Yahaira Pelaez
English 21003
Argumentive Essay
Professor Nargiza Matyakubova
Curiosity is better than Maturity.
They are tiny, adorable, bald and chunky.
Most of them drool on you when you carry them.
They put anything they see in their mouths to figure out what it is.
They are the purest form of love and can make anyone smile, will say words the wrong way and in the most
humorous way just to try to imitate you as well, as learning how to communicate
with their caregiver. Toddlers (Children from 2-3) are creative, curious and
eager to learn about the world. It’s
proven that toddlers from 2 years to 3 years old can learn two to three
languages at this stage of their lives
they can also learn the alphabet and shapes and colors as well as social
skills. An article by PBS parents shows
that “Two-year-olds enjoy using
their senses to explore the world, and can solve simple problems with the
"trial and error" method. They will practice an activity many times
to master it, and can complete short-term, concrete tasks. Their budding
language skills and desire to learn prompt many "why,"
"what," and "how" questions. This year typically marks the
beginning of pretend play, where two-year-olds experiment with familiar objects
and situations to process their experiences.” The need to learn and to expand their
knowledge is something that can overcome any learning obstacle.
Children
from four to six are not unconsciously learning anymore and tend to distract
themselves with other things that interest them. They tend to know what’s really happening
around them instead of seeing the world as a big fantasy and no longer have
urgency of learning things that don’t interest them.
It
will be more beneficial if toddlers start learning school material at the age
of two to three years old instead of four to six since its easier and fun for
them to remember letters, colors and numbers. The educational system should
really emphasize on early learning, therefore students can learn faster and
have higher graduating rates with younger people that graduate faster and can
start college sooner.
This image is from learning4kids.net which is
a learning website for toddlers that helps them learn numbers and letters in a
fun matter by using it like a game and it’s appropriate for their age.
Jean
Piaget (1896-1980) was a scientific researcher in child psychology who worked
on a scientific study in children in 1921 while working at the Rousseau
Institute in Geneva in Paris. There, he developed a theory which is the
Cognitive – Developmental Theory which basically emphasizes on the development
of children from birth to 24 months this theory goes into detail on how
children progress . His Developmental Theory is based on six stages which go
into depth on how babies discover the world .Stage one (birth to one month) is
babies put a passive reflex to active use which is basically babies sucking on
all kinds of objects such as clothes, pillows , blankets their own fingers etc
. Stage two (1-4 months) is primary circulations which they pretty much try to
coordinate movements together, coordinating the hand to the mouth, events that
have to inside the body. Stage three
(4-8) months, making interesting events last .Example by kicking, multiple
times so that she/he can hear the objects sound from the objects from her
bassinet or crib basically thinking they have power over objects. Stage five (8-12 months) overcoming obstacles
to obtain objects, such as reaching for keys on top of a table by stretching
out their hand or going around the table to find the easiest angle to grab the
keys . Instead of acting regular she’s inventing something to grab the object
instead of settling that it could be impossible. Stage five (12-18 months)
doing different things, to see different outcomes, loudness of sounds depending
on different heights, example, throwing a set of keys from different heights
and seeing the difference of sound. Lastly, Stage six the most important one
(18-24months) Use of symbols or representation Example, Using a match box and
putting something shiny like a diamond or a sparkly rock inside and letting her
figure out that she has to take it out on her own by opening the box , The baby after trying to figure out that
she can’t shake it she will eventually open her mouth and see that the
connection of her opening her mouth can help her open the match box and help
get the shiny object to play with . If toddler is starting to imitate and find
connections between objects at this specific stage she/he is ready to find
patterns and colors and connect words. All their discoveries have to be
physical they are mini scientist that need to discover by touching and using
their own way to find out about the world. The best way for them to learn early
is by playing with molds of letters with bright colors and identifying how they
sound and how they can make up words by the caregiver showing them what they
can do if they connect them .
In the Book Theories of Development by
Professor William Crain he goes into detail on how this psychologist tested
this theory and had very successful effects on kids learning language and the
alphabet before four years old with normal kids as well as kids with mental
retardation.
From Montessori’s observations and
descriptions, “The child language acquisition sounds very much like a kind of
imprinting. At a certain critical time- from the first few months of life until
21/2 or 3 years children are innately prepared to absorb sounds, words, grammar
from the environment. “ The child absorbs these impressions of incredible
intensity and emotion; they must they must set in motion invisible fibers in
the Childs body, fibers that start vibrating in the effort to reproduce those
sounds (p.24) . This particular sensitivity for language comes into play during
the first 3 years or so, and then is gone.
Parents, tend to not know much about their toddlers development and tend
to lack the practices of learning language and writing at home instead wait
until they go to school and leave the kid to learn as much as possible from
school instead of when is recommended and typically when the kid is interested.
Sincerely, I believe kids should learn from their parents other than
educational models because they have an emotional attachment to them and can
learn easier and faster and have fun while doing so .
Often, Day cares and schools complain
about the lack of social skills and language skills students have from pre-
scholars to kindergarten students, they see how kids suffer by not
communicating amongst each other as well as trying to grasp their teaching
material because they are still focus on the first word their teacher said and
looking at the beautiful colors around the classroom to wanting to just play
with their electronics. In a article by Science Daily researchers found that
kids that are in Pre –K can be socially withdrawn due to the lack of attention
their parents or care givers give them as well as the education they give them
at home. “The results showed that children showing signs of social withdrawal
in kindergarten were more prone to parental impacts later on in school than
others.” – Science Daily this is due to the lack of attention their parents are
giving them a child doesn’t only need affection but also education as well as
socializing for their future. Parents nowadays tend to use an iPad as a new
baby blanket instead of a teddy bear or blocks to enhance their Childs motor
skills and developmental skills . they are so busy trying to live their life
and finding a way to make more money for their family that force the tablet
upon their kids as a learning tool which messes up their Childs natural way of
learning which is by exploring and touching learning materials. Schools as well
are implementing technology instead of the old fashioned word puzzles, coloring
books and molds to enhance better learning which worsens the children’s ability
to learn since most kids are already not knowledge of grammar and language.
As a parent of a baby girl of two years
and a half I enforce learning at home by making fake scenarios where she tells me
the colors that she’s coloring my” princess dress” which is a white t-shirt to
counting the stair steps we take to go on the train everyday . So far, she uses
complete sentences knows the sounds of animals since I have drawn animals with
her and made the sounds they make to colors as well as some letters and the
number from 1-15. Thus, I have accomplished a lot with my toddler not only did
I thought her some stuff as well as bonding with her through learning.
www.parentingpress.com
This websites helps and
educate parents on common problems toddlers have as well as some helpful tips
on how to raise your child in a friendly environment.
