Thinking is the mental activity that we use to process information, make decisions, and come up with new ideas. We use thinking skills to comprehend information, solve problems, ask questions, answer a question, make plans and et cetera. Every person thinks and interprets in their own way but all of us have a common basis since most of us know common information or facts and are aware of the simplest of things. In the case of children, the process and ability of thinking and coming to a conclusion differ from child to child. It is either based on the exposure the child is provided with or their genetic abilities.
A child’s brain is like a brand-new notebook or a storage system. Most children start exploring and understanding things around them from about 14-18 months. That is when they start speaking actual words. Now, that they can converse verbally, they start asking questions about every little thing they see. This is because they started thinking and they want to know about things they see. They collect pieces of information, think and process the information and come to a conclusion, just like a jigsaw puzzle. They also start having long time memory by this time and start abstract thinking. They begin to grasp concepts like actions and reactions, cause and effect, reasons for specific things like sleeping, eating, or bathing.
Gradually when they learn to use language at a higher level, it helps them in organized thinking. It provides them the logic and develops their thinking ability in situations, and developing ideas. They are always experimenting with how things work. If they are magically happening or is it something that we do that is making it happen. As they grow up and explore more, visit different places, meet different people they learn that different people from different places have different opinions, practices, habits, and behaviors
. Children then think in accordance with the facts they’ve learned. By the time children start attending primary school, they are pretty much aware of the basics. In school, they receive more information to think about, work their brains, and learn more.
- Vaishnavi Preethi