The development of an individual starts right from the birth
and continues to the adulthood. An individual can reach the apex of his
potential and caliber only when the childhood development is successful. In the
real life, you might have seen someone in your neighborhood struggling due to
lack of development in the early childhood. Researchers call it the critical
age.
This is called critical age because the human brain in this
age is strongly adaptable to new things. The brain quickly grabs what the body
touches, hears, tastes, sees, smells and feels.
During decades of research, many times it is shown that the
brain undergoes some permanent changes that will assist in the future
functionality. Therefore, the overall development is necessary for this critical
age. However, learning or development is possible only in the presence of
adults. In nurseries and preschools, it is the responsibility of teachers to
ensure the overall development of children. And, it is the responsibility of
parents to find the right nursery school for kids in Dubai.When parents are exploring a Dubai school list, they have to make
sure that the teachers are qualified and capable enough.
The overall development of a child is divided into following
five domains:
- Cognitive
- Physical
- Social
- Communicative, and
- Adaptive
development Jean Piaget have defined following four
stages of cognitive development.
The Sensory motor Stage
This is two years long stage that starts with the birth.
During this state, the baby learns through manipulating objects and sensory
experiences. It learns to see different objects as different entities. The
ability to attach names and words to objects is developed in this age as it
learns to build mental pictures of objects. The baby learns to process the
information received from senses and begins movements of limbs and muscles.
These developments are also called ‘action schema’.
The Pre-Operational
Stage
This stages starts at the age of 2 years and ends at 7. Kids
in this stage learn to process thoughts but struggle with logic. The dictionary
is expanded in this stage. They consider things from their own perspective
only. They believe that everybody in the world shares the same perspective.
The Concrete
Operation Stage
The stage expands from the age of 7 to 11. In this stage,
the thought processing becomes mature, rational and more operational. This
happens when the child begin to think logically. They start thinking about what
others feel and think. They now know that their views and thoughts are unique
and different from others.
The Formal
Operational Stage
This is the stage of adolescence, from 15 to 16. Logic,
reasoning and the understanding of abstract ideas is increased. When they
encounter a problem, they think about all potential solutions to the problem.
In simple words, they learn to think scientifically.
A child needs a strong foundation for bright future and this
foundation is laid in early age.