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Home environment has a great deal of influence over what the child would grow up to be in the society. Parents have much role to play in the upbringing of their children. The children take fathers, mothers other senior siblings and maid-servants as their models. They resemble them in different ways. For better understanding, the way home environment influences children shall be looked into under physical, psychological and social influences.
Shelter
The primary purpose of a shelter is to protect the family from rain, sunshine and cold.
It is the duty of the parents to ensure that their families have good shelter where
children can thrive properly. It is not enough to have the shelter but also to keep
the environment clean. When a child is up to age he or she should be exposed to household
cleaning and other chores of his or her ability. He should be shown the good way of
maintaining fresh air like opening of the windows whils sweeping. He should learn how to
keep different rooms tidy and in order. Proper ways of refuse disposal and hygiene of the
cooking place must be shown to the child that is of age. The correct use of toilet facilities
and how to keep them tidy must also be taught, as the child shows up, he gets to use them and thus
improving his life style and outlook.
Clothing
Children's clothings must be appropriate and must fulil the purpose for which they were
meant, like covering of nakedness, good looks, protection against cold and infections.
There should not be unnecessary fancy on the children's clothes, nevertheless, children
enjoy bright coloured clothes and their choices must be taken into consideration. The
way a child is trained on dressing at childhood would influence his future mode of
dressing. There are ways of dressing which the Nigeria society frowns at, and for one
to be accepted in teh society freely, one has to dress properly.
Food
Food is anythig solid or liquid which when taken into the body, nourishes it and makes
it grow properly. Balanced diet contains all the ingredients needed by the body (
carbohydrates, protein, fat, water, vitamins, roughage). A child must eat balanced
diet in order to grow properly. Giving of alcohol and other food that contain caffeine
is not advisable. Parents should avoid indulging in bad food habits like smoking
and drinking of alcohol when in the company of other children. If the children imitate
such habits, they could be over-indulged in alcohol or smoking; thus making them
misfits in the society. Proper food habits must be shown to the children at home like
washing of hands before and after eating, having good and clean environments for eating
and maintaining good posture and manners when eating.
Personal Hygiene
Cleanliness is next to godliness. Children should be trained early on how to keep the
body clean and neat. The parents should start training their children on personal
hygiene as early as two years of age. They should be helped on how to rinse the mouth
in the morning, how to brush with toopaste or any other safe materials, taking of bath
and application of some soothing cream to the body. Combing or brushing hair, putting
on of clean clothes should also be taught, and as the child grows up he continues to
follow this habit. The parents themselves have to be neat and clean because children
much from what they see, they learn by imitation.
The nails have to be cut low and free from dirts, nail painting is not necessary. The hair should be trimmed or plaited. The teeth must als be brushed or cleaned and kept free from debris.
The children have to be guided on appropriate time to sleep and time to wake up. Regular siesta relaxes children's brain and therefore enhances mental performance. Playful games help the children to be strong physically and mentally. It helps to exercise the muscles and bones. It is also educative to the children. It freshens up children's bodies and they learn adult's role through play. The playground and toys must be safe, durable and educative for the children. Playful games make children perspire and this gives them an unpleasant odour. Children should therefore have some bathe and some soothing powder applied to the body to give them a refreshing feeling and prevent body odour. Any dirty cloth or wet one should be changed to a clean and dry one. Children should not be exposed to cold weather. Warm water is always good to use in bathing children and this will prevent them from catching cold.
For emotional balance, children need love, security, sympathy and understanding from parents. Different children are born with different personalities. Thus parents must assess each properly and treat them accordingly. There are early developers. Corrections or encouragement must be given with understanding. Children build up confidence and good personalities if parent gice them love and make them have a sense of security. Children feel secure when they are convinced of their protection, that is when their needs are met or reassured. Daily guidance on morality which include: respect for elderly people, avoidance of abusive words, envy, protection of other peer groups' property and so on will make them fit in properly in the larger society.
Since children emulate parents much more than othres, parents should show good examples also. If parents are too harsh to each other or to their siblings, the children also will grow up to be harsh in their families and in the society thinking that it is the correct way of life. If a child lives where there are envy and jealousy, he or she will see nothing wrong in jealousy envy. If a child lives in an environment that full of quarrels and fights, he will grow up and find it difficult to live in peace. Therefore care must be taken not to instill poor personalities into the children. The children develop their own personalities as early as possible. They tend to be naughty just to have their own way. This is part of trying to have self-confidence. It is quite normal and parents should be patience and guard the children properly on the right direction in order to build up their will powre later in life.
All children are inquisitive as early as two year old. They ask questions about their surroundings. They try to look at what others are doing and what is there in other peer's boxes. These are also normal; the answers must be educative and true as these questions help to develop the child's mental attitudes. At the beginning of school, parents should understand that it is boring for the child and they must do all possible things to afford the child good health and happiness. Generally, children portray the type of home they come from.
This refers to the type of peer group the parents expose the children to. Parents should be watchful of the peer group behaviour from their siblings and discourage any bad traits while encouraging the good ones. If the other neighbours children have bad manners, association with your children may be restricted or advise your children to show good examples.
The types of social gathering like club, drinking corners, churches, parties and so on, matter a lot in your children's later behaviours. Most children in their later lives, exaggerate the behaviour they learnt in childhood. Some parents blame their children for certain bad behaviours but forget to look inward to themselves to see if therre are not such attitudes in they parents.
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