Essay on Child Development

Sequences of development are the order in which children develop; all children follow the same sequence of development but at different rates.

There are many theories into how children develop and how they learn. These are extremely important as they can be applied to modern strategies used for child behaviours. Presently, learning theories are placed into 3 categories:

Many child development centers, preschools, and school programs are passed on Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory. When you combine the theory with teachers challenging a child’s ability without introducing concepts beyond their understand, hands on learning, field trips, art crafts, and games you have the perfect learning program for children.

There are many different theories of development which we use to understand children’s behaviour, reactions and the way in which they learn.

Cognitive development is the term used to describe the construction of thought process, including remembering, problem solving and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. In this essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, both of which were enormously significant contributors to the cognitive development component to/in psychology. In addition to this I will also weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and outline how they can be applied to an educational setting.

Observer visited a play place of a restaurant in New Jersey, Hackensack. Why I have chosen the place is easy to observe every part of child development such as cognitive, social emotional, language as well as physical at the same time. Observer performed the observation on April 28 from 1 pm to 3pm. The child was an Asian boy. He has strait short black hair with dark brown eyes and thin black eye brows. His height looked around 37 inches that he may be a little smaller than other early childhood children. He looks thin and has a full set of teeth inside his mouth, full cheeks, and a small button nose.

Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that young children actively learn from their hands-on, day-to-day experiences. Jean Piaget portrayed children as "little scientists" who go about actively constructing their understanding of the world. His theories hold the essence of developmentally appropriate curriculum since Piaget believed that children undergo cognitive development in a stage-based manner, such that a very young child would not think about things the same way that an adult might. He referred to the knowledge and the manner in which the knowledge is gained as a schema. In order to build on the cognitive stages that children experience, informal learning opportunities, formal instructional sessions, and the utilized curriculum must all dovetail with a child's current cognitive stage so that assimilation of the new knowledge may occur. Working with what the child knows and experiences, parents and teachers create bridges to the next cognitive stage that are characterized by the child's accommodation. Piaget argued that optimal learning took place in this manner and that adults should avoid thinking that they can accelerate a child's development through the age-based, maturity-referenced stages. This is because a child works toward establishing an equilibrium between the assimilation and application of new knowledge and changing their behavior to accommodate their newly adopted schemas.

The success of the Montessori method depends on how the environment us set up, it is essential that it is prepared and simplified for the students’ understanding.

In this assignment I am going to describe a child observation that I have done in a nursery for twenty minutes in a play setting. I will explain the strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observation through the key developmental milestones based in Mary Sheridan (2005) check-list and provide a theoretical explanation to support the naturalistic observation.

Cognitive developmental theory is founded on the idea that children gain knowledge by exploring and influencing the world that is all around them. According to Mossler (2014) “After many years of observing the mental limitations of children, including his own, Piaget came to the conclusion that children of

There are multiple factors in a child’s development. Parents have a responsibility, as well as a privilege, to contribute to every milestone. Most parents stress over physical and mental stages so much so that play-time is ignored. By making decisions that sacrifice play parents hinder their social development. Parents must take action and encourage their youth to play more, before childhood is lost forever.

This semester in Child Development has helped me a great deal. I came into this class wanting to be a Child Development teacher at the high school level. I am leaving this class with the same ambition to become a Child Development teacher. I have learned so much by taking this class and I know it will all be helpful in the future once I am standing at the front of a classroom. Also, just by watching the way Mary teaches the class, I have learned things that I want to take into my own style of teaching.

Educational Implications of Piaget’s Theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is well-known and provides a basic understanding of the cognitive process and how children

From birth through adolescence, a significant amount of developmental changes occur. Children grow and develop physically, cognitively and emotionally. Each individual aspect of development has an effect on the child as a whole. If a child struggles developmentally in any of the areas (physically, emotionally or cognitively), it can affect one of the other areas of development as well. For example, if a child is underdeveloped physically, they may experience emotional development issues because they may be made fun of and teased by other children.

Jean Piaget, a cognitivist, believed children progressed through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. These four major stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational, are marked by shifts in how people understand the world. Although the stages correspond with an approximate age, Piaget’s stages are flexible in that if the child is ready they can reach a stage. Jean Piaget developed the Piagetian cognitive development theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development proposes that a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through four distinct stages. The emergence of new abilities and ways of processing information characterize each stage. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.