CHILD DEVELOPMENT:UNIT 5

TODDLER AND PRESCHOOLPreschool Cognitive Development

List major cognitive milestones for a preschooler

3 Year Old Short sentences 896 Words Great growth in communication Tells simple stories Uses words as tool of thought Answers questions Imaginative May recite few nursery rhymes

4 Year Old Uses complete sentences 1540 words Asks endless questions Learning to generalize Highly imaginative Dramatic Can draw recognizable objects

Preschoolers all over the  United States  were shown this picture and asked the same question.

Which way is the bus below traveling?To the left or to the right?

Can't make up your mind?Look carefully at the picture

again. 

90% of the pre-schoolers said:  'The bus is traveling to the left.' 

When asked, “Why do you think the bus is traveling to the left?”

They answered:  “Because you can't see the door to get

on the bus.”

How does it make you feel? 

SEQUENCING Step by step pattern of event put into correct

order.

 Example Directions in cooking, a story, a snowman being built and then melting into

water, following correct order to performing a task Your class schedule or job responsibilities

SORTING Common household objects being

put into categories according to similarities.

Examples Blocks, buttons, silverware, colored items,

laundry

CLASSIFYING Grouping nature objects into

categories according to their similarities.

 Examples: Rocks, boys/girls, bathrooms, people

characteristics, animals, things in nature

SERIATION Organizing objects according to

increasing or decreasing qualities.

 Example Age, height, weight, length, lining up,

building a snowmen, your lockers

CONSERVATION Understanding that an objects physical

dimensions and amounts remain the same even though its appearance changes

 Example Pouring liquid from one cup into another

shaped cup. Smashing a cookie dough ball or play dough, 2 different shaped cookies or containers of food.

TRANSFORMATION Changing an object’s

state.

 Example Popcorn Water into ice or ice into water, powder jello mix into jiggly jello and then adding hot

water to the jello to turn it back into a liquid, growing older with age, a seed into a plant, dough into bread

REVERSAL Building or doing and then undoing it

 Example Zip and unzip, build a sand castle and wreck it, block tower and wreck it, tie and untie

COGNITIVE BREAK1. Unfinished Picture2. Matching terms - How many do you know?

Pop popcorn

Inquisitive Symbols Everyday Experiences

Reading stories Make-Believe Play

Opinions

YES and NO Egocentric Experiment

Parental Attitude

Limited Focus Test

Talk Conservation Language Ability

Chores Preoperational Stage

Problem Solving

Bunny math

Comic-why

Tea party3 little pigs

Comic-bug

Comic-dough

Flour/flowerCheck list

Picture questions

Popcorn maker

PREOPERATIONAL THINKING

Words learnedChild askingConcepts learningCaregiver asking

EVERDAY

LEARNING

Answers Cognitive Terms 1. Language ability Q. This reveals a child’s intellectual development: how they think, their interests,

and their personalities.

2. Preoperational Stage A. Jean Piaget said that preschoolers are in this cognitive stage

3. Experiment L. Allow children to explore and _________. This is how they learn about their world.

4. Parental Attitude O. This largely influences a preschoolers enjoyment in reading, learning, school, art,

music…

5. Everyday Experiences F. Preschoolers learn best by participation and involvement in these.

6. Chores K. Preschoolers need to be included in ______and daily clean up tasks around the

house.

Cognitive Terms 7. Symbols B. In the preoperational stage, a preschooler learns that these represent objects and words.

8. Limited Focus  E. A preoperational form where kids find it hard to concentrate on more than one feature of an

object at a time.

9. Problem Solving P. Preschoolers begin to develop this skill as their cognitive abilities improve.

10. Reading Stories N. Spending time doing this with kids is an effective way to introduce them to reading. It makes

learning easier and more fun.

11. Talk G. Look for opportunities to ___________ with a child about what they are seeing, doing, and

experiencing. This will increase learning.

12. Egocentric D. Viewing the world in terms of their own ideas and wants shows this preoperational stage.

13. Opinions I. Ask a child’s views or ________ on subjects to increase their learning.

Cognitive Terms 14. Conservation R. A cognitive skill where a child understands that even though one property

of an object changes, the other property still remains the same.

15. Inquisitive H. Children are naturally this way. They ask a lot of questions because they

are curious and want to understand the world around them.

16. Test M. Success of a child depends upon qualities like motivation, determination,

creativity, and self-confidence, not on _________ scores.

17. YES and NO J. Ask questions to a preschooler that requires more than these type of

answers to increase learning

18. Make-Believe play C. This preoperational characteristic is imitating real-life situations in fantasy

play