Chapter 12Planning for the Mind:

Cognitive Development

Definition of Learning

• What does the word Learning mean to you?

• Definitions of Learning from the Internet

A Perspective on the Development of Cognition

• Early childhood professionals draw on several theories and experiences for an eclectic point of view

• They blend what they know about how children learn, at the same time respecting cultural and language differences.

Development of Cognition• Children acquire skills that develop

– Concepts: labeling or naming ideas, moving from specific to abstract.

– Relationships: associations between two or more things and their functions, characteristics, and attributes.

– Generalizations: drawing conclusions from relationships and concepts/ideas, grouping into classes, and finding common elements.

A Piagetian Perspective• Learning is the process of discovery.• Knowledge results from active thoughts.

– Physical knowledge through sensory experiences– Logical-mathematical knowledge through making

connections about what one sees and making inferences

– Social knowledge of learning through experiences with others using language

• Constructing knowledge through:– Choices– Play– Materials and activities– Enough time

• Teachers facilitate and provide content on children’s interests.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences• Intelligence is complex• Human competence is a set of abilities and

talents• Vary curriculum to meet all forms

– Musical intelligence– Bodily- Kinesthetic intelligence– Logical- Mathematical intelligence– Linguistic intelligence– Spatial intelligence– Interpersonal intelligence– Intrapersonal intelligence– Naturalistic intelligence

Vygotsky: Thinking and Culture

• Children’s development and knowledge are culturally specific.

• The psychological tools children need to learn higher mental functions—such as symbolic thought, memory, attention, and reasoning—need the mediation of someone who knows the tools of the society.

• Assisted learning through scaffolding.• Teacher is both observer and participant in

learning.

Brain-Based Research• The brain weighs approximately 3 pounds.• The brain is the only unfinished organ at

birth.• A child’s brain is two-and-a-half times as

active as an adult’s.• During the first three years of life, an infant’s

brain creates an estimated 1,000 billion synapses.

• Children’s brains need to be stimulated in order for network connections to grow.

Brain-Based Research• Brain connections are reinforced by repeated

experiences.• Brain is run by patterns rather than facts.• Brain functions best with curriculum developed

around themes, integrated learning, whole experiences.

• Stress and threat affect the brain by reducing memory and understanding.

• Brain runs better when food intake is steady.• All learning is mind-body.• Provide healthy sensory stimulations.• Create opportunities for collaboration.

Cognitive Skills in Early Childhood

• A skill is basic if it is transcurricular and has dynamic consequences that are worthwhile– Skills of inquiry: curious explorations and

hypotheses– Knowledge of the physical world by using

objects to manipulate, observe, and predict– Knowledge of the social world by

experiencing intrapersonal and interpersonal emotions with self and others

Cognitive Skills in Early Childhood

• Classification: the basic process to develop reasoning by sorting and grouping by different attributes.

• Seriation: grades of intensity by size, shape, color, weight, number.

• Number: the quantity as objects are compared.• Symbol: it stands for something else, like a

letter or a model.• Spatial relationships: fit things together and

take them apart, different points of view.• Time: knowing present, past, and future as a

continuum of events.

The Teacher’s RoleConsiderations

• Education is exploration.– Teacher is a source of information and support

• Children do not think like adults.• Children’s thinking is legitimate and should be

valued.• The language of the teacher should support cognitive

development through interactions, especially using questions to explore possibilities.

• The teacher must match the child’s cognitive capacity with the instruction.

• The teacher must consider, include, and plan for all children.

Curriculum Planning forCognitive Development

• The environment should consider the class setting both indoors and outdoors– Each activity center can be used to encourage

intellectual development– Reasoning and problem solving should be

encouraged in the art, block, discovery/science, dramatic play, language/library, and manipulativesareas

– An optimal environment will have several learning centers for the children to choose from so that their brains are stimulated to be attentive, absorb new information, and store information in long-term memory

Curriculum Planning forCognitive Development

• The outdoor area provides opportunities for children to plan and organize their own thoughts.

• Physical and logical- mathematical activities take place with discovery in the natural outdoors environment.

• Routines, transitions, and groups all are opportunities for thinking, comparing, and classifying.

• Avoid group activities for concept development; use the natural environment of the classroom.

Curriculum Planning forCognitive Development

• Focus on skills after observing children and identifying a skill to be developed, then use modeling, questioning, and brainstorming to help children get ideas on problem solving or reasoning.

• Themes can be chosen for cognitive development.– Can be based on many different interests

of the children.– Projects based on themes develop

curiosity and encourage reasoning and problem solving.

To Summarize Cognition…

• Cognition is the ability to learn, remember, and think abstractly.

• The methods for developing cognitive skills are varied and creative and should be active and inclusive.

Computers in the Classroom

• Two reasons why every classroom should have a computer (Buckleitner, 1995).– Children love them.– They can provide a positive learning experience for

even the most hard-to-work-with children.• Other specialists argue that children younger

than three need to learn through their bodies and motor manipulation of objects.

Developmentally Appropriate Software

• To use computers appropriately in the classroom:– Teachers must be comfortable with them.– The computer area should be in a quiet spot.– Children should be introduced to the

computers in small groups.– They should be one of the choices offered in

free play or their use can be limited with a waiting list.

– Teachers should be alert to ensure that no one gets “stuck” at the computers.

Developmentally Appropriate Software

• Computer software should:– Be age- appropriate– Allow children to control it – Include clear instructions– Have expanding complexity– Support independent exploration– Be “process oriented”– Include real- world representation– Have high- quality technical features– Provide trial- and- error opportunities– Have visible transformations

Integrating the Computer into Learning

• A child must first be able to maneuver a joystick or mouse and find keys on a keyboard.

• Davidson (1989) suggests using computers to support a classroom unit on three levels.– Specific software can provide unit- related

information.– Tool software can be used for creating unit-

related products.– Computer- related activities can be designed

to support the unit theme.

Web Sites

• Four types of children’s Web sites– Information (The National Zoo)– Communication (“Ask an Astronaut”)– Interaction (games, like software, only

slower)– Publication (post children’s work, blogs)

Maximizing the Benefits of Computers

• Teachers attend to three components– Access– Availability– Home collaboration

• By age 10, boys use the computer more than girls, although the difference is not significant at preschool.

• Regardless of your family population, be sure to communicate to parents about computer use and learning.

Matching

1. Inquiry2. Physical world3. Social knowledge4. Classification5. Seriation6. Numbers7. Symbols8. Spatial relationships9. Time

a) Being aware of othersb) Learning to locate thingsc) Pretending to be a puppetd) Asking questionse) Sequencing eventsf) Using nesting blocksg) Expressing amountsh) Sorting objectsi) Manipulating materials