Child psychology

The coure I studied about Life Stories was not the most interesting subject as it was quite obvious, I did not learn something actually so I’ve changed I and decided to study : child psychology.
The only thing to retain about Life Stories is that it is crucial for everyone to talk about their experiences of life. Indeed, talking about its past can have a positive effect in the present and even in the future. It is really hard to move on in life when we are « blocked » by something in the past. Talking about it is a really good way to free oneself (se libérer). What’s more, sharing its experiences, its stories can help others to move on.

Concerning child psychology, the aim of the course was to understand how children develop and who and what influence their development.
The course had several points of study
first, what is child psychology ?

In this part, the course explains that child psychology is an important area to understand how children evolve in their life to become adolescents and then adults. It includes understanding how children think, react to situations, learn, develop skills and personalities . Overall, it studies the physical, social and emotional development of children.
The main question raised in this part is : are children different because of internal factors, genetic factors or because of external factors in their environment ?

In the second part of this course, two theories from authors that we all know very well are used and explained to understand children’ development :
-Piaget’s theory that stipulates that the development is internal, based on biology
-Vygotsky’s theory that considers external factors such as the peer and family interactions

Through intelligence quotient tests, Piaget noticed that children from the same age make the same mistakes. He consequently developed the idea that at different stages, children do not have the same capabilities : children at later stages understand things better than at earlier stages because of biology.
He also argued that to cross these steps, children physically interact with objects in the world.
To him, all children have to go through these steps in the same order and around the same time.

Vygotski, who agreed with Piaget about this last point, added another factor to his theory : the environment around the child.
Indeed, he included the culture and social environment of the child in his development process. It means his social interactions both with peers and adults. To him, it’s not just an independent learning but a learning that is helped and accompanied by other people around the child who have more experience than him.

To sum up, the development of the child involves other people to support and help him like the family (parents and siblings), the school or the peers for example.  
Moreover, if we come back to Piaget’s theory, this can explain how children can move from one stage to another in the process of development.

At this point, it seems like the child does not do a lot and only relies on other people. But that’s not true actually. Children decide and direct their « development » by selecting and choosing what they want and need depending on their personality and environment.

To conclude, we learned that there are different stages of the early development of the child that are influenced by his external environment and by his own personality.
Even if there are resemblances in the development of all children, some factors are external to biology and come from a unique environment, depending on each child.

I hope you learned from the course I studied, if you have any comment or question, i’ll be happy to help

i have a question for you, what do you think about those theories ?
In my opinion, it doesn't explain much about the new gen. I mean, those theories don't include social networks and virtual interactions. I do think that now, a lot of people are living without one to others interactions and they are quite happy in that way. That's the good aspect, in one way, of the virtual world. If you don't feel like living in the real world, most of the time, you don't really have to. I'm quite interested about what rational people like Piaget would have wrote on this point.

Julia Padiou wrote:The coure I studied about Life Stories was not the most interesting subject as it was quite obvious, I did not learn something actually so I’ve changed I and decided to study : child psychology.
The only thing to retain about Life Stories is that it is crucial for everyone to talk about their experiences of life. Indeed, talking about its past can have a positive effect in the present and even in the future. It is really hard to move on in life when we are « blocked » by something in the past. Talking about it is a really good way to free oneself (se libérer). What’s more, sharing its experiences, its stories can help others to move on.

Concerning child psychology, the aim of the course was to understand how children develop and who and what influence their development.
The course had several points of study
first, what is child psychology ?

In this part, the course explains that child psychology is an important area to understand how children evolve in their life to become adolescents and then adults. It includes understanding how children think, react to situations, learn, develop skills and personalities . Overall, it studies the physical, social and emotional development of children.
The main question raised in this part is : are children different because of internal factors, genetic factors or because of external factors in their environment ?

In the second part of this course, two theories from authors that we all know very well are used and explained to understand children’ development :
-Piaget’s theory that stipulates that the development is internal, based on biology
-Vygotsky’s theory that considers external factors such as the peer and family interactions

Through intelligence quotient tests, Piaget noticed that children from the same age make the same mistakes. He consequently developed the idea that at different stages, children do not have the same capabilities : children at later stages understand things better than at earlier stages because of biology.
He also argued that to cross these steps, children physically interact with objects in the world.
To him, all children have to go through these steps in the same order and around the same time.

Vygotski, who agreed with Piaget about this last point, added another factor to his theory : the environment around the child.
Indeed, he included the culture and social environment of the child in his development process. It means his social interactions both with peers and adults. To him, it’s not just an independent learning but a learning that is helped and accompanied by other people around the child who have more experience than him.

To sum up, the development of the child involves other people to support and help him like the family (parents and siblings), the school or the peers for example.  
Moreover, if we come back to Piaget’s theory, this can explain how children can move from one stage to another in the process of development.

At this point, it seems like the child does not do a lot and only relies on other people. But that’s not true actually. Children decide and direct their « development » by selecting and choosing what they want and need depending on their personality and environment.

To conclude, we learned that there are different stages of the early development of the child that are influenced by his external environment and by his own personality.
Even if there are resemblances in the development of all children, some factors are external to biology and come from a unique environment, depending on each child.

I hope you learned from the course I studied, if you have any comment or question, i’ll be happy to help

It brings back memories of Teacher training.

Hi Julia, You said that "Vygotsky’s theory that considers external factors such as the peer and family interactions "

Do you think that toys are relevant for child's development ? I totally agree with the interactionist theory of Vygotsky. But he also said that children need an expert to help them to learn new things. In my opinion I think a child can learn by his own. For example when he plays, sometimes it can be difficult to put the cube in the good hole. But by trying and doing mistakes, he will succeed, without being helped. In psychology it's called an "Insight" (it's when you understand a problem). I think it's more than social but also individual. What do you think about it ?

I agree with this course summary. A child needs to be stimulated to evolve and wake up. These faculties develop thanks to the external environment and the social link. Toys are part of this awakening but they must be used in parallel with regular interaction with the child. Toys contribute to the development of the child but he must also understand the environment through the social link. It is often noted that children who have had a difficult childhood, who have been abandoned by their parents, or who have not been stimulated in their childhood may have problems later, such as school delays, lack of attention, communication problems ...