Cognitive development refers to how children learn to think and reason through actively exploring their environment, trying new ideas, and observing the results. Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational - which show how children's thinking skills progress from learning through senses alone to abstract thought. Lev Vygotsky emphasized that social interaction plays a key role in children's cognitive growth, as adults provide scaffolding to support children's developing skills. Cognitive development involves changes in thinking, reasoning, and understanding related to age and experience. Adults foster cognitive growth by encouraging children's natural curiosity and allowing them to construct their own knowledge.

1. Cognitive and Language Development California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations (2009) Teaching Strategies, CDA Training (1999) Feeny, Christensen, Moravcik (2001) Who Am I in the Lives of Children

2. What is Cognitive Development? The process of learning to think and reason How do children develop thinking skills? Actively explore their world Try out new ideas Observe what happens

4. Three Types of Knowledge

5. Physical

6. Social

7. Logical1896 - 1980 Cognition Creativity

9. Objects exist outside of their visual field - object permanence

12. Develop ability to handle complex logic and make comparisons

14. Lev Vygotsky 1896-1934 Advocate of early childhood programs that meet the needs of the whole child Children need to acquire a set of fundamental competencies that shape their minds for further learning: Cognitive Linguistic Social-Emotional Lifelong process of development dependent on social interaction with adults and peers

15. Lev Vygotsky’s Theories Children learn best through social interactions with children and adults Adults provide mental scaffolding Give children a framework for understanding Gives children support so they can use their own cognitive skills Adults are guides or facilitators who help children understand their world

17. Child’s behavior not just result of external stimuli – but also internal stimuli

18. Social learning leads to cognitive development

20. Toddlers Learning all the time! As they develop, the same experiences take on new meanings Just beginning to understand how things and events relate to each other – in, out, under Think concretely and understand words very literally Can anticipate what will happen next and learn order in daily routines and schedules Beginning to understand cause and effect.

21. Fostering Cognitive Growth What do children need? Self-confidence and skills to explore their world To try out new ideas To make mistakes To solve problems on their own Take on new challenges What can the teacher do? Build on child’s natural curiosity Create an environment for exploration Ask questions and talk with children Give children a chance to construct their own knowledge

22. Cognitive Development definition The process of growth and change in intellectual/mental abilities: Thinking Reasoning Understanding Children draw on experiences through all domains: Social-Emotional Language Motor Perceptual California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

23. Role of adults Vital role in supporting cognitive development of infants Must provide the “base from which infants engage in behaviors and interactions that promote learning.” Serve as prime source for imitation Provide the cultural context and determine what knowledge is valuable California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

24. Infant Foundations Cause-and-Effect The developing understanding that one event brings about another Spatial Relationships The developing understanding of how things move and fit in space Problem Solving The developing ability to engage in a purposeful effort to reach a goal or figure out how something works California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

25. Foundations Imitation The developing ability to mirror, repeat, and practice the actions of others, either immediately or later Memory The developing ability to store and later retrieve information about past experiences Number Sense The developing understanding of number and quantity California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

26. Infant Toddler Foundations Classification The developing ability to group, sort, categorize, connect, and have expectations of objects and people according to their attributes Symbolic Play The developing ability to use actions, objects, or ideas to represent other actions, objects, or ideas California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

27. Infant Toddler Foundations Attention Maintenance The developing ability to attend to people and things while interacting with others and exploring the environment and play materials. Understanding of Personal Care Routines The developing ability to understand and participate in personal care routines. California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

28. Learning Language Need to be able to communicate To understand the world To function in the world Language unites people Talking and listening Literacy – reading and writing Literature – the art form that uses language California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

29. Learning Language Significant accomplishment of early childhood All children learn language in all cultures at about the same time “Caught, not taught!” Language is tool: Communication Self Expression Learning

30. The teacher’s Job Provide relationships full of language Speak honestly and respectfully Listen attentively Use language To mediate problems Communicate information Share feelings and ideas Demonstrate usefulness and value of oral language

31. Learn Customs from Home Learn to select speech for the setting and the people Learn to use nonverbal features in communication Body position Gestures Facial expression Intonation in speaking Need to be sensitive to cultural customs – some cultures do not use eye contact California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

32. Developmental Stages Children learn complex structure, rules, and meanings of language Normal development - develop ability to create speech Taught through “language-rich” relationships Learn through conversations Learn through play Learn through planned activities Games, stories, songs, rhymes Taught through structured group activities

33. Literacy Evolving process by which children become literate Literacy begins at birth – experiences in infancy with language, books, reading Foster awareness of print-filled world Foundations start long before child learns to read Include experience with books Each child needs to be read to Even the youngest children must have books and words throughout their environment

34. Language development foundations From babbling at six months to full sentences by the end of three Newborns prefer: Sounds of their mothers’ voices The language spoken by their mother during pregnancy Motherese or parentese – Infant-directed speech Pitch and tone qualities Sing-song rhythm California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

35. Developing language Preverbal infants communicate through: Eye contact Facial expressions Gestures Sounds Infants understand the social processes involved in communication Learn turn-taking behavior Learn back and forth conversation-like responses California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

36. Perceptual processes and language development Infants develop ability to perceive inter-sensory relations in auditory visual events Experience effects language development Infants’ perceptual and perceptual-motor systems are altered by linguistic experience Phonetic experience change through native-language patterns California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

37. Language foundations Receptive language The developing ability to understand words and increasingly complex utterances Expressive language The developing ability to produce the sounds of language and use vocabulary and increasingly complex utterances California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009

38. Language foundations Communication skills and knowledge The developing ability to communicate nonverbally and verbally. Interest in print The developing interest in engaging with print in books and in the environment. California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009