It’s no secret that parenting can take a lot out of you. You’re responsible for another human being and constantly bombarded with messages about what and how they should be doing things.
The ideas behind child development are often confusing, but the truth is you can understand them with a little guidance. That’s why Pathfinder Health, the only app on the market that empowers you to effectively track your child’s development against CDC and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) clinical guidelines, identify concerns, and provide data-driven inputs to your primary care provider, created their PROE framework to help parents help their kids grow into happy adults!
What is The PROE Framework?
Pathfinder Health believes that the key ideas of most well-known child development theories can be placed into one (or more) of 4 main concepts: Play, Relationships, Observation, and Experiences, which they call the PROE framework of child development.
- Play allows children to explore their creativity, practice new skills, and develop a sense of self. It also helps them to build social skills and learn how to cooperate with others
- Relationships with others help kids develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Interpersonal skills involve being able to interact with others. Intrapersonal skills involve being able to understand and manage one’s own emotions.
- Observation Kids learn a lot by watching. They watch what people do, and then they try to do the same things. They also learn from seeing how people interact with others and with the world around them.
- Experiences Children use all of their senses: they see, hear, smell, touch, and taste things in order to learn about their surroundings. It is important to provide your child with a variety of different experience
The framework was designed by Pathfinder Health’s clinical team of developmental & behavioral pediatricians, child psychologists, and physical and occupational therapists in collaboration with several other pediatricians and developmental specialists.
There are many benefits to using the PROE framework of child development.
First, the PROE framework is comprehensive and easy to understand. The PROE framework is not intended to replace existing child development theories. Rather, it is meant to provide one simple framework for thinking about and incorporating the key ideas of these theories.
Second, the PROE framework can be used to support children’s development in all areas of their lives. This includes their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.
Third, the PROE framework is flexible and can be adapted to meet the needs of any child. No matter what a child’s individual needs are, the PROE framework can be used to support their development.
Fourth, the PROE framework is easy to use. Parents can use the framework to identify areas where their children may need additional support and ensure they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
No matter how it is used, the PROE framework is a powerful tool for supporting children’s development.
Now, let’s dive into each section.
Play
One of the most important things for parents to understand is that play is essential for healthy child development. Play allows children to explore their creativity, practice new skills, and develop a sense of self. It also helps them to build social skills and learn how to cooperate with others.
While it may seem like children are just having fun when they play, they are actually doing a lot of learning. Through play, children can experiment with different roles and try new ways of thinking and behaving. This helps them understand the world and figure out who they are and what they want in life.
Play is so important for child development that the United Nations has declared it a fundamental human right of every child.
Next time your child is off playing, remember that they are doing something vital for their development. So make sure to encourage your child to play and provide them with plenty of opportunities to do so. It will make a huge difference in their development!
Relationships
Building relationships with others helps kids develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
Interpersonal skills involve being able to interact with others. This includes things like taking turns, sharing, and cooperating.
A child’s relationship with their caregiver is especially important for their social, emotional, and language development. This relationship helps children feel safe and secure. It also provides them with a sense of trust and stability.
Intrapersonal skills involve being able to understand and manage one’s own emotions. This includes things like recognizing one’s own feelings, setting goals, and managing stress.
When children have strong intrapersonal skills, they are more likely to be successful in school and in their careers. So make sure to encourage your child to spend some time alone every day!
Observation
Kids learn a lot by watching. They watch what people do, and then they try to do the same things. That affects their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Allowing your child to watch you talk, cook, clean, or work on a project gives them a chance to see how adults interact with their environment. It also provides valuable lessons in cause and effect; as they watch you complete a task, they can begin to understand how their actions can affect the world around them.
When kids see someone being kind and helpful or mean and abusive (to them or to others), they might copy these behaviors. It’s important to be careful about what you do in front of your kids, because they will learn from your behavior.
In addition, observing the surroundings can help children develop important critical thinking skills. As they take in new information, they will start to ask questions and form hypotheses about how things work. This process of active learning will help them grow into well-rounded, inquisitive adults.
Experiences
Children use all of their senses: they see, hear, smell, touch, and taste things in order to learn about their surroundings.
It is important to provide your child with a variety of different experiences. Try to expose them to new things, places, and experiences on a regular basis and encourage them to explore the things around them.
And remember, a lot of things that you might view as misbehavior are really a part of a learning process for your child. So it’s important to let them explore and make mistakes!
The Takeaway
It is important to remember that child development is a lifelong process, and every child will grow at their own pace. There is no one-size-fits-all theory when it comes to child development.
You can do many things to support your child, such as providing a safe and loving home, encouraging positive relationships with others, allowing them to get a lot of play time, and helping them establish strong self-esteem.
By following the Pathfinder Health PROE framework, you can balance your efforts to support your child correctly and easily. And don’t worry if you don’t have everything figured out – download the Pathfinder Health app to get access to 500+ evidence-based developmental PROE activities.
But if you are worried about your child’s progress, don’t hesitate to take advantage of Pathfinder Health’s clinical screening tools – they will reassure you that everything is going well or point out if there are some concerns. And the best part is – they are FREE.
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