Jean Piaget's Theory Of Child Development

Introduction Child development and growth observation can be quite fascinating considering the uniqueness of each child. As children grow, they normally develop and acquire new skills whether complex or not. The abilities experienced by each child progresses differently that is depending on the nurturing given by the parent or guardian and on the characteristics that they inherit. Proper development and growth of the child occurs when basic needs are provided by the reliable adult guardians including such things as love, food, encouragement, shelter and warmth. The essay evaluates child development and growth through observation conducted by myself on my nephew.

In Piaget’s cognitive stage, children from birth to the age of two go through this stage. In this stage, infants are developing the ability to coordinate their sensory input with there motor skills. An example would be, when kids are playing with toys and put the toys in their month and feel with their mouth. Infants also develop object Permanence. The object Permanence is when a child recognizes that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible.

Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other

Cognition is the study of the mind works. When we study cognitive development, we are acknowledging the fact that changes occur in how we think and learn as we grow. There is a very big difference in the way that children and adults think about and understand their environment. Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a biology student did extensive research work in the area of child development and is attributed with the development of the theory of cognitive development which has played a major role in this field (child development).

Piaget’s theory is based on assisting others until they can help themselves. Piaget goal is to help children learn so that they can become successful as they reach adulthood. Children learn as they experience different things in their environment. This includes playing with toys and using objects that helps them physically. For example, a child who enjoys drawing could

Piaget 's theory of cognitive development is a broad theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. Although it is commonly known as a developmental stage theory, it also engages with the nature of knowledge itself and how individuals get to acquire, construct, and use the knowledge obtained. Piaget state that cognitive development is an advancing reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and experiences experienced in the individual environment. Children build an perception of the world around them, then experience differences between what they have known and what they find out in their surroundings. Apart from that Piaget argues that the concept that cognitive development is at the center of human

Children are able to develop and practise motor skills and bodily movements through physical plays. During some cognitive games, such as board games and educational toys, children can improve their mental fitness and brain function. Play also provides opportunities for children to make friends, to negotiate with others, and to develop their communication skills. It helps extend language and improve children’s social ability. I believed that play is essential to children’s education that cannot be minimized and separated from learning.

Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development 1. Trust versus mistrust From birth to one year of age, infants develop a sense of trust if caregivers provide care, affection, and reliability in fulfilling their basic needs. A lack of adequate provision of these factors will lead to mistrust (Shaffer, 1999). 2. Autonomy versus shame and doubt Toddlers from one to three years old must develop a sense of independence and a sense of personal control over physical skills, becoming able to feed, dress, and go to the toilet themselves.

Cognitive abilities enable children to process the sensory information that they collect from the environment. According to Wood, Smith and Grossniklaus (2012), Piaget defined cognitive development as the progressive reorganization of the mental processes that results in biological experience and maturation. As numerous researchers have explained, children normally undergo many changes from birth to adolescents, most of them being growth related. According to Cook (2005), the changes in thinking is what researchers call cognitive development. In toddlers, cognitive development is observed through the early use of tools and objects, the child’s behavior when objects are moved in front of them and their understanding when objects and when people are in their environment.

Say for example- if your infant is lying on his tummy and has already developed head control, then try hanging a toy a little above his head. In order to grab the toy, your child will be encouraged to back up. Next, he will try to figure out how to take the weight off his hands while keeping his height and slowly learn to sit up. Make sure that you perform this exercise on a cushiony surface, under complete guidance. While this trick is super helpful in motivating some babies, others tend to get bothered and irritated.

The author even note how the children use toys to interact, how they develop friendships in their play, and how they explore gender roles (Gussin Paley, 2000). Also, Mollie believes that fantasy characters and real people all communicate in the same language (Gussin Paley, 2000). Question Two (4 marks) Explain Piaget’s concepts of assimilation and accommodation and how these processes contribute to children’s cognitive development. Describe one example of assimilation and one example of accommodation that Mollie and her friends display. Assimilation as explained by Piaget in Burton et al.

4) offers the following definition for sensory play also known as ‘Messy Play’ by some Early Years practitioners. “Sensory play provides opportunities for children and young people to use all their senses or opportunities to focus play to encourage the use of one particular sense”. The PBS (2013-2015) also recommend that “spending time stimulating children’s senses aids the children to develop cognitively, linguistically, socially and emotionally, physically and creatively” (PBS 2013-2015). Duffy (2004, p, 1) stated that children are “being creative when they use materials in new ways, combine previously unconnected materials and make discoveries that are new to them, and messy play enables children to do all these

Assessment Task 2: Linking theory to practice In the second assignment, you will need to - Discuss how children learn and develop language and literacy skills (in this section you will critically reflect on theories of language development) Babies start out using non-verbal cues as a developing form of communication; these nonverbal cues are meaningful representations like words that are yet to be spoken. Children are constantly learning and developing language skills through verbal and nonverbal forms of communication.

That is why I have given scope with the choice of materials. Children who have a range of materials to choose from can ‘conjure up ideas’ (Key and Stillman, 2009). They go on to say that to have an extensive range of materials is not always the answer, ‘children can be forced to act in more imaginative and purposeful ways’. Croft et al (2001) state that ‘young children have a natural ability for using their imagination’. They go on to say that a mental image is conjured up inside the head, it may not be real or realistic but it is a process of having a new idea that was not recently thought of.

I love children and I find them entertaining and fascinating. For this assignment I decided to do an observation. I completed my observation at Chime preschool, conveniently located on CSUN’s campus. There were eight students, three students were girls and the rest were boys, age’s four to five, at the kindergarten level.