This is a sponsored guest post.
The first thing to clarify is that all children mature at different rates. There are pre-defined government standards that suggest when a child should be capable of don something. These are not set in stone, children can hit the milestones early or late and it won’t affect their overall development. Research suggests that the brightest kids actually have delayed brain development!
Of course, it’s useful to know the key stages for early childhood education, it will ensure you know when your child needs extra help or a professional assessment. In fact, you should learn the four key stages and make sure that the early education facility you choose is aware of them. Establishments such as early learning Croydon are aware of these and know how to help your child achieve each stage.
- Sensorimotor
This stage covers your child from birth to approximately 24 months old. During this stage, your child will start to learn basic motor functions and coordination. They primarily learn during this stage by interacting with the physical environment.
That means there is a lot of touching which is essential to their development. You can encourage this to help your child develop.
- Preoperational
Potentially the most important stage is the preoperational stage that lasts from two-years-old until they are roughly seven. During this stage, children develop their voice and communications skills. It’s essential that they earn by example, this encourages good communication skills and positive interaction with other people.
Children are not generally logical during this period but they do engage in symbolic play. In other words, they’ll use symbols and objects to represent things, this can be used to help them learn life skills.
- Concrete Operational
The concrete operational stages covers from seven to eleven-years-old. During this period the child will start to develop logic skills and be able to follow the pattern of events. This means they’ll be adept at following conversations and simple concepts, such as how the liquid content of different shaped containers can be the same volume.
- Formal Operational
The final stage occurs after your child is twelve and takes them to a fully formed adult. It’s this stage that most adults should be operating in.
As well as having developed logical skills, your child will now be able to use abstract skills to address hypothetical problems. This ultimately leads to questions regarding their moral, ethicals, and even social standing. The ability to assess themselves and their position in the world allows them to plan for the future and make changes to control their own environment.
It can be the most challenging stage as they are effectively becoming whole. It’s also the stage where they no longer rely on their parents so heavily.
Of course, these four stages are cognitive. Alongside these, there will be physical developments that should be verified, such as growing taller, hitting puberty, and the associated hormone changes.
It can be challenging for a parent to deal with this all by themselves. That’s why the education system is there to back you up, it starts with early childhood education.
