That may sound like an oddball question but we need to ask it. Are children just smaller versions of adults? Are children just good imitators of the "adultness" around them?
Many years ago the above two questions would get a resounding "yes" or a "strong maybe." Next time you are at a museum look at the old masters paintings of families - the children are dressed in adult-like clothing and their proportions are adult-like. Did the artist "see" this when painting or was it such a prevalent attitude that the artist intentionally "missed" the actual size of the child in order to appease the family - who was paying for the painting. Compare those children with the one above and note the head size differential.
Children being seen as something different from adults was not a viable notion until the early part of the 1900's - not that long ago. There are still persons today who think children have no ideas of their own and are molded solely by what their parents do. And there are those who still attribute adult-type thoughts and intentions to their children.
Children are different. Yes they are the same species as the adults who raise them but how they function - how they learn, think, talk follow a child's path of development - not an adult path.
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