Child Development and Daycare, Essay Example

During the first years of life a child learns at an incredibly rapid speed, taking in all that is around him and creating a context for which to understand the world around him and his place in it.  The two major theorists in child development in infancy and toddlerhood are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.  While Piaget believed that the developmental process was defined by age, Vygotsky believed that social setting played an integral part of the learning and developmental process regardless of age.  They differ in theory as to the importance of social setting and its importance in learning and development.  They also differ in relation to how much language influences early childhood development.   To Vygotsky, wherever a child is and who he is with will influence him immensely during these first tender years.  In addition, Vygotsky believed that children learn first, leading to development, so language and being talked to and interacted with will significantly affect their development later in life.  To Piaget, a young child cannot yet distinguish between his inner self and the outer world, so a child at age 8 months would be reacting to the environment around him by conforming it to his inner reality.  The child’s environment would still matter since the child would be using outside stimulus to form a structure for later learning.  He believed children to be more egocentric in this sense.  For a parent who is choosing a daycare, the two theories provide insight into choosing the right space for the child.  There are many considerations that must be evaluated within the daycare.   It is not enough that a daycare is merely safe and clean.  A daycare must address the social, cognitive, and physical needs of the child.

Jean Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory says that children go though four stages of development. The four stages are sensori-motor (birth to two years old), preoperational (two to seven years old), concrete operational (to eleven years old), and formal operational (eleven years old and up).   Piaget said that the first 18 months of a child’s life are focused on sensory-motor and that “during this stage is developed the practical knowledge which constitutes the substructure of later representational knowledge.” (Piaget, 1964) This stage will form a series of structures of the child which are indispensable for the structures of later representational thought.” (Piaget, 1964).  Piaget described the child as ego-centric at this point, not able to distinguish between himself and the outside world.  He is at this point conforming objects in the outside world to meet images in his mind.   In consideration of a daycare, the parents must look for one that employs values and attitudes that will create a positive learning environment, since the child will identify with whom he is with.

For a child of 8 months who is going into daycare, their development in the sensory-motor stage will need to be the consideration in choosing a daycare.  The sensory-motor has six sub stages that the child goes though and child goes though these six sub stages from birth to 24 months old (Bukatko, 2008).  According to Piaget infancy (birth to two years) goes though six sub stages and those sub stages are the following; reflexive activity, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of schemes, tertiary circular reactions, and mental representations insight (Bukatko, 2008). It is though this six sub stages when the child goes from reflecting innate reflexes to symbolic thought. When the child goes though these stages they start by just acting on purely on instincts and involuntary reactions. As they do this, the child is learning about his or her environment and how to interact with it.  He learns to distinguish between breast and a bottle, for example. As the child progress, he or he will become more aware and more responsive to outside world.

An 8 month old child would be in the secondary circular reactions phase according to Piaget.  As the child is becoming aware of things beyond their own body, they will be reacting to outside stimulus.  So having plenty of interesting and colorful toys for the child to play with, as well as positive adult interaction, will be very important to their cognitive development.  The 8 month old child will be moving into the stage of coordination of secondary circular reactions.  Here they will be using what they know to develop new ideas about the world around them.  Having a daycare environment where the child is able to interact and play creatively will greatly benefit the child’s development.  Socially, the child is learning from the people around him.  If he is not getting attention, not talked to enough, or left to cry because the workers are busy with other children, his sense of the world will be one of dissatisfaction, and the development of the child could be stunted.

Both daycares provide a safe and clean environment for the children while the parents are at work, but only the first daycare also addresses the social and cognitive needs of the child.  For a child to learn and develop it is necessary to have positive interactions to guide them and a positive environment that offers stimulation.  The parents should choose the first day care regardless of the cost, because it is their child’s happiness and development that is at stake.

References

Bukatko, Danuta. (2007) Child and Adolescent Development: A Chronological Approach USA: Wadsworth Publishing.

McLeod, S.A. (2007) “Social Developmental Theory (L. Vygotsky) Simply Psychology Online UK: Web Apr. 28, 2010 from http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vygotsky.html

Piaget, Jean. (1951) The Childs Perception of the World. USA: Roman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Piaget, Jean. (1964) Development and Learing. Piaget Rediscovered. Web. Retrieved from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/35piaget64.pdf