Maturationism is an early childhood educational philosophy

Philosophy of education

Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....

 that sees the child as a growing organism and believes that the role of education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 is to passively support this growth rather than actively fill the child with information.

The idea is that genetic factors play a larger role in development than environmental ones, particularly in regard to language acquisition.

Maturationism is associated with the concept of developmental stage

Developmental stage

One of the major controversies in developmental psychology centres around whether development is continuous or discontinuous. Stage theories of development rest on the assumption that development is a discontinuous process involving distinct stages which are characterised by qualitative differences...

s.