Module 6 2.3
Characteristics of the pre-schoolers to keep in mind (Piaget’s theory)
Introduction Piaget theorised that children acquire three kinds of knowledge as they grow up. a) Social-conventional knowledge – information that society has agreed on and that is learned directly through social transmission.
b) Physical knowledge – information children gain by using objects in the real world. Information about the quality of things and what they do.
c) Te third kind of knowledge is developed in the mind of the child as she thinks about objects. Piaget calls this logico–mathematical knowledge. Te ability to reason enables children to develop ideas of relationships between objects, e.g. what it is that items in a group have in common. Tinking and reasoning is learnt. Tey can learn to think with symbols and deal with abstractions.
Te pre-concept phase (birth – 3 years) Te child is learning to understand the present and realness of situations. Te behaviour commonly associated with this phase consists of sub-stages that move from reflex to intentional activity, involving cause and effect behaviour. Te child interacts directly with the environment.
Te child’s whole being is always busy exploring. Play is very important because the discoveries that the child makes are used in play, for example: Te object’s appearance will determine the activity; a ball will be rolled. He can only observe one variable of an object at a time, usually the one that can be observed visually. He cannot connect variables.
Te pre-conceptual child finds it difficult to understand that objects have more than one quality and can be used in more than one way.
His information is mainly obtained from his sense of touch.
Intuition phase (4 – 6 years) “Most important for these children is their widening social interest in the world around them. Repeated contact with other children reduces egocentricity and increases social participation.” (Gallahue, 1975)
Tis stage is at the beginning of true cognitive development. Verbal reasoning starts to replace reasoning through movement. Te pre-schooler starts to generalise experiences and does not have to experience everything to accept it. Some can distinguish between leſt and right, but they do not have the internal awareness of leſt and right. Pre-schoolers of this age can count, but the comprehension of quantity is still vague. Language development is important at this stage. Te pre-schooler’s play also undergoes a change. Play is more social, although egocentricity is still there. Te pre-schooler is now capable of taking others into consideration and understanding their needs.
Te behaviour commonly associated with this stage includes: 1. Te child thinks about his actions. 2. Te child uses imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental images and language to deal with experiences.
3. Te child understands verbal communication. 4. Te child uses play to assimilate reality. 5. She sees things from her own point of view. 6. Tere is an intense curiosity about the world. 7. Te cognitive development is busy laying foundations in preparation for the next stage.
96
FutureManagers
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176
