Jean Piaget s Influence On The Way We Understand Children

Mildred Parten and Jean Piaget are two theorists that have had great influences on the way we understand children. Piaget constructed the idea that a person’s thinking passes through four stages and as the person grows, their way of thinking changes thus entering a different stage. He emphasized mostly the preoperational stage, which is for ages two to seven years old. In this stage children are seen as illogical thinkers but they do engage in make-believe games by using objects for purposes other than their actual intended use. Between the ages of four and seven, they still do not think logically but they become interested in games that have rules, structure, and social interaction. Unlike Jean Piaget, Mildred Parten did not see types of†¦show more content†¦In the process of picking a subject, one boy stood out to me the most as all the children sat down and listened to a story being read by one of the teachers. The boy was having a hard time paying attention and ke eping calm, which were the things that drove me to observe him. Towards the end of my observation I found out I was observing a four-year-old boy named Brandon. The entire building was split into two classrooms. Based on my observation I assumed that they were split into age groups. Overall, the room and the outside area where my observations took place were nicely organized and family-friendly. The classroom was divided into two sections with different floor types; a wooden floor and a carpet floor. The wooden floor side of the room had multiple designated areas. The biggest area was an eating area which is where the children could have lunch on chairs and tables adjusted to their size. Another area was where the children could wash their hands, this part of the room consist of paper towels, soaps, mirrors, and a sink. To the left of the sink there was a first aid kit with a fire extinguisher. To the right of the sink there was the restroom door, the restroom consisted of multiple toilets next to each other. The restroom also connected to the other classroom. The wooden floor side also had backpack/jacket hangers for the kids along with