Preschooler Cognitive Development Flashcards
What are the two critical areas of cognitive development for preschoolers?
- Piaget’s concrete operational stage
- Their literacy and numeracy development
What are the advancements in cognitive development in the concrete operational stage?
- Begin to think logically about concrete events
- Gain a better understanding on the concept of conservation
- Improved categorisation skills
What is the early logical thinking in preschoolers?
- Starts to understand the idea of cause-and-effect more clearly
- Begin to apply logic to physical objects around them (reasoning is still very concrete)
What are some teaching strategies effective for the concrete operational stage?
- Hands-on learning
- Use of concrete examples before abstract thinking
- Encouragement of logical thinking
- Group work
How does hands-on learning benefit concrete operational children?
Hands-on activities allow them to manipulate and explore real objects
How do you encourage logical thinking?
Activities that promote problem-solving and logical thinking
- Puzzles
- Classifying and ordering tasks
- Simple math problems
How does group work benefit children in the concrete operational stage?
- Encourages children to see different perspectives
- Supports the development of decentralisation and conservation skills
What are key points in literacy development?
- Phonemic awareness
- Letter knowledge
- Emergent reading and writing
What are signs that a child has phonemic awareness?
- Begins to recognise that words are made up of small sound units (phonemes)
- Starts experimenting with rhyming, which enhances their phonemic awareness
What are signs a child has letter knowledge?
They learn to recognise the letters of the alphabet and may understand that each letter has its own sound
What are signs of emergent reading and writing?
- Might pretend to read books by narrating the story from memory
- Begin to scribble, which eventually leads to drawing and writing recognisable letters and words
What are key points in numeracy development?
- Number sense
- Problem solving
- Pattern recognition
What are signs a child has number sense?
- They develop an understanding of numbers and their relationships
- Start to count objects
- Understand “more than” & “less than” concepts
- Recognise numbers in their environment
What are signs a child has problem-solving skills?
They engage in basic problem-solving activities using objects, which might involve simple addition or subtraction, often through play
Why is it important for a child to have pattern recognition?
Recognising and creating patterns are crucial cognitive skills that help with the development of mathematical thinking
What are important cognitive milestones for 4 year olds?
- Uses complete sentences and understands simple instructions
- Grasps basic concepts of time and recognises categories
- Can remember parts of a story and enjoys repetitive storytelling
- Engages in imaginative play, mimicking adults and daily tasks
What are important cognitive milestones for 5 year olds?
- Frequently asks “why” & “how” questions to explore their world
- Can count to at least ten and starts understanding counting objects
- understands order of daily routines and can follow a series of directions
- Begins to problem solve through trial and error
What are important cognitive milestones for 6 year olds?
- Uses more complex sentences and significantly increases vocabulary
- Follows complex rules in games and classifies objects by multiple features
- Shows understanding of past and future, discussing events with detail
- Understands basic math concepts (simple addition and subtraction) as well as counting beyond ten
How do you support cognitive development?
Create a nurturing environment filled with educational opportunities that encourage exploration and learning
How can reading be made interactive?
- Regularly read, discussing the story, asking questions and encouraging them to predict what will happen next (improves vocabulary & enhances comprehension skills and imagination)
- Encourage children to tell their own stories or retell stories from books in their own words (supports narrative skills and creativity)
What are the types of engaging play?
- Structured play
- Unstructured play (free play)
How do you encourage structured play?
Use games and toys that are designed to teach specific skills,
- Puzzles: problem-solving
- Building blocks: Spatial skills
- Matching games: Memory and recognition
What are some examples of problem-solving activities?
- Encouraging questions
- Simple Science experiments
How do you encourage children to ask questions?
Foster a curiosity-driven environment where children feel comfortable asking questions and exploring answers, providing safe opportunities to experiment and discover
What are some examples of simple science experiments?
Conduct basic science activities that allow children to explore concepts like cause and effect (eg: what happens when you mix colours or float and sink tests)
What are some examples of math and number activities?
- Counting games (Incorporate counting into daily activities like counting toys during cleanup, or counting steps while walking)
- Introduce simple math concepts of more or less, bigger an smaller, and basic addition and subtraction through everyday activities
How do you support language development?
- Provide a language-rich environment (conversations, songs, rhymes, reading)
- Introduce new vocabulary and explain the meaning of new words in context to help them understand and use these words in conversation
How do you support cognitive development at this stage? (concrete operational)
Provide engaging, age-appropriate activities that promote learning through play, exploration and social interaction
What are effective ways in enhancing cognitive skills?
- Reading stories
- Playing counting games
- Encouraging questions
What can help children feel secure and open to learning?
Provide a stable, supportive environment with consistent routines
