Chapter 6 Journal Entry

Reflection on chapter
This chapter discussed the psychological states children pass through. Piagets
theory was discussed along with others. Piaget distinguished knowledge that
children acquire into three categories: physical, logical-mathematical, and social
knowledge. Of Piagets theory cognitive development was shown in various stages:
Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.
I cannot relate the stages of cognitive development to my job because I am not a
teacher. However, I can compare it to the developmental stages of my son. My son
is 8 1/2 years old. He is my only child and was adopted him at birth. It has always
been interesting watching him learn and grow because I really did not know what to
expect. When he was diagnosed with ADHD at age 7, his pediatrician mentioned
she thought he was slightly delayed in some learning areas and was slightly
immature for his age. I could not see where she was coming from, but as he has
gotten older and matured some I can see that his development was slightly slower
than some of his fellow classmates. He is extremely smart but would get frustrated
very easily. I can really relate to the Preoperational stage of cognitive development.
Daniel always had trouble seeing other peoples points of view. He could only focus
on one area of a problem. However, he is much different now. Even since summer
vacation began, I can tell a huge difference in his development. He has matured
very nicely this summer. He is less argumentative and is trying to please more. I
do believe he is on target for the Piagets Concrete Operational stage at his age
now. He can reason much better now than he could during his 1 st grade year. I am
looking forward to 3rd grade as he continues to learn more and progress in his
studies.
Web site link
http://www.lpch.org/diseasehealthinfo/healthlibrary/adolescent/cogdev.html
This web site discusses the stages of cognitive development. These stages of
development are when children develop their abilities to reason and think. The
information on the web site discussed the changes that occur during adolescence.
During adolescence each child progresses at differing rates. The adolescent
develops his own view of life and the world in general. I guess that is why live is so
difficult with teenagers when they begin experiencing feelings of love and other
emotional feelings. When teenagers have difficulty dealing with these emotions, it
causes interference with their ability to think. Teenagers decision making skills may
be tested during these tough emotional years and cause them to make bad choices.
During the early adolescent years, the teenagers begin to question authority and
begin to verbalize his/her views regarding life. The web site shows as the teenager
ages and moves through the various stages of adolescence, that some situations
become more difficult. The teenager asks more questions and is able to analyze
more information. The older adolescent begins to make career plans and is able to
think in terms of long-term. The older adolescent may develop idealistic views and
may debate opposing views.
The web site states we should encourage adolescents to share ideas and goals with
us. We should do our best to stimulate the adolescents to think and plan for the
future. I thought the information shared on the web site was very helpful. It was
presented in a way that a lay person could understand it. There were other links on

the site that provided additional information about adolescents and adolescent
medicine.
Professional article reference
Ojose, B. (2008). Applying Piagets theory of cognitive development to mathematics
instruction. The Mathematics Educator 18(1), 26-30.
This article discusses how Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development is applied to
children. Piaget believed a child developed through a constant transformation in
various thought processes. The developmental stage of a child is broken down into
months or years. The sensorimotor stage begins at birth and ends at
approximately age 2. The preoperational stage lasts from age 2 to approximately
age 7. The concrete operational stage begins at age 7 and ends at approximately
age 11. The formal operational stage begins at age 11 and continues forward.
Each child may develop at a different pace than other children the same age.
Maturity, culture and the childs ability will affect the stages of development. Piaget
states than all people pass through each developmental stage. Therefore it may
take some children into adulthood to pass through the developmental stages.
The article discussed how different growth occurs in each stage. Growth of
symbolic thought occurs in the preoperational stage. The ability to perform basic
operations occurs in the concrete operational stage. The child develops the ability
to think abstractly and hypothetically reason in the formal operations stage.
The article was well-written and I was able to understand it. The author wrote about
how it was helpful to add games to the classroom educational process. The article
stated it was important to encourage children and reflect with them during the
learning process. I felt the findings were well-formulated and would be helpful to
children and parents.