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Chapter 12

Intellectual Development from One to Three

+Chapter Objectives

Summarize how heredity and the environment shape intelligence

Describe 4 methods of learning used by young children List the 7 areas of intellectual activity List 11 ways to help guide a child’s learning Identify 4 parts of language that children have an

inborn ability to decipher Summarize how to evaluate toys for young children

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Brain Development from One to ThreeIntellectual Development from One to Three

12.1

+Brain Development

Why can a 3-year old perform more tasks than a 1-year old?

Discussion Starter

New Term: Neuroscience

Is the modern study of the brain

+The Role of Intelligence

Intelligence is the ability to interpret and understand everyday situations and to use prior experiences when faced with new situations or problems The ability to learn Shaped by heredity and environment

Toddlers and preschoolers form attitudes about learning that can last a lifetime Given many opportunities, children will develop

positive attitudes toward learning

+Concept Development Concepts are general categories of objects and information Young children often over-apply labels:

EX: all round objects are balls OR all animals are dogs

First categorize things by shape, color, and size Balls are round, so are cookies and plates Grass and leaves are green

Relationship between big and little may not be realized until 18 months

Concepts regarding what is alive and what is not wont be developed until later (clouds, toys, cartoon characters, etc.)

Concepts of time improve during these years Show more patience “Soon” now has meaning

+Methods of Learning

Age Characteristics

Sensorimotor Children learn through their senses and own actions

Preoperational(2-7 Years)

Children think in terms of their own activities and what they perceive at the moment

Concrete Operations

Children can think logically but still learn best through experiences

Formal Operations

People are capable of abstract thinking

Piaget’s Four Periods of Learning

+Methods of Learning

Incidental learning is unplanned learning Example:

Five month old Evan pushes a button on a musical toy and discovers that this action causes music to play.

After this happens a few times, Evan learns a cause-and-effect situation.

Then he pushes the button on purpose to hear music

Incidental Learning

+Methods of Learning

Trial-and-Error learning is learning that takes place when a child tries several solutions to find one that works At about 12-18 months this is seen as experimenting More advanced for a 3 year old

Example:

Krista is a 3 year old and wants to play with the robot her brother is playing with.

First, Krista grabs the robot, her brother cries and mom makes her give it back

Next, Krista asks if he wants to go play in the sandbox, he says no.

Finally, she offers up one of her favorite toys and her brother hands over his robot.

Trial-and-Error Learning

+Methods of Learning

Imitation is learning by watching and copying others

Older children become annoyed when a younger sibling copies everything they do The younger child uses the older child as a

model for behavior of all kinds

Both skills and attitudes can be imitated EXAMPLE:

A toddler watches an adult on the telephone and picks up an inanimate object and pretends it’s a phone

Imitation

+Methods of Learning

Directed learning results from being taught, often by parents, or other caregivers, teachers, or older siblings

Occurs in schools or other areas of formal instruction like the home

Direct learning involves an older person purposely teaching a specific skill

EXAMPLE:

Joel’s kindergarten teaching helps him learn the letters of the alphabet by showing pictures of items that begin with the same letter

Directed Learning

+Intellectual Activity Areas

To adults, in order to complete tasks, we have to focus our attention on one thing; blocking out much of the extra sensory information. Infants and young children cannot do this.

Young children and infants attention bounces back from one sensory bit of information to another rapidly as they try to make sense of all the messages

EXAMPLE: while putting a child’s shirt on and reaching for their pants, they have wondered out the door to see what was going on in the next room

The more a child can block out extra sensory information, the better they can learn and focus their attention skills

Attention

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Older children and adults have long-term and short-term memory Short-term memory is brief and allows people the accomplish many

every day tasks without making the brain store that information EX: remembering a phone number long enough to call

Long-term memory is for more important data First it enters short term memory Second it is judged on its importance Last it is stored in long-term memory

Babies demonstrate memory early A 1-year old who was frightened by a dog may be afraid of all animals

for a time A 3-year old will remember the specific dog and compare it to others

3-year olds can also recall a celebration and look forward to the next one

Develop long-term memory skills at age 3

Memory

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Perception is the information received through the senses Reinforced as connects with established parts in the brain

Caregivers play a key role in the development of perception Simply talking about what you and the child are doing can help

perception

Use descriptive observations that a child can understand and expand on EX: “ Look at the blue block. Your shirt is blue too. Let’s build a tower

using only blue blocks.”

2 and 3 year olds seem to always ask questions “why?” “What’s that?” Responding to the questions will help further perception Always answer a question, if left unanswered a child’s perception of

asking questions has been damaged

Perception

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Necessary to solve problems and make decisions Recognize relationships and form concepts

Making decisions involves choosing from different alternatives Children learn through practice to make good choices First, let the child choose between two options (both not

causing harm) A 1-year old can choose between two books at bedtime A 3-year old can choose between two different shirts

Caregivers need to take note about asking questions that can elicit (bring about) negative responses EX: Instead of asking “Would you like to have fish for

dinner?” ask “Would you like peas or corn with your fish for dinner?”

Reasoning

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Very prominent about 2 years of age Active imaginations improves learning because it

allows the child to try new things Child can act out a variety of roles

Children use imagination to convey what they see and hear themselves

Important to respect and respond carefully to a child’s imagination They may use imagination as a tool for controlling their

fears EX: throwing a monster out the window

Imagination

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Creativity is a mental ability that involves using the imagination to produce original ideas Often displayed through objects for others to see May also be in daydreams, dramatic play, or silly stories

Mostly developed during early childhood and lasts a lifetime

Promotes self-esteem and confidence How to encourage creativity?

Allow the child free time or uninstructed play

Creativity

+Intellectual Activity Areas

Curiosity helps develop the brain and learning Curiosity is what makes children want to know more about the

world around them Parents can accidentally stifle curiosity by overprotecting the child Toddlers are extremely curious about the world around them

They get into everything; peeking around every corner They become very curious about their parents and caregivers activities

Encourage curiosity whenever possible If a child wants to stop during a walk and watch a snail, its stimulating to

their brain development

Curiosity

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Let’s Review!1. 1. Why is it vital that young

children have a stimulating environment?

2. 2. Describe how trial-and-error learning supports Piaget’s description of the Sensorimotor period

3. 3. Why is curiosity important?

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Encouraging Learning from One to ThreeIntellectual Development from One to Three

12.2

+Brainstorm

What might be some interesting daily routines that would be excellent learning opportunities for this age group?

+Guiding for Learning

Depends on a large part of the caregivers environment they create Reading to a toddler should be a well-established daily routine

Interact with young children while reading Have them predict the story

Reading Readiness means learning the skills necessary for reading, including letter recognition and the understanding that letters from the alphabet combine to form words on a page

Before age 3, reading readiness focuses on exciting a child about reading

Last stage of reading readiness is letter recognition Understanding that letters from the alphabet combine to form words Encourage children to guess each letter and praise when they guess correct

Reading Readiness

+Reading Readiness

Children learn how to handle books and turn pages They begin to associate written words that appear on

the page with words being read aloud Finishing a book creates a sense of accomplishment

Especially when the child can read some of the text.

Bedtime Accomplishes More Than You Think!

+Readiness for Learning

Math readiness is the level of knowledge of basic math concepts Number recognition is a large concept

Like reading, caregivers need to make learning math enjoyable Explore sizes, shapes, amounts, and proportions long before they enter

a formal classroom “Are there two bananas left this morning or only one?”

Counting and number recognition can be taught by making game for finding numbers How quickly can a child find the number 3 in a grocery store

Blocks and puzzles also help shape recognition Also help in learning shape names Sorting is a good mathematical skill

Sort items by color, shape, and size

Math Readiness

+Readiness for Learning

Suggestions to guide learning1. Give your time and attention2. Allow time for thinking3. Give only as much help as the child needs4. Encourage children to draw their own

conclusions5. Demonstrate how to solve problems6. Model problem solving7. Maintain a positive attitude8. Keep explanations simple9. Allow children to explore and discover10. Help children understand the world and how it works11. Take frequent breaks

1. Children need unconstructed play time

Guide for Learning

+Language Abilities

Between a child’s 1st and 2nd birthdays, children work at learning new words

At 12 months a child may speak 2 to 8 words By age 2, it jumps to 50 words

At this time, children will use 1-2 words versus an entire sentence to express themselves

Encourage language development by talking to young children about their lives

At age 2, children should start developing small sentences “Doggie bark”

At 2-1/2 years of age, children begin to learn basic grammar rules Children will add an “s” onto words to make

them plural

Speech Development Most 3-year olds can:

Say their name and age Make all vowel sounds and

say all consonants Speak without repeating a

word or syllable Use sentences of at least 4

words Be understood by others Answer what and where

questions Understand what is meant

by words like us, in, or under Follow simple commands

+Speech Development

Baby sign language is a way to teach infants how to communicate using hand gestures Hand gestures are easier for a child to communicate using hand

movements versus their vocal cords (Fine vs Gross motor skills)

Studies have shown that children that use sign language to communicate are about 1 full year ahead in other areas of language and speech development

Baby Sign Language.com

Sign Language

+Language Abilities

A child that does not seem to understand what is said, does not speak at all, or speaks very little should be thoroughly examined

Most public school districts provide hearing tests CAREER:

A speech-language pathologist is a specialist who is trained to detect and help correct speech problems

Some difficulties can be treated as early as 3 years of age Hearing problems, learning disabilities, and mood

disorders can affect speech development

Speech Difficulties

+Speech Difficulties

Articulation refers to the ability to use clear, distinct speech

Its normal for children to have trouble articulating words until at least age 4 Skip syllables or leave off endings of words

Most problems correct themselves over time Instead of correcting pronunciation of words, set a good

example by saying words correctly Instead of saying “ba-ba” say “bottle”

Articulation

+Speech Problems

Stuttering is when a person speaks with a sporadic repetition or prolonged sound

Some parents mistake hesitations in speech for stuttering “ Johnny…Johnny….Johnny. He….he…he hit Zoe!”

In this case the child’s language development is still immature

True stuttering can be identified by the rhythm, pitch, and speed of speech It is rapid, forced, short, and sharp in sound “I c-c-c-can’t g-g-g-go outside”

Causes are not completely understood Some overcome with speech therapy Some outgrow it

Never finish a child’s words, children need time to finish on their own

Stuttering

+Playtime!

One-Two Years Motor control

Large muscle Exploration

Metal pans, wooden spoons, etc.

Two-Three Years Coordination is key

Child-size vacuum cleaner or lawn mower, telephone, plastic or wooden tools Crayons, play dough, books

Three-Four Years Improved motor skills IMAGINATION

Dolls, construction sets, dress up clothes Music Puzzles Large gross motor skills

Toy Selection