朱熹的兒童哲學思想並非是其首創，而是對先秦諸子中周、孔、老、莊、孟、荀等思想的總結和發展，這是他兒童哲學存在的理論基礎。朱熹的兒童哲學在邏輯上有三個發展階段，即《朱子家訓》的初級道德勸導階段、《童蒙須知》的工夫實踐階段和《近思錄》的倫理理論建設階段。這三個階段主要以小兒、童蒙和赤子三個觀念為核心，是一個從低向高發展的階段。其中赤子之心是朱熹兒童哲學理論的核心指向。朱熹的兒童哲學工夫進路與現有的兒童哲學在形式上有相同之處，但也存著一定的區別。因此，對朱熹兒童哲學的研究即是對當代已有的兒童哲學思想的一種補充，同時也為中國傳統思想與兒童哲學思想的交叉研究提供了借鑒。

Zhu Xi’s theory of philosophy for children come from the thoughts whose the pre Qin philosophers that Zhou, Kong, Lao, Zhuang, Meng, Xun, etc. which is the theoretical basis of his philosophy for children. Zhu Xi’s philosophy for children logically has three stages of development, that is, the primary stage of moral persuasion in Zhu Xi’s Family Instructions, the stage of practice in the instructions for Children’s Enlightenment and the stage of ethical theory construction in Jin Si Lu. These three stages mainly focus on the three concepts of children, children’s Mongolia and children, which is a stage of development from low to high. Among them, “chizi’s heart” is the core of Zhu Xi’s philosophy for children. Zhu Xi’s approach to philosophy for children is the same as the existing philosophy of children in form, but there are some differences. Therefore, the study of Zhu Xi’s philosophy for children is a kind of supplement to the existing philosophy for children, which can provide some reference for the cross study of Chinese traditional thought and philosophy for children.