September 8, 2023
Take a quick look around our world, and it is obvious that our kids are under spiritual attack. It is a terrifying thought, but the Bible tells us that we’re in a spiritual war (Ephesians 6:12), and our children have an enemy that actively plots to attack them.
How are children in this world today led into believing anything that is found in life? Is it their parents? This is a question that many people may have wondered about at some point in their lives. How do children form their beliefs, values, and opinions? How do they learn to distinguish between facts and opinions, evidence and assumptions, truth and falsehood? And what role do their parents play in this process?
In this blog post, I will try to explore some of the factors that influence how children develop their beliefs, and how parents can help them become critical thinkers and independent learners. Cognitive development is one of the most important factors that shape how children think and believe. Cognitive development refers to the changes in how children perceive, remember, reason, and solve problems as they grow older. According to Jean Piaget, a famous psychologist who studied children’s cognitive development, children go through four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
In the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about two years of age, children learn about the world through their senses and actions. They do not have a sense of object permanence, which means they do not understand that objects exist even when they are out of sight. They also do not have a sense of self, which means they do not recognize themselves as separate from their environment.
Children begin to use language and symbols to represent objects and events in the preoperational stage, which lasts from about two to seven years of age. They also develop a sense of self and start to express their emotions and preferences. However, they still have difficulty with logical thinking and perspective-taking. They tend to be egocentric, which means they assume that everyone sees the world the same way as they do. They also tend to be animistic, which means they attribute human-like qualities to non-human things.
Children start to think more logically and systematically in the concrete operational stage, which lasts from about seven to eleven years of age. They can understand the concepts of conservation, classification, seriation, and reversibility. They can also take the perspective of others and appreciate different points of view. However, they still have difficulty with abstract and hypothetical reasoning. They tend to be bound by concrete reality and rely on direct observation and experience.
In the formal operational stage, which lasts from about eleven years of age onwards, children develop the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically. They can use deductive reasoning and test hypotheses. They can also deal with complex and ambiguous problems and situations. They can think about moral, ethical, social, and political issues and form their own opinions and values.
As you can see, children’s cognitive development influences how they process information and form beliefs. Children at different stages of cognitive development may understand and interpret the same information differently. For example, a child in the preoperational stage may believe that the sun is alive because it moves across the sky, while a child in the concrete operational stage may understand that the sun is a star that appears to move because of the earth’s rotation.
Another factor that influences how children think and believe is their social development. Social development refers to the changes in how children interact with others and form relationships as they grow older. According to Lev Vygotsky, another famous psychologist who studied children’s social development, children learn through social interactions with others who are more knowledgeable or skilled than them. These others can be parents, teachers, peers, or even media sources. Vygotsky called these others “more knowledgeable others” or MKOs.
MKOs provide children with guidance, feedback, support, and modeling that help them acquire new skills and knowledge. Vygotsky also introduced the concept of the “zone of proximal development” or ZPD. ZPD refers to the gap between what a child can do independently and what a child can do with the help of an MKO. For example, An MKO, or a more knowledgeable other, is a person who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner with respect to a particular task, process, or concept 1. According to Vygotsky’s theory of child development, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from an MKO 1. The ZPD is the zone where instruction is the most beneficial, as it is when the task is just beyond the individual’s capabilities.
For example, an MKO can help a child learn how to ride a bike by providing guidance and support. The child may not be able to ride a bike independently at first, but with the help of an MKO, they can learn how to balance and pedal. Similarly, an MKO can help a child learn how to read by providing instruction and feedback. The child may not be able to read independently at first, but with the help of an MKO, they can learn how to decode words and comprehend text.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).
Written By Lesallan – September 8, 2023
