Early Childhood Development: A Review of Integral Components

A child is born with all the potentials and capabilities that are required for acquiring basic human qualities and these are nourished, cultivated and realized over a period of time. Early childhood is a very delicate period of developing and supporting this crude state of the child, which in turn supports building of his self-esteem and confidence in his abilities. This early development of the toddler can be reinforced by providing apt environs for his free movement and associations, having his/her own experiences, developing, nurturing and fostering each dimension of his/her personality, and transferring all his individual potentials to the fullest. A free environment and mindset to act, perform and play with a sense of autonomy, is in harmony with this initial state of the child, and should be the appropriate setting for the early childhood development paradigm. Offering this environment and settings, keeps the innate potentials and capabilities of the child intact and provides the appropriate foundations for these competencies to be flourished. The primary setting for this holistic development and progression of potentials towards perfection needs the establishment of a specific theoretical background, identification of themes and discussion of various aspects to be carried out at first. For this vital and important stage of early childhood development, five inclinations of fit’rat are discussed, as endowed by the Allah Almighty. These are the basic inclinations that are required to be addressed and developed at this initial stage of life, as they lay the foundations for any further development of child’s behaviors and personality, and are the required integral virtues in the upcoming stages of his life.