Enduring Understandings

Early psychological and social development is a largely sequential process, with somewhat predictable phases.
Children see the world differently than adults.
Children learn through exploration, hypothesis, and schema-building.
Prenatal and early post-natal environment can adversely effect development.

Essential Questions

What can how we develop as children tell us about how we learn and think as adults?
What elements of development are hardwired? What elements are learned?
In what ways do children see the world differently than adults? At what stages?
How does environment influence cognitive and social development?

Core Skills

Critique Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and describe other theories that complement and expand on it.

Foundational Knowledge

Detail the stages of prenatal development and expand on their significance
Explain how the developing embryo and fetus may be harmed by the presence of teratogens and describe what a mother can do to reduce her risk.
Describe the abilities that newborn infants possess and how they actively interact with their environments.
List the stages in Piaget’s model of cognitive development and explain the concepts that are mastered in each stage.
Summarize the important processes of social development that occur in infancy and childhood.