Abstract

Piaget’s theory of children’s language and cognition may be a way to mesh a developmental, constructivist perspective with the standardized aura of the Common Core. The language focus of the Common Core and its emphasis on thinking skills lend its fulfillment to the intentional use of Piagetian method in the early childhood classroom. For teachers who understand that they matter over and above any frameworks, this recall of learning theory is the path to practice, rather than allowing a steady trickle down of academics to the lower grades—the essence of Piaget’s “American Question.”