Six Stages of Sensorimotor Intelligence!

According to Jean Piaget, a Swiss scientist, there are six stages of sensorimotor intelligence. However, Piaget categorizes them into 3 categories. Stage 1 and 2 are primary circular reactions, stage 3 and 4 are secondary circular reactions, and stage 5 and 6 are tertiary circular reactions.

Primary Circular Reactions: infants own body

Stage 1: From birth to 1 month. This stage consists of reflexes. Examples are sucking, grasping, staring, and listening. 

Stage 2: From 1 to 4 months. The first acquired adaptations, which means adapting their reflexes to the environment. Children acquire new behaviors. Examples are sucking a pacifier differently than a nipple or grabbing a bottle to suck.

Secondary Circular Reactions: responses towards objects and other people

Stage 3: From 4 to 8 months. An awareness of things around them and responding to people and objects. Examples are clapping hands when mother says “patty-cake” or by kicking a child is able to make the mobile of her crib bounce. 

Stage 4: From 8 to 12 months. New adaptations and anticipation break through. The child develops the ability to coordinate previously unrelated behaviors to achieve some desired end, they have acquired the concept of object permanence, their behavior is goal directed, and the child has the ability to use signs to anticipate events. Examples would be the child bringing his or her coat to the mother after seeing her put hers on or putting the mother’s hands together to get her to starts playing patty-cake.

Tertiary Circular Reactions: most creative, first with actions and then with ideas and symbolic representation.

Stage 5: From 12 to 18 months. New means through active experimentation, they become “little scientists.”  Examples are flushing items down the toilet or squeezing the toothpaste out of the tube.

Stage 6: From 18 to 24 months. The child finding new means through mental combinations also known as the trial and error stage. Examples would include eating with a spoon or playing pretend.

This information came from my textbook for my Understanding Human Growth and Development class. Pages 165-170

The Developing Person: Through Childhood and Adolescence 7^th Edition by: Kathleen Stassen Berger

Babies! Documentary directed by: Thomas Balmes

Thomas Balmes observed four babies from four different cultures and followed them, from moments before birth up to their first steps.  One thing that he has done differently is he didn’t focus on the verbal communication that went on. In fact, throughout the documentary any time there was verbal communication he seemed to place just the right music, slightly louder, so the viewer didn’t concentrate on that. I am not trying to say that verbal communication isn’t important in raising children, but we can learn so much more from just watching all the non-verbal communication. In one of his interviews he was asked about there being no commentary and his response was “I don't want to be too obvious about what I am showing. I want everyone to find their own message in the film. You should trust the viewer to watch t I don't want to be too obvious about what I am showing. I want everyone to find their own message in the film. You should trust the viewer to watch the footage and just dive into that and be taken. When the footage is strong enough you don't need commentary.” (1) When I first watched the documentary I couldn’t believe some of the things I saw. The things that I was taught growing up made me cringe at some of the scenes at first, but then I had to remember that every culture is different, that this is the way that they were raised. I found myself watching Babies several times, each time feeling such a strong emotion that still to this day is hard to describe. I feel that Thomas did this through cutting out most of the verbal communication. Thomas had 400 hours of film (2) that he narrowed down to 80 minutes of emotionally, triggering, life experience that each person in the audience could walk away feeling and learning something different. This is a documentary that everyone should watch. It is one, that if you were to put 50 people that each spoke their own language, all would be able to understand and pull something meaningful from it. I have listed a link below that gives you some more details about not only the movie, but also a little about each family.

http://focusfeatures.com/babies

1. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1986765,00.html

2.  http://www.manhattanmoviemag.com/interviews/thomas-balmes-talks-babies.html

Premature study by Tiffany Field

Imagine you just had a premature baby but no one has heard of anything that can be done to increase the chances of the child not only living, but to make it out of the hospital at a quicker time frame as well as still being healthier. Tiffany Field has given us this chance as a mother to be able to go home sooner, with our baby, at a healthier level, with a cheaper hospital bill.

In 1984, Tiffany Field did a study that involved premature babies and massaging. She used 40 premature babies that weighed less than 3 pounds. For 10 days the nurses massaged the premature babies twice a day, for 15 minutes each session. They massaged the arms, legs, back, and top of the head. They found that the experimental group gained 25 grams a day, while the control group gained 17 grams a day. In the end results, Tiffany found that the experimental group was released, on average, 6 days earlier than the control group. 

This is more relaxing to hear than to be sitting on that hospital bed with no knowledge of something that could help your child gain the necessary weight.

Here is the link for more details with the study and other useful information. It is a pdf file. 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CHwQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.srcd.org%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_docman%26task%3Ddoc_download%26gid%3D113&rct=j&q=tiffany%20field-%20premature&ei=bBKRToHwEMiEsgKVwbC-Cw&usg=AFQjCNG8ePeLMvQ7rcYLpP0ku_eWYEINDw&sig2=KRAcTeGUW70SfNMkc1PyPw&cad=rja0

Immunizations

Talking with an acquaintance today, I was informed of an article discussing immunizations and many parents delaying or overlooking particular ones. When I heard this I was astounded. I knew I had to search for the articles on my own to find out what was going on. Why in the world would a parent think it is okay to change up the vaccination guidelines? After so much research has been put in and has shown that the times listed for each vaccination is the best to prevent that particular disease developing in a child. Doesn’t a parent only want the best health for their child?  If so, then why are parents actually allowing their children go without or even delaying vaccinations? There has been an increase in preventable diseases, and it saddens me to hear this because the vaccinations are there to help prevent diseases. It is simple to take in your child to get a shot to prevent illnesses. It will cost less for you to take your child in to get their vaccinations then for the child to come down with the illnesses. 

So read the links. They are very close in readings, but each has their own new information. Tell what you think.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-parents-ignoring-vaccination-guidelines-130704357.html

http://news.yahoo.com/more-1-10-parents-skip-delay-kids-shots-040200088.html;_ylt=Ap9JFiE9Hv6aLpVvFSc7t0_gcbYF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjam51MGlxBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBIZWFsdGhTRiBQYXJlbnRpbmdLaWRzU1NGBHBrZwNmYjhhNmVkYS1hNmY3LTMwMDUtOGFhYy0wN2EyMWRjOGUxM2UEcG9zAzgEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDOThmMTBiMzAtZWRmMS0xMWUwLWJmOTctMjM1ZTU0ZTEzZWI1;_ylg=X3oDMTI1b2wxN2VpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANoZWFsdGh8cGFyZW50aW5nIC0ga2lkcwRwdANzZWN0aW9ucw--;_ylv=3

http://news.yahoo.com/parents-delaying-skipping-recommended-vaccines-051911426.html;_ylt=Apq3v_q.3RCzCEq2LK3GK93gcbYF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjZmptbGE0BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBIZWFsdGhTRiBQYXJlbnRpbmdLaWRzU1NGBHBrZwNmNWVjM2U1OC1lMzA1LTM1MmMtYTY4MC1jYzI4MTU3MmVmOWIEcG9zAzkEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDMTg5MDJlMzAtZWRjNC0xMWUwLWFkZmQtYTRlZmIzMWM5ZDBl;_ylg=X3oDMTI1b2wxN2VpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANoZWFsdGh8cGFyZW50aW5nIC0ga2lkcwRwdANzZWN0aW9ucw--;_ylv=3

Introduction

Hello everyone, 

My name is Sylvia. I am a young, driven person looking to increase my knowledge of what people are looking for when it comes to child care. I want to be able to see what activities and learning ideas people find most important to have within a center. I plan to use the information to meet the general needs as well as what many parents would like to see within a center. I hope that this will also be a tool for parents at home.

During this blog, I plan to use published information of various studies and other useful links to help children learn. I also hope that you will share links and helpful resources with me to help set up a great environment for both children and parents.

Join me in my blog for discussions of child care within a center and also in the home. 

Thanks.