Stages of Child Development

Time flies and years feel like days especially when one looks back at the day his or her child was born. Kids grow very fast and numerous responsibilities keep most parents so busy that they hardly have time to observe their tiny tots growing up into fine adults. From an infant to a toddler, from a toddler to an adult, kids actually pass through various stages of development during which they go through a vast learning process that defines their character and personality as grown ups. If we examine carefully, we will find kids always engrossed in a thinking process. It is the nature of kids to observe, think and learn and you will be surprised by the observations that the kids make at times. Their thought processes and way of expressing things is totally different from adults. Jean Piaget believed that children pass through four different stages of development during childhood. This article brings forth the Jean Piaget’s stages of child development for you to understand the growing process of your kid better.

Different Stages Of Child Development

Sensorimotor Period
This is a stage in which infants learn to relate to the environment. The kids in this stage understand their environment by matching their sensory experiences with physical actions. This is a stage of development where the kid learns to touch, feel, listen, smell, shake, taste everything around. This small world of experiences widens when your child learns how to crawl and then walk. This is the most difficult phase for parents to deal with. This stage lasts from the birth of the child till he or she is two years old.

Preoperational Period
The preoperational period of development is the stage that lasts from two to seven years of age and is build up on the learning of the child in the first stage. This is a period when a child collects all the information possible and tries to find answers for all the problems and questions that he or she faces. The child will develop a specific method of thinking and will find it difficult to generalize senses and observations. You as a parent should get ready to answer plenty of questions that your kid will start asking in this period. Here it does not matter whether you give the right answer or not. Your child learns by asking questions and they are actually searching something for themselves in each answer. The memory of children in this stage is actually short lived and they find it difficult to go back in reason and time.

Concrete Operational Period
This is the advanced stage of development in which your child becomes capable of manipulating data mentally. This is a stage in which a child starts processing collected information by means of definition, comparison and contrasting examples. This stage lasts from seven to eleven years of age, and is the stage in which your child functions very matter-of-factly, but at the same time is unable to grasp abstract concepts. In this stage your child will think concretely and will be able to apply logic while processing information. The child will still be under the process of learning to use his or her senses properly. A child in this stage will think literally and will grasp information as it is provided. Children in this stage find it difficult to grasp figurative language and symbols.

Formal Operational Period
The last stage in the development of a child is the formal operational period which begins around the age of eleven and continues until adulthood. In this stage your child will move up from concrete rationalization to a more abstract way of thinking. The child becomes reflective to things and surroundings and his/her thinking will no more be restricted by elements of time and space. This is the stage where your child will develop cognitive abilities.