Cognitive Development - According to Jean Piaget (a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"), there are four major stages of cognitive development:
1. Sensorimotor Stage - This stage occurs between the
ages of birth and two years of age. Sensorimotor (infancy): During this stage,
which includes six distinct substages, intelligence is demonstrated through
motor activity with limited use of symbols, including language; the infant’s
knowledge of the world is primarily based on physical interactions and
experiences.
2. Preoperational Stage - The second stage occurs
between the ages of 2 – 7 years. During this stage, intelligence is
increasingly demonstrated through the use of symbols; memory and imagination
are developed as language use matures; thinking is non-logical, nonreversible,
and egocentric.
3. Concrete Operations Stage - Occurring between ages
7 and about 12 years. During this stage—characterized by conservation of number,
length, liquid,mass, weight, area, volume—intelligence is increasingly
demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols relating to
concrete objects; thinking is operational, reversible, and less egocentric.
4. Formal Operations Stage - The final stage of
cognitive development (from age 12 and beyond). During this final stage,
intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to
abstract concepts; thinking is abstract, hypothetical, and early on, quite
egocentric; it is commonly held that the majority of people never complete this
stage.
Emotional
Development - Concerning children's increasing awareness and control of
their feelings and how they react to these feelings in a given situation.
Social
Development - Concerning the children's identity, their relationships with
others, and understanding their place within a social environment
There are many other reformers of education that
have contributed to what early childhood education means today. Although Piaget
had a great impact on early childhood education, people like John Locke, Horace
Mann and Jane Addams contributed a lifetime of work to reform education and
learning in this country. The information presented is a starting point for the
reader to better understand the development of children.
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