THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MOTHERS IN THE MOTOR, LANGUAGE, AND PERSONAL-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Early stimulation plays a crucial role in supporting children's development across various aspects, including gross motor skills, fine motor skills, language, and personal-social development. A mother's knowledge of early stimulation in child development is a vital factor in optimizing a child’s growth. Efforts to optimize the development of preschool-aged children are carried out by meeting their caregiving needs, where parents can provide early developmental stimulation and express love and affection to the child. This study aims to examine the relationship between mothers' knowledge of early developmental stimulation and the development of preschool children. The research is a non-experimental quantitative study using a descriptive-correlational method. The respondents were 60 mothers and their children aged 3–5 years from the community health center n Kajar Village, Gunem Subdistrict, Rembang Regency. The results showed a significant relationship between the level of mothers' knowledge about early developmental stimulation and the development of preschool children aged 3–5 years, with a p-value of 0.004 (<0.05). Parents play an essential role in providing early stimulation to optimize the development of preschool-aged children.