is also brain function and movements that occur as well. These advances up to when the c...