Kiddy Thinks by Alison Gopnik - Essay Example

Essay, English Literature ic and Modern) Topic: Analysis Essay Introduction Children think and act from the level of purity and spontaneity and therefore the adults, whose mind is the conglomeration of several stressed thought processes, have problems with them. Adults want that children should do what they expect them to do, but the children want the total understanding of the things they do from adults. “Kiddy Thinks”, by Alison Gopnik, informs the readers about their “extremely powerful learning abilities”. (269) They constantly observe, willing to commit mistakes and learn. Efforts have been made by the author to assert that even the facial expressions of a nine-month old are meaningful from its point of view as it develops ability to distinguish them. The author provides the chronological listing of the abilities in the early part of its age structure and what specific tasks they are able to perform. Bring up children by appreciating their psychological traits not by applying the scientific experimentation, not with the investigative approach but by loving disposition, not by analyzing their reactions but by enjoying their peculiarities, and this path meanders through the wonderland of surprises. The author has given the listing, how the minds of the children tick from birth to the age of 2 years. As the children reach the age of 2, they develop an inquisitive mood, they turn explorative. The author considers age 2 as the most significant one in the life of the child and at that stage though perfection in perception is still not achieved. The author demonstrates this through an experiment. The experiment is simple and straightforward. The child is given a shut chocolate packet and it sees the pencils within and the child is next questioned what his friend will think about the contents within, the child’s reply is pencils. The 3 year old kid does not expect his friend will do the identical mistake. But the things stand revised and at the age of 4, the child is able to tell that his friend will make the same mistake. It is beyond my comprehension why simple issues are presented in a complicated style. For example the counter evidence presented by the author, “Like scientists, children change their theories precisely because they make the wrong predictions” (272) is bad in principle. Children may change opinion every 5 seconds; opinions are playthings for them. They don’t even realize that they are giving opinions. Nor do the parents should attach much importance to the opinion of a 2-3 year old kid, except take certain hints from them. The profound words like ‘theories’ and ‘predictions’, need not be used while discussing the innocent attitudes of children. But the concluding observation of the author that excellence in taking care of children is important to their overall progression is absolutely valid. The adults have a lot to learn from the children, especially the ones that belong to the internet generation. Another important question is which child the author is referring to? The child born and growing up in a slum area, in a working class family, the upper middle class, the rich class, are all exposed to different environment, depending upon the standard of living of the family. Their reaction to various situations will depend upon their upbringing and the standard of life in which they are being brought up has much to do with their intellectual development, their likes and dislikes. One common principle applicable to all children is that they learn from imitation. I also do not agree with the author that “there are no mirrors in the womb.”(270) It is beyond the scope of this essay, but it is a fact that the child also learns much in the womb. The food intake, the emotions of the mother affect the child. A child is not born with zero IQ. Only the adults do not know how to measure the intelligence level of the child in the womb. For example a just born child cries. Why and what for and what are its emotions or reactions at that moment? We do not know whether the child knows them, nor we can say confidently that the child does not know it. In any case that child is not a “blank slate”. (269)The important question is, why should it cry? The author’s elucidation has no answer for this. The child begins to collect information and understands the processes of actions and reactions right from the moment of birth. Only we do not know its levels of gathering the information or implications. The article contains useful information and the possible reactions of a two month young child to a 4 year old child have been carefully enumerated. The children always remain curious learners and mischief mongers. Those in the age group of 3-4, may know what is right and yet may persist in dong exactly opposite to it, and this is done not as an experiment of science, but just for fun and to seek adventure. Even when the children are illogical, there is logic in their behavior, only the parents need to have the patience to understand the meaning of their tantrums. The stages of children experience as explained by the author are informative and the elders have a vital role to kindle and to sharpen their curiosity-based knowledge, as the children react on every small and big issue and their dispositions vary from minute to minute. Spending more time with the children is the best investment for their lives instead of providing them with videotapes and other modern perquisites of the materialistic era. There is no substitute to parent’s care and love for children. Conclusion No fixed formula or fixed approach can be prescribed on the subject of childcare. Two children of the same parents are not alike and they may need different approaches to handle them. Quitting the job for the sake of children is not a bad idea, provided it is affordable from the economic point of view. At the formative stage of their lives, children need the guidance of parents at all times and ‘love’ is the magical word for solution for all their problems. Work Cited Gopnik, Alison. "Kiddy Thinks." Essay Writing for Canadian Students with Readings. 6th ed. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2008. 269-73. Print. Read More