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Educators refer to early childhood as the ‘preschool age’, the period preceding the child’s entry into school.
Psychologists refer this period as the ‘pre-gang age’, the time when the child is learning the foundations of social behaviour. He acquires the preliminary training and experience required for being a member of the gang. This learning prepares him for the more highly organized social life of the school.
Early childhood period is also known as the “age of exploration’, where the child explores the environment and gains control over it. In the first two years of life he acquires a workable control of his own body. Now he is ready to explore his environment as to what it is, how it works and how he can be a part of it.
Piaget called this period as egocentrism, because the child thinks that whatever he thinks is right and everyone thinks in the same way as he thinks.
Piaget also referred to this period as animism, because the child believes that things which move are alive and which do not move are dead. According to him, during this period the process of assimilation and accommodation increases in intensity. Further, the child develops the ability of representing things and also gradually acquires knowledge and skills.
Some psychologists also call this period as period of plasticity as the impressions that are made on the child’s mind last throughout his life and career.
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