How do children think? | Family

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How do children think?

Written by Laurence

Monday, 16 February 2009 11:22

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The way in which children think and approach their day to day life is the product of thousands of years of evolution.

Key to understanding how children think and learn is the understanding that they use play and experimental play to build upon their knowledge. Every object that they touch they will investigate and use to help themselves better understand the world around them.

Play may include:

hitting objects against each other to see what happens
running hands over the object to see what it feels like
using the object to better understand how their own body works - this is especially the case for younger children
copying what adults do with an object to better understand how it works - this is very evident in how a child plays with a telephone

As a child experiments and learns they will build upon what they have already learnt to continually enlarge their understanding of the world around them and the people within it. They will link each individual learning together where appropriate to make more sense of the world they inhabit.

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In order to feel safe to learn and grow, children need to feel that they are loved and in security with their parents. This is the heart of the concept of Attachment Parenting.

A child that is loved will not have to worry about their security and will have a lot less stress. This means that they'll have a lot more mental energy to learn and grow.

As a child learns more, they will start to go further and further in their investigations. This may mean touching new objects, going to different locations or trying to climb the stairs. To feel secure and able to go there they need to know that if they fail they will have the love and support of their parents.

It's quite common for children to advance in their capabilities, but then regress for some time. For example a child may decide to stop wearing diapers / nappies for a few days but then decide that he needs them again for a few more days before they feel comfortable to leave them again. As a parent you need to provide this safety net and support your child.

Every child is different, but understanding how they think and learn can help you both live a calmer more zen life and allow your child to grow to his fullest capacity.