How Cognitive Development can keep child Out of Trouble

Cognitive development means the growth of a child’s ability to think and reason. Age 16 can be a testing time for both parents and children as your child will be on the verge of many accomplishments. It will help to understand what changes to expect so that you can help your child sail through the period smoothly.

• Abstract thinking: No longer is your child simply thinking about her own life. Teens in this age group do more complex thinking, also known as formal logical operations. This includes the ability to:

• Do abstract thinking: This means thinking about possibilities.

• Reason from known principles: This means forming their own new ideas or questions.

• Consider many points of view: This means comparing various ideas and opinions.

• Think about the process of thinking: This means being aware of the act of thought processes.

• At 16, children are able to communicate like adults. Academically, they are able to understand punctuation and grammatical rules and write and read complex sentence structures. They begin to form their own thoughts and views on many topics.

• Since they are developing in maturity and learning to think like an adult, kids at this age, need time to pursue interests, whether it’s arts, sports, or otherwise, as well as time to rest and relax without expectations. During this time, they might prefer to unwind by watching TV, reading books, or playing video games.

• They have developed their own style of studying and are planning on future study and work options.

• This is the age when you see them questioning authority and society's standards.

Explore career options with your child to help them in setting goals for the future. Include them in discussions about a variety of topics, issues, and current events. Encourage your child to share their ideas and thoughts. Encourage independent thinking and praise them for well-thought-out decisions. Also, help them in re-evaluating bad decisions.

Stay Tuned! Stay Relevant!