Lev Vygotsky's Theory On Childhood Development

Child development is the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in individuals between birth and the end of adolescence. (Wiki) Child development is inevitably altered when obstacles such as mental instability and abandonment arise, ultimately affecting children going into adulthood.

In current educational psychology, both the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have become prominent in an understanding of developmental cognition in childhood (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Karuse, 2013, p. 56). Their theories are complimentary and provide a more rigorous comprehension of childhood development (Shayer, M., 2003, p. 465). Their varying principles are applicable to many situations concerning the development of children. The focuses of Piaget and Vygotsky on the ways of childhood development differ. Piaget was focused on the four developmental stages of cognitive growth in his Theory of Cognitive Development, whilst Vygotsky’s principles were based on development in a societal manner with his

In this writing it will be discussing childhood development, as well as some vital issues that might come along during those stages of development. Child development consist of the stage where the child is developing physically, cognitively, socially and spiritually. During these stages of development a child is maturing from infancy to becoming a young adult. For many years theorist such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky’s have researched how children mature from infants to adulthood. Each of the theorist have profound facts to how children develop, but which of the three men are correct on their findings?

Language Development: Put words together in a sentence and beginning to ask questions (What? Why? How? Who? Where?) can join in well known songs or verses and put actions to words (Row-Row-Row the boat) Could possibly be using several hundred words by 3rd birthday, can scribble and make marks on paper with a crayon.

Vygotsky is a Russian psychologist. Vygotsky is a theorist also he has a different outlook on cognitive development, which he agrees with Piaget about the transition happen from adolescence to adulthood. It gives Vygotsky opinion. Another theorist is Kohlberg theory and outlook on cognitive development is a skill theory which tools are provided for developmental. Kohlerg theory of cognitive development has skill structure which is call levels, it describes what the level consists of. These three theorists share a common idea on cognitive development. Even know the three theorists share a common idea about cognitive development, but they also have a different perspective that affects the cognitive development. It will describe the stages of cognitive development. Piaget is known as one of the most popular theorist he is famous for cognitive development. Piaget was a theorist who study for cognitive development. Piaget develops four stages of growth dealing with cognitive development. Piaget develops the ground work of cognitive development. Cognitive development has four stages and it is known as the formal stage. It will introduce the main elements that will occur in the adolescence and in early adulthood. It will describe three elements that have or will occur in the formal stage.

Vygotsky proposed that children’s development is affected by their culture and social interaction. He also suggested that children are not born with knowledge but they gain it through their social interactions with peers and adults; he does not rule out the importance of biological processes but proposes an interdependent relationship between biological development alongside social activity and cultural interaction.

Child development was largely ignored throughout much of history as children were often viewed simply as smaller versions of adults. It was once researchers recognised the direct effect that development has on individuals that its relevance became important. Childhood development begins from infancy to adolescent and follows a predictable sequence yet progresses through a unique form of growth within each child. Understanding childhood development is essential because it allows us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional and physical growth that children experience, Some of the major theories of child development are Gesell, Piaget, Erikson and Bronfenfrenner.

The zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she cannot do. The concept was introduced, but not fully developed, by psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development)

I interviewed my best friend’s younger brother Ryan who is 11 years old and attends Log College Middle School. During the interview I asked Ryan what his favorite subject was in school to which he replied that it was between English or Social Studies. Ryan also is a “student athlete” and plays in 6th grade basketball. Following Vygotsky’s theory for development, I believe that it fits best within studying in school. I agree with Vygotsky that sociocultural influences do not really have a lot impact on learning skills, it is all internal, not external. For instance, the cognitive abilities needed to excel in these two subjects in school is crucial. Ryan was telling me how much he loved to write freely on his own and creative story writing during English class was his favorite part of the class. Using Vygotsky’s theory, specifically the zone of proximal development, I can easily explain how he was able to acquire this creative writing skill. Whenever he was first introduced to writing or creative writing most likely in elementary school, it was provided by a teacher or some outside source. This support of others, called scaffolding, would be very helpful during this time to make sure he is writing correctly. In stage two in the zone of proximal development he would then learn to assist himself. Vygotsky claimed that private speech is very important to cognitive development. So, for example Ryan talking to himself before writing or typing down a story would help this internalization of developing and bettering this skill. The third stage in the zone of proximal development is internalization and automatic habit formation. Around this stage, Ryan would start to make writing more of a habit, for example maybe he is keeping a journal of creative writing prompts that he writes in every week or so. In stage four, the last stage, of the zone of proximal development is evasiveness as the acquired skill becomes adapted to new situations. As I previously mentioned, his other favorite subject he was torn between was Social Studies. If Ryan successfully uses his creative writing skill to help boost his essays or creative writings that relate to history. Since Ryan has successfully gone through and completed all four of

0-3 years: New born babies start by off by just turning their heads towards soft light. By the age of three months the baby is able to follow moving objects and respond to bright colours and bold images. At six months the baby will start reaching for objects, watching them fall and put things in their mouths to explore. Around the first birthday it can use the hands skilfully and move around, including dropping things on the floor and looking to see where they are. (This is called object permanence, where the child will be aware of an object/person even if it is out of direct visible sight.) It will also be able to recognize familiar people at longer distance (6 meters). Between the age of one and two children enjoy hide and seek games and it will find partially hidden objects. It is able to build towers of cubes when shown, turn pages of books, look at correct picture when the image is named and point to parts of the body, match colours and shapes, do jigsaw puzzles and concentrate for longer. The child starts using objects correctly (drinking from a cup, brushing

A childs development starts from birth, they learn throughout their childhood, growing and developing into adulthood. Their social, physical, intellectual, communication and emotional skills develop and thrive in the correct setting. These aspects of their development are easily remembered by using the mnemonic SPICE. From birth to 3 months old a baby will mostly sleep and eat, but the learning and developing has already begun. When a baby is hungry or needing attention they will cry and at this very early stage consider others as a way of satisfying their needs when it comes to food and drink ect. They start to develop physically with leg kicking, lifting or turning their heads to sound and movement. They become familiar with the faces and

‘Child development’ is the term given to the growth of babies through childhood. Although all children will go through the same stages of development, they will do so at varying speeds. There are five key stages of development that take place during the first eight years of a

Child development refers to the alterations that occur as a child grows and develops. It is what shapes children's future happiness, growth, development and learning in life. Between the ages of three and five, children continue to grow rapidly and start to develop Fine Motor Skills and Gross Motor Skills. As children grow into the early stages of childhood, their world will begin to open up. They will come to be more self-determining and begin to focus more on people, both adults and children outside of your family.

| At birth children start to develop survival and micro reflexes. They learn simple activities like grasping and sucking.At 3 months they learn how to smile and make eye contact. They learn to show that they are enjoying your company. Children learn how to show elements

Human development refers to the processes of change and stability throughout human life. The early stages of development in children are important in their life span. Children in middle childhood are those who are in the age between 6 to 11 years old. Most children in middle childhood start their formal education in primary school. In this stage, they have more opportunities to expose themselves to people and environment they had never known. In general, children in middle childhood are characterized by 3 major domains which are physical, cognitive and psychosocial (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).