Explain The Stages Of Cognitive Development

Montessori started her career working with children who were mentally handicapped, she realised that children needed stimulation and activity to help learn and develop. She expanded the idea of learning and education coming from careful observation and experimentations in schools, she believed children should be treated as individuals and practitioners/ adults should observe and direct whilst working with children instead of correct because children learn by absorbing their environment. She says they should be allowed freedom and the chance to be able to develop naturally at their own pace. However, they needed a planned and prepared environment which she called the “Casa de bamini” or the “Children’s House” which would be designed to reflect
Piaget has four stages of cognitive development, these are the sensori motor skills (0-2), pre- operational (2-7), concrete operations (7-11) and formal operation (12+). The first stage occurs when a child is zero to two years old and this is known as the sensori motor stage where children start using their physical skills, motor skills and senses to explore. This is where children’s senses and physical activity help the child to experience the environment. The second stage is the pre-operational stage which children go through when they get to two until they reach seven, this stage is less relevant to the senses of the child but more influenced on how things look, this is a gradual development. At this stage children are ‘illogical’ thinkers and they learn through words and images to help make sense of the environment. The third stage happens from age seven to eleven and is the concrete operational stage, children continue to learn through the environment, accessing more information to make