Understanding early life development

Previous case studies seek to examine child development by learning children’s mental and emotional development (Giallo, Cooklin, Wade, D'Esposito & Nicholson, 2013). To understand child development, different theories have arisen trying to explain various aspects of human growth. This case study will apply the Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory to learn about the development of a child’s thought processes. Case study Abstract This case study discusses about the development of a young boy named Alex. He is 5 years old, with two sister and lives with his parents who are working in the country. He is a talkative child who would talk to any stranger without being shy. His favourite movies are animated cartoons, and he can watch them all day if allowed.

He enjoys eating sausages and buttered bread and is allergic to eggs. He can read colours red, green, yellow, white, orange, purple, and blue. He dislikes rude people but is a close friend to his classmates and his neighbouring age mates. The observation will be used to study his behaviour at school and at home. Method The questionnaires varied depending on the subjects. Alex was asked questions about himself and told to perform some simple tasks while his parents were asked questions that describe his behaviour. Alex and his parents were interviewed at school while his parents and siblings were interviewed at home. The interviews were unstructured and informal, and the parents were interviewed separately. His physical development is right on track.

His parent chose to breastfeed him for six months before giving him any food. At the age of five years old, Alex has demonstrated great skills in running, jumping and playing football. Alex can push a wheelbarrow, though for a short distance (Palmer, 2015). However, still needs to work on climbing down stiff stairs and backtracking comfortably. Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development. His theory explains child’s development of mental state and thought processes. Relating to Alex’ case, his development and interaction with the world depend on his understanding. There are five steps involved in a child’s intellectual development. These encompass the sensorimotor, preoperational, real operational, and formal functioning stage (Giallo, Cooklin, Wade, D'Esposito & Nicholson, 2013).

He shows the characteristics of the physical and emotional development of early childhood. As observed by the group, Alex is slightly taller than the average height of his age mates. At the age of 5, Alex has demonstrated both strong and weak cognitive development. Being a friendly boy, Alex shows healthy social development. Recommendations Based on Piaget’s theory, Alex falls under the preparational stage; the group recommends that a child under this stage should be appropriately guided by his parents and teachers for further development in their emotional and cognitive development. 13019 Giallo, R. , Cooklin, A. , Wade, C. , D'Esposito, F. , & Nicholson, J. verywellmind. com/child-development-theories-2795068 Palmer, S.  Toxic childhood: How the modern world is damaging our children and what we can do about it.