Activity:
Discuss:
Discuss:
Chapter 1 Parenting: A Rewarding Choice 23
and play and visit with friends. Through these
interactions, children learn valuable lessons in
sharing, communicating, and compromising.
Need for Moral Development
Loving parents want their children to
become mature, responsible, and happy
adults. For this to happen, children need to
learn to behave in ways that are acceptable to
society and the family. This process, called
moral development, is gradual and reflects
a child’s understanding of the difference
between right and wrong. However, children
are not born knowing the difference between
right and wrong.
Very young children cannot understand
morals. These are the beliefs people have that
help them discern between right and wrong.
Parents can begin this learning by having a
nature preserve, zoo, or museum. Children
tend to imitate their parents’ desire to learn.
As children grow, parents meet children’s
intellectual needs by supporting their
learning in child care programs and schools.
Showing love to children and responding
to their needs is the backbone of good
emotional development. Parents must help
children recognize and name their emotions.
They must teach their children to express
intense emotions that are not hurtful.
From the beginning, parents need to
be social teachers. They encourage social
interactions with babies through the loving
exchange of smiles, cooing sounds, and first
words, and by playing such games as peek-a-
boo. As children develop, they need to share
experiences with family members of all ages
1-9 According to Maslow’s theory, all needs have a certain priority. The needs of one level must be at
least partially met before a person can realize higher needs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Human Needs
Psychologist Abraham Maslow studied how the fulfi llment of different human needs affect thought, behavior,
and personality. He organized human needs into fi ve levels according to priority, with the highest-priority
needs at the bottom. This arrangement is called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs.
Maslow’s theory shows that helping children meet their needs can help make them feel complete. Read the
pyramid from the bottom up. The hierarchy follows this order:
•
Physical needs. Air, food, shelter, water,
clothing, and any other life-sustaining needs
•
Safety and security needs. Feeling safe from
danger and secure in daily routines
•
Love and acceptance needs. Feeling secure
in relationships with family and friends; praise,
support, and encouragement help people feel a
sense of love, affection, and belonging
•
Esteem needs. Self-respect, self-esteem, and
the esteem or admiration of others necessary for
confi dence
•
Self-actualization needs. The realization of a
person’s full potential
Self-
Actualization
Esteem
Love & Acceptance
Safety & Security
Physical