The Reason I Blog

I encountered writer’s block on my fourth post! (overachiever I am) I was trying to be funny, witty, and current–very difficult for me to pull off!! However, I went back to the reason I pushed for a blog in the first place—People that Inspire Me.

Let me introduce you to Jean Piaget! If you know him I am his biggest fan!

Jean Piaget’s LOVE for his daughters led to his life’s works! His passion towards his work led to a revolution in child cognitive development. Piaget learned through playing with his daughters how a child thinks. A game as: “Which glass has more water” and others allowed him to identify learning stages:

• Sensory-Motor Stage: Ages birth through 2.
• Pre-operational Stage: Ages 2-7.
• Stage of Concrete Operations: Ages 7-11.(in this stage children realize both glasses have the same amount of water)
• Stage of Formal Operations: Ages 11-16.

Piaget described that the first stage has to do with a simple task as a child remembering his Mother. A child comes to recognize his Mother through sight, through smell, and through touch.

I love how he describes the stages through a game of baseball:

• He described ages 2-7 as being egocentric–not in a bad way but children at that stage live their life expecting us to see the world just as they do!
• He described ages 3-5 swinging without looking at the ball, throwing the ball without aiming it in the right direction, and closing their eyes before the catch! (rarely play as a team…each child is doing their own thing)
• 7-10 year olds play by observing others and can throw and catch on cue! They enjoy the teamwork and play well but at this point they have very little understanding on “rules” of the game.
• 11 and 12 year olds play the game with a strong understanding of the rules. Rules can be modified but at this point they know the numbers of players on the team and the function of the players.

I love that he loved children so much that he shared his findings and became such a notable figure in the field of Child Psychology. Piaget’s work has influenced our children’s education all because he was passionate about it.

I read about Piaget when I was in college and was fascinated by his work and the way he approached it. I praise proud parents and it is amazing that through playing with our children so much can be accomplished and learned.

These are the books I read.

Promotional Moral Growth
From Piaget to Kohlberg 2nd Edition
Joseph Reimer
Diana Pritchard Paolitto

A Piaget Primer
How a Child Thinks
Dorothy Singer
Tracey Revenson