Ages and Stages



Ages and Stages

Kathy Coleman - kathyren17@

What: The Different Developmental stages and how they will affect the different age groups in your program

Why:  To help develop the best program for your boys

How: Discuss Piaget and his cognitive stages, Compare this to the age groups for Cub Scouts

Jean Piaget - Child Psychologist 1896 - 1980    His view:

        “A person understands whatever information fits into his established view of the world, when it doesn’t fit, the person must reexamine and adjust their thinking.”

Thus as a child develops, they are constantly reinventing their knowledge to fit with the new information they have encountered.

Piaget’s four stages:  Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete and Formal Operations.

Most of your Scouts will fit into the Preoperational and Concrete stages, so this will be our main focus.  You might have a few Webelos that fit into the Formal Operations stage, but they will still be most comfortable in the Concrete stage, and so this should not present a problem.

Sensorimotor: born to 2 years – use their senses to identify information

Preoperational: About 2 - 7 years of age

        “Applying his new knowledge of language, the child begins to use symbols to represent objects.  Early in this stage he also personifies objects.  He is now better able to think about things and events that aren’t immediately present.  Oriented to the present, the child has difficulty conceptualizing time.  His thinking is influenced by fantasy - the way he’d like things to be - and he assumes that others see situations from his viewpoint.  He takes in information and then changes it in his mind to fit his ideas.  Teaching must take into account the child’s vivid fantasies and undeveloped sense of time.  Using neutral words, body outlines and equipment a child can touch gives him an active role in learning.” - “Patient Teaching” Honolulu Ed. Dept.

Concrete: About 7 - 12 years of age

        “During this stage, accommodation increases.  The child develops an ability to think abstractly and to make rational judgements about concrete or observable phenomena, which in the past he needed to manipulate physically to understand.  In teaching this child, giving him the opportunity to ask questions and to explain things back to you allows him to mentally manipulate information.” - “Patient Teaching” Honolulu Ed. Dept.

Formal Operations: Age 12 and beyond – Can compound abstract thinking about abstract ideas

So what does that mean?

Arrow example:       [pic]         Which line is longer?

Preoperational children will be stuck on what they can perceive, they will become easily confused.  Concrete thinkers will be able to reason out the answer that the lines are the same length.

So, how can we use this?

Guidelines For Teaching Preoperational Children:

        Use Concrete Props and visual aids, make instruction sessions short, use actions as well as words, give them a wide range of experiences, give them abundant hands-on experience, be aware that they are likely to be deficient or inconsistent in seeing thins from others’ point of view, and be aware that they have unique viewpoints and language that might be unknown to you.

Guidelines For Teaching Concrete Operational Children:

        Use concrete props and visual aids, make instruction sessions short, give them opportunities to classify objects and ideas into increasingly complex groupings, give them a wide range of experiences, give abundant hands-on experience, use familiar objects and ideas to explain more complex concepts.

Remember, with a shorter attention span, Positive Redirection can work wonders!

Have activities and games that allow the child to be successful, and give praise often.

Tigers: Grade 1 ages 5-7, Activities: Games, songs, arts and crafts

They need varied activities with shorter time spent on activities

Wolves: Activities: Games, more hands on activities, cooperative grouping

More time can be spent on tasks, Moral maturity developing

Bears: Grade 3 ages 7 - 9, Activities: Games, more hands on activities, cooperative grouping

Moral maturity developing, More complex activities that allow for cognitive thinking, problem solving.  Great emphasis on allowing them to figure out the solutions with lots of supervision.

Webelos: Grades 4 - 5 ages 8 - 12, Activities: Games, more difficult hands on activities, cooperative grouping, moral maturity developing, Complex activities that allow for cognitive thinking, problem solving.  Great emphasis on allowing them to figure out the solutions with some level of supervision.  Greater independent activities - have a plan but let them run with it!

KEY: ACTIVE LEARNING!! - Use all modes: Doing, Hearing, Visual

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