Is My Preschool Child Selfish? - Probably Not!

1. Egocentric

1.1. In a preschooler's world, it’s “all about me” all of the time. This doesn’t make them selfish – it’s just the way children at that age view the world! This is called egocentrism. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does.

2. Examples from our reading of how a child at this age is egocentric

3. My Point of View

3.1. Children believe that their experience is the same as everyone else's. If they have certain people or things at home, so must everyone else!

3.2. If they see their teacher out in public with their son, they may believe that's their brother, because that is the older boy member of their family.

4. What I see

5. How I Feel

5.1. If a child takes another's toy, and the teacher says, "how do you think you made them feel?" They may answer, "good" because they feel good about having the toy. They haven't yet developed theory of mind, where they can predict or understand what someone else is thinking.

6. What I say

6.1. Egocentric speech (private speech) is very common in children at this age

6.2. Children often talk to themselves during play or while completing a task

6.3. This speech can serve different functions

6.3.1. To help them self-regulate and monitor their steps, especially if they are problem solving through something hard

6.3.2. Children are still learning how to think "in their head" and not out loud.

6.3.3. Serves as internal speech - because children have not yet learned about social speech yet, the speech is simply for them - it will eventually become conversational and shared with others as they grow into the social scene.

6.3.3.1. Video of private speech