Learning Healthily as I Grow

Here are the developmental stages of your child and what they hopefully are learning as they grow to adulthood:

Prenatal to 1 year -TRUST is what your child needs to learn.

Create an environment in which your child feels:

* My world is a safe enough place for me
* The people around me are worthy enough of my trust


1 - 3 years - Now your child shifts to learning AUTONOMY.

Hopefully your environment allows him/her to know deeply:

* My world is a nice (enough) place to be
* I am separate from all those around me
* I can do more and more things on my own


3 - 6 years - Time to develop INIATIVE.

Create space in your home to explore and figure out solutions:

* I can make some difference in my world
* I can find ways to solve more of my own problems


6 - 11 years - Time to discover his/her COMPETENCE.

* I really do contribute to my world - I matter!
* Planning and working out my plan makes a difference
* I will become competent in at least one thing that is meaningful to me and some others


12 - 18 years - The IDENTITY years.

These are some of the things your teenager needs to be able to say internally

* I am unique, special, irreplacable and significant
* I increasingly discover who I am, and who I am not
* I make choices as to what I will do, and what I will not do