There is a staggering amount of change, across all areas of
development, between when a baby is born and when they turn 3. Seemingly
helpless at birth, babies enter the world with a system of abilities and
responses that lay the foundation for future abilities and skill sets. Babies
are born with cognitive skills that allow them to recognize and respond to their
caregivers. They are able and ready to immediately hook the caregiver into a
relationship with them; to get those who keep them healthy and alive connected
to them immediately. The skills that let them do this are their visual fixed
focal length, their ability to perceive high contrasts and contours, their
orientation to human voices over other sounds, and their ability to recognize a
familiar voice by the time they are a week old. In addition, they are able to
recognize the smell of their own mother’s milk. From birth until they turn 2,
children are in what famous developmental researcher Jean Piaget calls the
sensorimotor period. During this time, children use their senses and actions to
learn and grow. This period begins with basic reflexes and advances through a
series of “stages” to complex sensory and motor skills, and early symbolic
thought. According to Piaget, during the sensorimotor period, children’s
thoughts and understandings are limited to things they can directly perceive or
do.
Isn't it fascinating how quickly babies develop, especially in their first years? From the time they're born, they are communicating their needs, even if just through cries, they recognize a need and know the action required to get their needs met. Then within months they are able to understand most verbal cues and begin to talk themselves. I found this chapter to be very interesting, because I spent so long working in childcare, I loved being able to relate to what I was reading as well as fully understand what was going on scientifically.
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