U7 Wa 5410

EDUC 5410 Child Development
Unit 7 Written Assignment
Department of Education
University of the People
Instructor: Dr. Tiffanie James Parker
October 22, 2023.
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As a child grows, their mind changes, which affects how they see the world and their
place in it. Getting to know each other and making friends is only one part of their social growth.
They also learn ideas and then make them better and use them. The way a child's theory of mind
grows in this way is similar to the work that experts do. This can be seen from birth through
preschool, secondary school, middle school, and college.
The stage that might be most like this science process is early childhood since kids have
so much to learn. Even though babies are not fully developed enough to understand complex
scientific methods yet, it shows in the way they act. When kids this age play with toy blocks,
they start to learn how to sort colors and shapes (Spielman, n.d.). Kids learn about assorted
colors and shapes first, and then they use what they have learned to build their own simple
buildings. Over time, they get better at the process and apply what they have learned to other
tasks. They learn how to behave by watching and talking with their parents. In this way, they are
like unofficial scientists as they learn how to have good relationships with others.
This keeps going in preschool, where kids' discovery of the world gets a little more
ordered and planned out. They start to understand how to think scientifically and are aware of
how they think (National Research Council, 2007, p. 54). Children can have their own likes and
dislikes and make up their own play scenarios when they are aware of these things and start to
form an identity (Spielman, n.d.). This is where their social understanding really shines through,
as they start to show moral thinking and compassion for their peers (Damon, 1999, p. 75). Like
unofficial scientists, they keep improving these ideas of how people understand each other
throughout childhood.
In elementary school, kids become even more like real scientists. One reason for this is
that they start to study science and how things work in a more official way. They may have been
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able to produce, improve, and use ideas in a more abstract and natural way up until now. Now in
grade school, there is organized help for it. At this stage, students can start to pay more attention
and think more deeply, like when they solve math problems and use logic to make sense of
things (Spielman, n.d.). At this age, important steps include developing social skills and their
own morals (NAEYC, n.d.). They are able to make, improve, and use ideas because they have
grown intellectually, socially, and morally. For instance, a kid in elementary school might learn
how to have a good relationship with others by making friends and improving their idea of what
it means to be a good friend. They could then use this idea to make new friends and be a better
friend to them.
Middle school and puberty are the middle years. This is a time when a child's growth can
be a bit disorganized. The social, emotional, and cognitive skills that kids have learned so far are
being put together to form their view of the world (The Aspen Institute, 2018, p. 5). Students in
the middle years may start to make friends with kids who are different from them. This helps
them learn about a wide range of topics in a more complicated way (NAEYC, n.d.). At this stage,
kids are closest to the refined stage of being an informal scientist. They are using what they have
learned so far to try ideas in real life to see where they fit. This can often lead to kids pushing the
limits, which makes things difficult between parents and kids because they have different ideas
about how kids should act.
In the last stage, teens and students are even more like informal scientists. This stage is
most like the "use theories" stage because kids have spent a lot of time trying out ideas and
making them better. They are now ready to put some of what they have learned into practice in
the real world. One thing that might happen at the end of childhood is going to college. Students
have an intense sense of who they are and what is right and wrong. They use this to choose
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which schools to apply to and how to fill out the application. Which field of study they pick may
show how their mental, social, moral, and even physical growth is going. To use the informal
scientist comparison again, they might even decide to become scientists full-time.
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References
Damon, W. (1999). The Moral Development of Children. Scientific American, 281(2), 72-78.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26058369
NAEYC. (n.d.) 12 Principles of Child Development Retrieved from
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/12-principles-of-child-development
National Research Council. 2007. Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in
Grades K-8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
https://doi.org/10.17226/11625.
Spielman, R.M. (n.d.). Psychology: Lifespan Development. Unit 10. Retrieved from
https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/unit/8480.
The Aspen Institute. (2018). The Brain Basis for Integrated Social, Emotional, and Academic
Development. Retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/09/Aspen_research_FINAL_web.pdf

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EDUC 5410 Child Development

Unit 7 Written Assignment

University of the People

Instructor: Dr. Tiffanie James Parker

October 22, 2023.

preschool, secondary school, middle school, and college.

about how kids should act.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26058369

NAEYC. (n.d.) 12 Principles of Child Development Retrieved from

Grades K-8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Development. Retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-

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