Unlocking the 4 Phases of Educating Children for Intelligent Growth

Every parent wants their child to grow up intelligent. For this purpose, there are several stages of education that need to be optimized according to the child's age.

According to the theory of child development by Jean Piaget, a child's natural cognitive and intellectual development occurs throughout their childhood.

Quoted from Healthline, the child development theory by Jean Piaget states that children play an active role in the learning process and act similarly to scientists in how they experiment, observe, and interact with their surrounding environment.

According to Piaget, children go through four stages of development classified as: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

In each stage, children continually acquire new knowledge, build on existing knowledge, and adapt previous ideas.

Four Phases of Educating Children to Be Intelligent

The education phases depend on the child's age and are characterized by important features of thinking processes. This also includes goals that children should achieve as they pass through specific age stages.

1. Sensorimotor Phase

The sensorimotor phase covers children from birth to 18-24 months. Characteristics include motor activities without the use of symbols. Everything learned is based on experience or trial and error.

The main goal in this stage is for children to build an understanding of the permanence of objects. In other words, knowing that an object still exists even if the child cannot see it or it is hidden.

2. Preoperational Phase

The preoperational phase can be observed in children aged 2 to 7 years, where memory and imagination are developing. Children at this age are egocentric, meaning they have difficulty thinking beyond their own perspective.

The main achievement in this stage is the ability to attach meaning to objects using language or thinking about various things symbolically. This means children have thoughts that a word or object is used to represent something other than itself.

3. Concrete Operational Phase

Children are less egocentric in the concrete operational phase, which usually occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 and is marked by more logical and systematic manipulation of symbols.

The main goal in this stage is for children to start working on various things in their minds. This is called operational thinking and allows children to solve problems without having to face things in the physical world.

4. Formal Operational Phase

Children aged 11 and above enter Piaget's formal operational stage. The milestone in this phase is the use of symbols to understand abstract concepts.

Not only that, older children and adults can also think about various variables and make hypotheses based on previous knowledge.

Piaget believed that people of all ages develop intellectually. However, he also believed that once someone reaches the formal operational stage, the most important thing is to build knowledge, not change how to acquire or understand it.

In conclusion, Jean Piaget's cognitive development theory has helped understand how knowledge develops at different stages of childhood, starting from birth. His philosophy is still used from preschool to high school today. Understanding these different stages can help parents better understand their children and assist in their learning development.