Intellectual Development (4-6 years)

1. Intellectual Development(4-6 years) By: S Block 1-2

2. Preoperational Thinking • Children can understand simple Do’s and Don’ts • Use of symbols: children learn that objects or words can be symbols, they can represent something else • Make-believe play: children learn through fantasy/creative play or dramatic play, which is imitating real life situations, games like house or school • Egocentric viewpoint: children view the world in terms of themselves, their actions show self-centeredness • Limited focus: in preop. Period kids find it hard to focus on more than one characteristic at once. • Ex. Give a child 10 tennis balls, 3 white balls, and 7 yellow balls. Ask if there's more yellow balls, they will say yes because they can’t focus on both color and type of ball at once

3. Measuring intelligence • When labeling a child “intelligent” or “unintelligent” adults are often influenced by observations unrelated to intelligence • Its difficult to separate a child’s intellectual ability from other characteristics like size, shyness, hair style. • Educators use formal intelligence tests • The first test was developed by Alfred Binet in 1905. In 1916 Lewis Tellman revised the Binet test. • Today it’s called the Standford-Binet test. It measures IQ average. A Child should be around 90-110. The test corresponds with a child’s ability and age level

4. Disadvantage of IQ Test • Physical or emotional state of a child can affect the results of the test • It doesn’t tell much about a child’s specific abilities. Two kids might have the same IQ but very different strengths and weaknesses • The test is more commonly used is a screening instrument, it measures level of development in all area’s, not just thinking skills

5. Everyday Learning Opportunities • Children learn in every experience, but they learn more if a parent or caregiver shares the experience with them • Helping them learn: • Talk with the child about what their doing. Some positive comments can encourage their interest and asking questions helps them think in new ways, and organize their thoughts • Asking advice from a child promotes learning and shows a them their opinion is valued and improves their self-esteem

6. Everyday Learning Opportunities Cont. • Children should be included in household activities such as shopping, cooking, and cleaning – it will help them develop maturity and responsibility • At the age of 4, 5, or 6, children want to learn about their bodies and where babies come from. You have to answer all their questions in a simple way that they can understand and don’t be embarrassed

7. Reading • Children love stories, if you encourage the interest and read to them it’s likely they’ll enjoy books as they grow up • Kids appreciate humor and unusual (silly) situations • They laugh over a horse in a bathtub = it shows their learning reality from fantasy • Kids like colorful books that are easy for them to understand

8. Art • Art helps children express feelings, learn to control their body, and show creativity • They should be able to experiment. Don’t correct their creativity

9. Music • Children imitate the sounds they hear. They respond naturally to rhythmic sounds. They love to sing and play rhythmic games • Kids are usually introduced to singing by finger plays, which are songs/chants that have hand motions. • Simple instruments like bells or drums they can bang on help develop their interest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jotrjCfQ6N8

10. The School Experience • If children have a bad experience with a teacher or classmate they might develop negative feelings towards school, this might keep them from learning as well • To make sure a child can adjust to kindergarten: • They should have appropriate self-help skills (putting on clothes and shoes) • Should be able to listen well and follow directions • You should explain what they can expect at school

11. Learning Disabilities • There’s four categories that they could have a disability in: • How a child receives info from his/her senses • How the brain puts info together • How the info is stored in the brain as a memory • How the info is expressed as written or spoken language • Being blind is not a learning disability • ADHD is the inability to control one’s activity or attention

12. Learning Disabilities Cont. • Dyslexia prevents a person from handling language in a normal way • It causes problems in reading, writing, spelling, and math • Brain can’t process info, especially visually • Children with learning disabilities are often treated like they can’t learn, which is wrong they just learn differently • They need lots of encouragement and praise, because they have to work extra hard

13. Gifted & Talented Children • 3-10% of students are “gifted” (IQ of 130 and up) • There are also children talented in areas that don’t show up on IQ tests, like musically • Gifted children shouldn’t be treated differently or special • They easily become bored and frustrated, and therefore get labeled “problem children” If they aren’t challenged they will become poor students

14. Speech Development • A child’s language ability is the most dependable indicator of intelligence • Reveals what they think, their interests, and personality • Vocabulary continues to increase, as well as articulation • This improvement relies on physical growth • 6 year olds should know 2 ½ times the words as the average 3 year old

15. Speech Difficulties • Young children who don’t talk a lot usually are still uncomfortable with language and they won’t be able to read till they have more experience with speaking • Children should be encourage to use a rich vocabulary • Children who don’t speak English have many problems in school, have understanding problems, and other kids teasing the child can cause isolation

16. Bibliography • Brisbane, H. E. (1994). The Developing Child. Glencoe Division of Macmillan. • Child Development Guide. (2007). Cognitive Development: From 4-6 Years. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Child-Development-Guide: http://www.child-development-guide.com/cognitive-development.html • Kidspot team. (n.d.). Cognitive Development in babies and children. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Discovery Centre: http://www.kidspot.com.au/discoverycentre/Joy-of-discovery-Development-Cognitive-development-in-babies-and-children+5357+553+article.htm