Intellectual Development of the Preschooler

1. Intellectual Development of the Preschooler Chapter 16 Page 387

2. Preoperational stage – second stage of Piaget’s developmental stages in which children have begun to do some mental thinking rather than solving all problems with their physical actions • Stage before “Operations” • Logical thinking, “if-then thinking”

3. How Preschoolers Learn • Preconceptual substage – a substage of the preoperational stage in which children ages 2 to 4 are developing some concepts • Can form a mental image • May be incomplete or illogical • See page 388 figure 16-1

4. Intuitive substage – substage of the preoperational stage in which children can solve many problems correctly by imagining how they would act out the solution instead of using logic • Base solution on “feelings” rather than logic (on a slide and preschooler is “taller than you”)

5. Obstacles to Logical Thinking • Egocentrism – belief a person has that everyone thinks in the same way and has the same ideas she he or she does • View the world in relation to themselves • See only one part of object or event not all the parts

6. Preschoolers view as a film frame by frame • See the beginning and the end and not the middle • Links actions without logic • EX. Mom makes coffee for dad coming home—child thinks coffee brings dad home

7. New Abilities Emerge • Can think in their heads better • Symbolic play, mental images, drawing, and language

8. Symbolic Play Pretend objects are anything the child wants Roles may change also Leaf is a plate Mental Images Symbols of objects and past experiences stored in mind Private & internalized –only is thought about and not shared with others

9. Drawing Attempt objects Intend for realism Draw first and then decide what it is Language Abstract –words that do not relate to what they represent Thinking is faster using words Spoken words are symbols used to represent something

10. What Preschool Children Learn • Concepts they learn: • Physical attributes • Size, shape, color, texture • What happens when something is tossed • May not note most important feature • See parts and not whole • See page 394 for drawings, figure 16-9

11. Logical Thinking Concepts • Logical thinking concepts – those not experienced through the senses but understood mentally • See the relationship • Arranging by size, etc

12. Classifying objects – ability to choose an attribute and group all the objects from a set that possess that attribute • Matching mastered before classifying • Geometric shapes in many colors • Must see the color and shapes as separate

13. Arrange by size • Must physically lay out the pieces • Requires mentally seeing two relationships

14. Understanding Number Concepts • Don’t understand the one to one relationship • Saying numbers and counting are two different ideas • Number concepts develop later

15. Spatial Concepts – up, down, left, right, under, over, here, and there • Relationship between music and spatial concepts (not singing, instrument) • Music beginning at 3 to 4 have long term changes in the brain

16. Time Concepts • Recall yesterday but not last week or last year • Link time to events • Time to eat lunch • Last concept to develop

17. Cause & Effect • Asking questions help them to learn • May reverse cause and effect • Ex. “I’m staying in bed, I’m ill.”

18. Language Abilities Increase • Use language to express their needs and feelings • Age 3 an important time for language use • Egocentric speech- includes telling a story from the middle instead of the begging • Preschooler assumes you know what they know

19. Monologue Talk to themselves as though thinking aoud Collective monologue Talking to another person but not listening to what the other person has said Other Types of Egocentris Speech

20. Articulation of Preschool Children • Total mastery means the child can articulate the sound in different positions within words • Will stop substituting one sound for another over time

21. Vocabulary of Preschool Children • 900 words by age 3 • 1500 – 2000 by age 5 • Words for concrete items are before abstract ideas (such as emotions)

22. Grammar of Preschool Children • Grammar matures quickly from age 3 to 5 • Window of opportunity to learn grammar through listening to others closes at 5 to 6 years of age

23. Grammar at 3 Years • See chart on page 399 Figure 16-14 • Know ed means past tense but apply it to all verb forms • “I eated” • Negatives are difficult for children • They add extra negatives • “I don’t never want no more spinach”

24. Grammar at 4 & 5 Years • Longer, more complex sentences • Using clauses, conjunctions, prepositions • Often form questions by simply moving question word to beginning of statement • “What the dog is eating?”

25. Grammar Problems • Trouble with pronouns • The many irregular forms in the English language will trouble some children for years, even if they hear the correct grammar