What do you need to know about your child's development stages? Young children have developmental needs that cannot be met except by interaction with others. Children need a peer group of same-age children because every child must learn how to get along with their peers. This social skill cannot be learned from books; it requires actual experiences with other children.

Children must learn how to interact with adults. Learning to get along with one's own parents, while a great accomplishment, is not enough. The child also needs exposure to the many other grown-ups of different ages, personalities, and backgrounds who live in the world. Children must learn how to gain approval from, and avoid the disapproval of, a variety of people.

Children also need exposure to play experiences other than the ones they have at home. They need to play with toys in the presence of other children to learn about sharing. They also need lots of space to run around in, again in the presence of other children, so they can engage in what is called "rough-and-tumble play". This is the same kind of play you see in a litter of puppies who roll all over each other, growl, and pretend to be fierce but nobody gets hurt. Such play is crucial to the motor and social development of all young mammals, including humans.