The Importance of Friendship and Healthy Relationships in a Child's Development

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Friendships are so important. They have always been important; but it seems to be the most important in my opinion. We see how friendships play important roles throughout our life span. Friendships are defined and formed in each stage of life from infancy. These include early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. Friendships grow from one stage to another. During this time friends become closer. Relationships start out as acquaintances and may stay like that for a period of time. An acquaintance is someone you know in passing. You may interact with this individual on occasion or on a regular basis. They are not your actual friend. They don’t fit in within the normal category of a friendship or relationship; just an acquaintance.
The child’s brain will be close to an adult’s weight and volume by the age of five years old. What this suggests is that during the early years information flows through the brains structures and is largely renowned. The brains connection, pathway, and structures are used as learning tools that continue throughout our life.
Infancy and early childhood friendships are based on trust and security. Infants depend on their parents and caregivers for everything. When a baby and is picked up a new connection is made. The baby develops awareness; that when I do this, this will happen. So each time you rub a baby’s back, feed, or walk into a new place new connections are being made. This does not suggest that ninety percent of the information the person will ever know is learned within the first five years old.
Toddlers and infants change and grow quickly; gaining skills in all developmental areas; these include physical, cognitive, and social emotion...

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Into The Depths of The Human Mind: Middle Childhood and Adolescence. (n.d.). Into The Depths of The Human Mind: Middle Childhood and Adolescence. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://intothedepthsofthehumanmind.blogspot.com/2012/12/middle-childhood-and-adolescence.html
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