Stage 2: Preschool Years

1. Discuss Piaget's preoperational stage of development (p 166). Include discussion of centration, conservation, and egocentric thinking. Use Piaget's theory as a framework and describe your thinking and playing.
2. Use Vygotsky's social-cultural theory and describe your language and your schooling during this stage (p. 172). Include a brief summary of Vygotsky's theory and how you language and schooling relate to his theory. Also include discussion of the zone of proximal development.
3. Describe the formation of your gender identity (pp. 183). Do you remember when you realized you were a boy/girl? Which theory from the book do you think relates to how you learned about what was expected of you as a boy or girl? Discuss the theory you chose.
4. Briefly discuss each of the child rearing styles (Baumrind, Maccoby & Martin, p. 188). Include a description of the style that best suits your parent(s) and why you chose that style. Relate you parent behaviors to the style you chose.
5. Briefly discuss each of the views of moral development on pages 194-195.