Cognitive development is something that really starts in the womb and continues to develop from the moment your child is born and into their school years. And while their genes do play a role, your child’s environment, stimulation, and parental interaction have a huge impact on this intellectual development. So do sleep and nutrition.
As your child grows from baby into child, their intellectual skills, and abilities progress to more advanced levels as they get older. This is because as your child interacts with you and the world around them, they are constantly learning new things and picking up new skills. How this childhood cognitive development unfolds is a theory of four stages explained by French psychologist Jean Piaget. Here is a brief explanation of each stage:
This is a stage of dramatic growth and learning that happens over a short period of time. Children not only learn how to crawl and walk, but a lot of their language development happens now too.
The characteristics of this phase are:
This where all the foundational language work laid in the first stage comes to fruition. A child will still struggle with logic and continues to be egocentric during this phase. As they grow older, they start being able to see things from another’s point of view.
During this period:
During this phase, children start to think more about how others might think and feel about things. They also start to realise that not everyone thinks or feels the way they do – that everyone has their own opinion of things. More characteristics of this period are:
In the final stage, a child no longer relies on concrete thinking now, so there’s an increase in logic in this period. They can now also use deductive reasoning and understand abstract ideas. During this phase:
While the process above outlines how cognitive happens, remember that it’s merely an outline. The bottom line is that a child is an active participant in their learning – what they are exposed to adds to their expanding knowledge.
Because they are innately curious about their world, it’s important to provide age-appropriate stimulating, engaging activities and encourage them to explore the world around them. Look out for our next blog on Cognitive Development, where we talk about ways to give your child’s cognitive development a boost.
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