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A Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks
Offers a fascinating and understandable account of childhood development for anyone—education and psychology students, day care center workers and nursery school teachers, and parents.
Jean Piaget is arguably the most important figure of the twentieth century in the field of child psychology. Over more than six decades of studying and working with children, he brilliantly and insightfully charted the stages of a child's intellectual maturation from the first years to adulthood, and in doing so pioneered a new mode of understanding the changing ways in which a child comes to grasp the world.
The purpose of A Piaget Primer is to make Piaget's vital work readily accessible to teachers, therapists, students, and of course, parents. Two noted American psychologists distill Piaget's complex findings into wonderfully clear formulations without sacrificing either subtlety or significance. To accomplish this, they employ not only lucid language but such fascinating illuminations of a child's world and vision as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh , as well as media manifestations like Barney and Sesame Street . This completely revised edition of this classic work is as enjoyable as it is invaluable—an essential guide to comprehending and communicating with children better than we ever have before.
Jean Piaget is arguably the most important figure of the twentieth century in the field of child psychology. Over more than six decades of studying and working with children, he brilliantly and insightfully charted the stages of a child's intellectual maturation from the first years to adulthood, and in doing so pioneered a new mode of understanding the changing ways in which a child comes to grasp the world.
The purpose of A Piaget Primer is to make Piaget's vital work readily accessible to teachers, therapists, students, and of course, parents. Two noted American psychologists distill Piaget's complex findings into wonderfully clear formulations without sacrificing either subtlety or significance. To accomplish this, they employ not only lucid language but such fascinating illuminations of a child's world and vision as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh , as well as media manifestations like Barney and Sesame Street . This completely revised edition of this classic work is as enjoyable as it is invaluable—an essential guide to comprehending and communicating with children better than we ever have before.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 16, 2009
Read for graduate level theories of learning class. Book is a primer for Piaget's theory of intellectual development. Authors use various examples, such as Peanuts comic strip, the wizard of oz, and Winnie the Pooh, to clarify different points of his theory along the way.
A very easy read which is good considering how arduous psychology can be. Examples vary, are used often and are very helpful overall.
I would recommend this book for those interested in child development (pre-adolescent), including parents, those who are new to developmental psych, new to piaget, or those interested in education.
A very easy read which is good considering how arduous psychology can be. Examples vary, are used often and are very helpful overall.
I would recommend this book for those interested in child development (pre-adolescent), including parents, those who are new to developmental psych, new to piaget, or those interested in education.
June 22, 2010
A child's best teacher are their parents. As an educator and a parent I found this book to be a great reminder of the importance of teaching our children. In summary... Read to your kids, talk to them often, challenge them, be supportive and positive, let them learn by doing even if it causes messes, and show them how you love learning and share your learning with them. Turn off the tv, give them something to make or do that requires deeper thinking.
July 21, 2014
An informative, non-technical introduction to Piaget for parents and early childhood educators.
March 26, 2018
If you need to learn the basics of Piagetian theory quickly and with relevant examples, this primer is perfect. Although the revised edition was published in 1996, the references and examples still hold up. It would be nice to see a newer edition that discussed the effect of new media, like the internet and video games, on children's development, but the concepts explained are done so in a timeless way the makes it easy to relate them to children today. I especially liked how the authors made sure to break down Piaget's confusing terminology, and they did a nice job of consolidating the relevant developmental information into one primer. This one primarily focuses on early childhood development, so it leaves a little to be desired if you're interested in Piaget's work with juvenile and adolescent development, but I'm sure there are other books that cover those topics more fully. Some of the references to comic strips and Alice in Wonderland are a bit dated, but the explanations are still useful. I also like the collection of terms located in the back glossary, as it functions as an extra little study tool.
August 21, 2020
With all the homeschooling amid Covid-19, I revisited this tiny treasure not long ago, and I appreciate the narration. The perspective incorporates some definable research since Piaget first carved out so much detail regarding the study of children's cognitive development, and starting so much with his own. Those examples give good inspiration for appreciating things like where cognitive understandings among language or math concepts are at for your youngest children on Operational or Pre-Operational scales, and for perspective taking generally, but especially related to subjects Concrete and/or Abstract and in what ways. The text gives numerous shortcuts this way, for gauging an interesting highlight, or details that your kid may be just getting the hang of or around the bend from learning, and also things that can surprise them in thought-provoking engaged learning. It also explains so much regarding illustrious Pre-K frustrations when working through anything at all conceptual, so you know what can be reasoned and what really need be more planned, and to be sure you can affirm different stages as much as you might totally different interests/personalities/food allergies.
September 15, 2020
The authors of this book took a rather unusual approach to complement their introduction of Piaget's key ideas, an approach that I think did more harm than good.
As far as covering Piaget's theory of cognitive development in children, the authors did a respectable job. They laid out the various stages in a logical and organized progression, using many of Piaget's original observational vignettes, notes, etc. It is a good source as a primer, the language is very accessible and non-technical. It provide a rather comprehensive overview of Piaget's original theory, (without the later elaborations and modifications).
However, Piaget's theory was proposed almost a hundred years ago. It has undergone much criticism due to its gap in compliance to modern day scientific standards, (e.g. most of his observations and data collecting was from his own children. A hundred years ago, it is rather common for explorations in science to be done by hypothesizing based on observations alone, with a positivist inclination.) In short, it is a theory that has been under a lot of scrutiny and is struggling a bit for credibility and legitimacy. The authors' choice to use fictional scenarios (taken from children's stories and comic strips) to accompany various theoretical claims seemed rather pointless. They do not help to establish any factual information, and are redundant since the key ideas were rather well-presented in the main strand of the book. In my opinion, the editorial choice to include these 'cute' illustrative images or excerpts adds little value to the book, and they might even make the theory itself look more like pop-science, precisely the impression it is trying to avoid.
As far as covering Piaget's theory of cognitive development in children, the authors did a respectable job. They laid out the various stages in a logical and organized progression, using many of Piaget's original observational vignettes, notes, etc. It is a good source as a primer, the language is very accessible and non-technical. It provide a rather comprehensive overview of Piaget's original theory, (without the later elaborations and modifications).
However, Piaget's theory was proposed almost a hundred years ago. It has undergone much criticism due to its gap in compliance to modern day scientific standards, (e.g. most of his observations and data collecting was from his own children. A hundred years ago, it is rather common for explorations in science to be done by hypothesizing based on observations alone, with a positivist inclination.) In short, it is a theory that has been under a lot of scrutiny and is struggling a bit for credibility and legitimacy. The authors' choice to use fictional scenarios (taken from children's stories and comic strips) to accompany various theoretical claims seemed rather pointless. They do not help to establish any factual information, and are redundant since the key ideas were rather well-presented in the main strand of the book. In my opinion, the editorial choice to include these 'cute' illustrative images or excerpts adds little value to the book, and they might even make the theory itself look more like pop-science, precisely the impression it is trying to avoid.
May 18, 2020
An excellent, easy-to-read introduction to Piaget's ideas. I am very glad I chose to begin my exploration into Piaget with this book. I believe it will help make more sense of his works as I read them.
January 26, 2020
Great practical tips for a soon to be mama.
July 1, 2022
An excellent overview of Piaget and great ways to put theories into practice (the last chapter especially!)
March 7, 2024
Spoiled The Lord of The Flies
May 27, 2009
Very interesting to read how a child behaves and why. I can see several things on my baby already. I was very glad to learn that children have their own development stages, and that they will reach them all but at different times (like I always thought). There's no need to push them to read or learn arithmetic. I would like to read more about child development.
May 11, 2015
I had to read this for my children's literature class. This was a real struggle to get through. The first chapter where is discussed each of the age groups was okay. But it just kept getting more and more boring.
May 21, 2016
I originally picked this book out to help me out with a school essay, little did I know I'd read through the whole thing. The cartoon depictions and examples were really helpful in presenting Jean Piaget's findings in understandable terms.
November 25, 2008
If you're teaching pre-k or working with kids at that age or younger, this book would might be of interest to you. If not, I guess you have been warned?
December 16, 2008
A really great summary of some basic developmental principles from Piaget. Easy to pick up and reference. Great review without hauling out that old developmental text.
December 6, 2015
I read this book because I needed the information for an essay and it provided exactly what I needed.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews