Our
children are born learning. They attempt to store
all the things that happen to them into some type
of logical form.
The Webster dictionary
defines learning as gaining knowledge, gaining
an understanding, or gaining a skill. In broader
terms, learning is defined as a lasting change
in behavior because of an experience or a practice.
We have to be very careful then in teaching our
children because it can permanently affect their
behavior.
Stages
of Child Development
Children
are thinking machines. If you observe your child
closely, you will realize that their thought patterns
are very different from the way we think. They
express their thoughts and in very different ways.
Jean
Piaget believed that children go through four
basic stages of development during childhood:
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational,
and formal operational.
1.
Sensorimotor Period
In
the sensorimotor stage, infants develop an understanding
of their environment by matching sensory experiences
with physical actions. Here, the child learns
to experience his environment. He looks, touches,
feels, listens, shakes, smells, and tastes everything
in sight. "Here" is this child's sense of space
and "now" is his sense of time. When he learns
to creep, crawl, and walk, you better watch out
as his world becomes much wider. He is now beginning
to explore his environment using his senses as
well as physical actions.
Many
parents find this phase very difficult for them
because they now have to start dealing with things
such as guidance and protection. The sensorimotor
period lasts from birth until two years of age.
The mode of learning in the first phase of child
development continues through adolescence, but
becomes less sharp as the years pass by.
2.
Preoperational Period
In
the preoperational stage, children build on what
they learned in the sensorimotor stage by expressing
words, images, and drawings. This lasts from two
to seven years of age. In this phase, the child
is preoccupied with collecting information. They
then try to figure out how to solve problems.
In this phase, your child now thinks in specifics
and finds it very hard to generalize what he senses.
For a child, a ball is something that he throws,
not something that he uses to play with.
The
preoperational stage is the period when your child
asks a lot of question repeatedly. He actually
learns by asking questions. In general, it does
not matter whether your answer is real or not;
young children do not real answers to their questions
at this point in time. When your child asks why
you have flowers in the garden, he only wants
to know what it is for him to play in. Your child
needs no technical answers.
Children
two to seven years of age judge everything they
see or feel or experience on the basis of "me".
I don't like it. Give it to me. It does not affect
me. They also are incapable of going back in reason
and time. Children in this stage generally forget
what has just happened.
3.
Concrete Operational Period
In
the concrete operational stage, your child can
now manipulate data mentally. He gathers information
and begins to process this information by defining,
comparing, and contrasting it. He develops the
ability to reason logically in the context of
specific or concrete examples. Your child in this
stage functions very matter-of-factly, but does
not yet grasp abstract concepts. This stage lasts
from about seven to 11 years.
If
you ask your child, "Why does it rain?" his likely
answer would be: "Because there are showers behind
the clouds." On the other hand, a child who thinks
concretely would think a little more and his likely
answer would be something like this: "Because
God is intelligent and he made those clouds just
so children could play in the rain."
An
operational child who thinks concretely can process
information logically. While he still learns using
his senses, he no longer depends on just them
to learn. The child is now thinking. In teaching
children in this age group, the teachers should
begin their lessons at the concrete level, then
gradually head to a more generalized level.
For
example: Statement: Jessica is a very nice girl:
The teacher would first tell about what Jessica
did to be very nice. (Concrete)
The
teacher then would talk about how Jessica went
about being very nice. (Less concrete and more
general)
Finally,
the teacher would teach that Jessica is very nice.
(General concept)
A
concrete operational child thinks very literally.
In other words, your child will absorb everything
you teach, do, and say at face value. Green is
green and YELLOW is yellow. In this stage, your
children will have a hard time understanding figurative
language and symbols.
4.
Formal Operational Period:
The
final stage is called the formal operational stage,
and it begins at around 11 years of age through
adulthood. In this stage, your child transitions
from concrete rationalization into more abstract
thinking. His thinking is not restricted to time
and space anymore; the child now is now more reflective
on things. He now also hypothesizes and theorizes.
In
this period, you need to help your child develop
his cognitive abilities. There are six types of
cognitive abilities:
1.
Knowledge of facts and principles - how your child
memorizes names, dates, words, and definition.
2.
Comprehension - how your child understands ideas
and facts.
3.
Application - what your child needs to know and
how he applies principles, procedures, and rules.
4.
Analysis - how your child learns to branch out
concepts.
5.
Synthesis - how your child puts information or
ideas together.
6.
Evaluation - how your child judges the value of
gathered information.
Learning
Factors
1.
Children hardly ever learn in isolation.
2.
Children learn most effectively when they interact
with other children of the same age group.
3.
Peer relationships, motivation, and child-teacher
communication are factors that influence learning.
4.
Other factors include socio-cultural norms, emotional
situation, environment, and physical setting.
In
general, as your child becomes older, his capability
of learning improves. This suggests that, as parents,
you should be more responsible in guiding him
to handle his new found capabilities.
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