Protective Factor: Knowledge of parenting and child development

It doesn’t take long to figure out that your parenting changes as your child grows. When you think about what you did as a parent of a newborn, think about how different it was from what you did with your one-year-old; and what you are doing today with your toddler.

When you understand your child’s developmental stage and provide the right kinds of support and nurturing, you are building a stronger family—and child. There are many sources of information about child development and parenting—check with your local librarian!

Here are some questions to ask about your toddler:

• Thinking about your toddler, what have you learned about child development that helped you as a parent?
• Thinking about your own parenting, what are the things you do very well as you parent your toddler?
• What might you want to work on to make it easier for you and better for your child?
• How does your understanding of your toddler’s development helps you to provide the right kind of guidance for your toddler?

Here are some questions to ask about your two-year-old:

• What do you like best about your two-year-old?
• What has surprised you about your toddler’s development?
• What is harder about parenting a two-year-old compared to an infant?
• What do you do as a parent to promote your toddler’s development?
• When you have a concern or question about your toddler or your parenting, who or what do you rely on for information and guidance?
• In what ways does understanding your own parenting style, strengths and practice (behaviors) influence how you support your toddler’s learning and development?

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