Working mothers’ perception on the socio-emotional development of their children age 4-6 years

Abstract

Young children learn socio-emotional skills such as managing emotions, collaborating with others, and following directions during their first few years of life. These capabilities serve as a basis for the development of literacy, numeracy, and other intellectual abilities that are necessary for academic and personal success. Nurturing and responsive connections with family members and other caregivers, specifically those who provide care in early learning settings, are essential for positive social and emotional development (Palmer, 2019). This research ventured to explore the working mothers’ perception about the socio-emotional development of their children in the early years (4-6). Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion. The study revealed that working mothers have the understanding of socio emotional development and they also understand the importance of socio emotional development of their children. Working mothers less time that they get to spend with their children has both positive and negative effect. Children struggle with working parents’ busy schedule due to lack of mothers’ time to spend with their children and their children do not feel emotionally connected with the working mothers and this leads to their children behaving rude, feeling depressed, tired and stressed. On the other hand, children were found to be happy when they can spend time with their mothers, when they get along with other children and even when they get engaged with extracurricular activities. The responsibility to build these skills among the children should be a combined responsibility where family and society should work together.