Child Development
“The first essential for the child’s
development is concentration.
The child who concentrates is immensely
happy.”
Dr.Maria Montessori
Periods Of Development
Psychologist,
who have studied children’s growth from birth to university age, maintain that
this can be divided into various and distinct periods. The changes are so
marked-speaking psychologically-that the following picturesque exaggeration in
sometimes used, “development is a series of re-birth.”
We can divide the child’s growth from birth to maturity in
three stages of development.
First Stage:
0-6Years
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It has two sub phases:
0-3years: The Absorbent
Mind which is unconscious .
3-6 years: The Absorbent
Mind which is conscious .
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Second Stage:
6-12Years
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The child has consolidated and established his inner powers and
interested in environment.
|
Third Stage:
12-18years
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It has two sub-phases.
12-15years:Puberty
15-18years:Adolescence
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FIRST STAGE: In the first
stage from 0-6 years, the child’s
personality is formed. There are two sub-phases, from birth to 3 years and 3 to 6
years.
In the first sub phase (0-3years),the child absorbs everything from
his environment unconsciously. It has a mind which is different from that of
the adult. The child has a type of mind that the adult cannot approach, that is to say, there are no schools
for such children. The child constructs his movements, language, intelligence,
memory, emotions and creative faculties unconsciously during the sensitive
period. This sub-phase is a period of construction.
In the second sub-phase (3-6years),the child brings his unconscious
knowledge to the conscious level. This is achieved through movement and
exploration of the environment. The child uses his hands and enriches his
experience. Now the hand has become his instrument of the brain. This sub phase
is a period of consolidation. In some ways the child begins to become
susceptible to adult influence. The child needs freedom to consolidate his
knowledge. The adult’s direct help at this stage may hinder this development.
In order to consolidate his hasty achievements the child’s needs to be placed
in a specially prepared environment i.e, Montessori House of Children. Where he
is set free to choose his own occupations and to become socially cultured,
learns, writing, reading and the number concept, besides many other things. By the
end of 6 years the child’s personality is almost completely developed.
SECOND STAGE: The second stage
from 16-12years is a period of great
stability. It is a period of growth unaccompanied by other changes. This child
is calm, happy and self assured. A being from another planet, which did not
know the human race, could easily take these 10 years old to be adults of the
human race, It is a period of further mental development marked by
strengthening of the reasoning faculty and building up of creative and artistic
skills. The peer instinct develops during this phase. The children seek the
company of their friends more and this helps the social and moral development
of the child.
THIRD STAGE: The
third stage, from 12-18 years, is a
period of so much change as to remind one of the first. It has again two
sub-phases;
From 12-15 years: There is a
transformation in both physical and mental development. It is the end of
childhood and the beginning of puberty. This period is adolescences is marked
by individuality and the child emerges as a social being. He is sensitive to
all facts and experiences which relate to his life. This period is also seen to
be delicate since many psychological characteristics are acquired in the phase.
From 15-18 years: This is the period of exploring more concentrated
areas of interest in depth. There are physical changes also during this period,
the body reaching its full maturity. Man, after 18,is fully developed and no
further marked changes occurs in him. He grows only in age. It is a stage of
development where independence, comes in and the individual enters a new social
life with self-confidence and true knowledge. You may say these divisions are
too arithmetical to be real divisions of life. But the physical landmarks and
parallel mental qualities are clear about the 6th,12th
and 18th years of life. It must be remembered that there are no
exact time limits applicable to all cases. The above periods present averages.
There are oscillations, backwards or forwards, from the average. The
oscillations are individual differences.
There are some
children who at six years of age have a complete replacement of all their milk
teeth. There are others who get their second set of teeth a little later.
Similar individual differences may be observed in the emergence of the wisdom
teeth. The study of the facts relating to each individual is important but as
there are several thousand million individuals in the world the stated averages
forms a useful working basis. The average also is a guide for the study of any
individual case.
The time
limits of the above period are affected not only by individual differences but
also by differences due to sex. There are appreciable differences between men
and women in this manner. Thus the working averages, as already mentioned,
become all the more useful. The time limits of these periods were recognized
from ancient times and acted upon.
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