Preschool Teaching

Jean Piaget; a French-speaking Swiss cognitive psychologist has contributed immeasurably to understand the “development of learning” in children. He devoted his life to closely observing and recording the intellectual abilities of infants, children and adolescents. According to Piaget, the human brain is not fully developed until late adolescence. People often expect children to think like adults when they are not yet capable of doing so. It is important that parents know what to expect from their child as they develop and to be sure that the expectations they have for their child at a given age are realistic.
An understanding of child development is essential, allowing us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional, physical, social and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early adulthood. As educators, we must draw on the variety of theories and perspectives in order to understand how kids grow, behave and think.
A pre-school teacher needs to study the above stages of development and psychology to:
- To get an insight into children
- To know how children behave, think, learn and feel
- To have better interaction with children
- To gain a greater appreciation of development throughout life
- To understand whats normal and what is not

While every child is a little bit different, human development tends to follow a remarkably predictable pattern. Once you have studied development, you'll know what's typical at certain ages and stages. Perhaps most importantly, studying human development makes it easier to spot possible signs of trouble. From problems with physical or cognitive development in early childhood to emotional struggles later in life, being able to identify potential problems is important. The earlier developmental problems are detected, the sooner intervention can begin. No matter what the situation, early detection and treatment can lead to better outcomes.
As a pre-school teacher, we have to prepare children for