Young children are eternally discovering who they are. When you watch the silly and nonsensical things they do, they are hard at work! Self-discovery is their job until they are about 7 years old, the age of reason. Uhhh, what is the age of reason, you ask? “The age of reason refers to the developmental cognitive, emotional, and moral stage in which children become more capable of rational thought, have internalized a conscience, and have a better capacity to control impulses (than in previous stages),” explains Dana Dorfman, PhD, a psychotherapist at Scholastic. “It’s the time when a child starts to truly grasp the difference between right and wrong and begins to realize that other people have their own feelings that might not match his or hers.” What all that means is before this age, kids are quite literally incapable of controlling themselves.
Nurturing Authenticity: Embracing Your Child's Journey of Self-Discovery
Updated: Mar 8