Cognitive/Social Development of the Elementary Student Essay

Smilansky’s work talked of 6 characteristics of sociodramatic play: Taking on a make-believe role, making believe with objects, making believe with regard to a situation, persistence, language used communicate the context of the play, and interacting socially while playing. Sara Smilansky had four assumptions: “high quality sociodramatic play is related to social and cognitive development

Today’s classrooms are becoming more and more diverse with students that have disabilities and those that come from different cultures. It is important for educators to ensure that their teaching strategies are appropriate for all of the children in their classroom. When it comes to the classroom there can be many cultural challenges that educators will have to address to ensure that all students are growing and developing appropriately. Educators need to make sure that they are capable of addressing each of their

Play is the way children learn and is a word that is used to describe the different activities behaviours that children participate in, this would concur with “Vygotsky’s (1978) social constructivist theory that suggests that play promotes both mental and social development for children” (cited in Goulding, 2016, p16). Early childhood educators such as Froebel and Vygotsky have always promoted the importance of the outdoor learning environment. According to Vygotsky (1978), children learn through interacting with the environment and through social interaction with others. Social constructivist theory, believes play is important for the growth of a child’s cognitive emotional and social development and

According to Lev Vygotsky, in the article Play: The Work of Lev Vygotsky (2017), when children partake in play they are building their language and cognitive development

Development of a Four Year Old Child Works Cited Not Included Enthusiasm in children is like a ripple in the water ... it spreads. ~Anonymous~ The study of child development helps us understand the changes we see as children grow and develop.

Through play, children are also able to form relationships with their peers, therefore developing socially. They are able to “learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills” all of which are important skills in a child’s world as well as the adult world (Ginsberg 183). This is especially prevalent in young school age children, who have had relatively few social encounters without the presence of their parents before entering school. These young children will often make life time friends by sharing a popular treat at snack time or borrowing a color crayon to another child who has broken theirs.

The ZPD was an indication of the students’ ability to understand and learn tasks, according to Vygotsky learning happened within the zone of proximal development (Davey,2014) Vygotsky’s theories mainly focused on the development of cognition by the use of social interaction in children (Davey,2014) Vygotsky 's’ theories suggest that ‘pretend play or make believe play’ within the zone of proximal development, as a lot of make believe play involved the imitation of adults and the grown-up world they see , for example a child putting on heels that belong to their mother and carrying a handbag is imitating the roll or skill of an adult is the child has seen in their life dress as hence, the child is acting out the behavior the child will use when they’re much older. Partaking in different roles to which a child must learn how to self-regulate emotions and behavior in order to participate in the make-believe play allows the child to use his or her skills to be able to

In many cases, “Intelligence is a score on a test that stays relatively static. However, cognitive abilities can be trained and improved (Latham 2006).” As mentioned earlier Piaget describes middle childhood as the time for concrete operational thought, characterized by new logical abilities about direct experiences and perceptions.

Play is such a vital process through which children learn and develop.Play gives children the opportunity to learn, develop and experiment outside the constraints of real life. Through play children gain skills, knowledge and experiences and they get prepared to stand up as a human being and a member of society. But only by playing children do not reach up to that level. At some point of time the adult intervention is required to get the right direction of play.

There are numerous theories of play and countless theorists, from Freud and Spencer to Piaget and Vygotsky, who have studied play in relation to what it is and what it does for the child. This essay will outline the definition and value of play and the importance of how it can foster the child’s learning in regards to these theorists who studied the effects in great detail. It will discuss the how the environments constructed by educators can impact play and the theories of learning relating to the quote “play and learning are inextricably woven together ...” Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2010, p. 5).

Play tests the ability of the children to be able to develop ideas around places and objective. The pretend play assists children in developing important critical thinking and evaluative skills. For instance, the board games tech the children importance concept such as waiting, turn-taking and socialization with other students. Children during play use gross and fine motor skills and react socially to each other. The children thinking what they are going to do and use language to communicate with one another and they respond emotionally to the activities.

The second domain that describes children in middle childhood is cognitive development. Unlike physical characteristics, cognitive development emphasizes on mental development of children. Cognitive development consists of information processing and language (Santrock, 2008). In the aspect of information processing, developments of memory, thinking and metacognition are experienced by children in middle childhood (Santrock, 2008). According to Papalia et al. (2009), the efficiency of working memory of children during this stage improves substantially. This means that they are able to make calculation, organize information into groups, and repeat and reverse at 5 or more numbers that they heard. Besides, children in middle childhood are able to think critically, deeply, and think in different dimension of the task during middle and late childhood (Eccles, 1999). According to the concrete operational stage in Jean Piaget’s theory, operational thinking of children in middle childhood includes four aspects which are logic, decentration,

We know that young children develop social skills through play, and that they develop critical thinking skills and language is enriched and vocabulary increased. Play, especially make-believe play, aids in the child's development of the execution function, which is a key role in the child's ability to self-regulate. The curriculum "Tools of the Mind" approaches learning as socially mediated by peers and focused on play.

The second component in the sociocultural theory is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky believed that any training creates learning processes that lead to development and this system results in zones of proximal development. It's the thought that a child completes a task that he/she cannot do alone, with the help from a more experienced person. Vygotsky also described the ZPD as the difference between the actual development level as determined by individual problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or collaboration with more experienced peers. The result of this process is children become more socialized in the dominant culture and it encourages cognitive development.

Elementary teachers not only introduce their students to the basic concepts of core subjects, they also help pave the path to each student’s future success. Education to become a teacher is long and tedious, and while the income may not be the highest available, watching students develop a new skill or grow an appreciation for learning can be very rewarding. Because there will always be a need for education, even with the recent budget cuts, teaching jobs will always have to be available somewhere.