Children need to feel secure in order to trust others and believe in their own competence. Caregivers assist children in developing feelings of security by having physical contact with the children and being responsive to their needs. When caregivers provide a supportive and secure environment for children, the children learn that events are predictable and understand they have control over the environment. If caregivers are hostile or inconsistent, children are likely to become socially incompetent or even aggressive.
Children need to be socially competent to gain self-esteem and develop emotionally. The child's family influences his social competence through interactions with the child and through discipline practices. If a child does not develop social competence, she might become extremely shy or develop maladaptive behavior. Caregivers can encourage social competence by modeling caring behavior, helping children see how their behavior affects others, encouraging responsibility in children, encouraging children to interact with peers and teaching them social skills.
Self-regulation, the ability of children to control their own behavior without caregivers directing them, is very important for children's development. Children who can self-regulate will behave in appropriate ways in social situations, a necessity for them to succeed in school. Caregivers need to provide enough stimulation and predictability in the environment so children will explore and learn. An over-stimulating or confusing environment impedes the child's ability to recognize elements of the environment and to predict and control aspects of it.
Caregivers can encourage children's interest in reading by providing a variety of books and discussing the stories with them. Children who love books and enjoy having caregivers read to them will be motivated to learn to read. Preschool children want to write and they scribble and draw---prewriting---and want to tell people stories about their scribbles. Parents can encourage children to want to read and write by providing writing materials, listening to their stories and interacting with them verbally.