Indeed, parental involvement with learning is a family factor that is connected to language development as part of cognitive development in children. From the outset, low involvement with the child is a risk factor in this case (Hoff, 2013). Various reasons contribute to reduced involvement by Lauren as a parent in Kathleen's learning and have both intrinsic and extrinsic properties. First, Lauren is a teenage parent, which is another risk factor with an extrinsic character. According to St. Michael's Hospital (2013), teenage mothers have limited educational opportunities, lower paid jobs and experience single parenthood, which are social factors and stressors that significantly influence childhood cognitive development negatively. Evidently, Lauren did not read, sing and play with her daughter adequately due to the rigors of employment (again she is a single mother) and lack of childrens' books due to financial constraints. In addition, Lauren became a parent too early in life and thus had limited knowledge of child rearing. Therefore, her lack of involvement with her daughter's learning was propagated by her limited intelligence, which is an intrinsic character of the risk factor. However, protectors that can positively influence the cognitive development of Kathleen include parental resilience, knowledge of parenting and child development and concrete support systems. .
From a theoretical perspective, Kathleen is in the preoperational stage of cognitive development, which spans from two years to seven years of age according to Piaget (Bjorklund, 2013). The preoperational stage is divided further into the symbolic function and intuitive thought substages spanning from two to four years and four to seven years respectively. The symbolic function substage is characterized by language development, particularly vocabulary, pragmatics and grammar, as a milestone of cognitive development.
