1. Cognitive Development

2. Agenda
Responsive Caregiving Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Exploration and Discovery Problem Solving Memory Information Processing Imitation and Make Believe Inclusion
Purpose:
To move Texas forward in ensuring that all children have the high-quality early experiences needed for optimal brain development
Assist caregivers in understanding early childhood development and in making the most of each day during the early years of growth.
Improve the quality of care for young children inside and outside the home by supporting appropriate caregiver practices.
Positively influence the design of professional development strategies, parent engagement, administrative planning, key class materials, and curricula

3. Objectives
Describe Piaget’s sensorimotor stage of cognitive development Create a list of 4-5 engaging materials to promote exploration for non-mobile infants Develop an open-ended activity to promote problem-solving skills List 3-4 ways to promote and support pretend play Create an inclusion strategy based on a scenario

4. Responsive Caregiving
Respond appropriately
Child receives the response and needs are met
Observe the child’s needs

5. Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Age
Developmental Stage
Birth – 2 Years
Sensorimotor
2-7 Years
Preoperational
Early cognitive development is based on
actions, which lead to processes, which lead to changes in mental operations, the way we think.

6. Exploration and Discovery
Indicators:
Pays attention and exhibits curiosity in people and objects
Uses senses to explore people, objects, and the environment
Shows interest in colors, shapes, patterns, and pictures
Makes things happen and watches for results and repeats actions

7. Object Permanence Before Object Permanence
An object is forgotten when it is hidden
Reappearance causes surprise
After Object Permanence
Infant seeks out the hidden object

8. Exploration and Discovery
0-8 Months
Reach to touch objects
Put objects in their mouth to touch and taste
Turn toys over and over to explore, bang toys
Hit or kick toys to make them move, over and over

9. Exploration and Discovery
8-18 Months
Look at books
Enjoy toys/objects that make sounds, such as drums or bells
Look closely at small objects, examining the detail
Stack blocks or objects
Manipulate toys or objects repeatedly

10. Exploration and Discovery
18-36 Months
Express interest in animals and insects
Examine rocks, sticks, and outdoor objects
Pour, scoop, and explore sand and water
Match colors and shapes, sort like objects
Push/pull riding toys

11. Exploration and Discovery
36-48 Months
Talk about and ask about objects in nature
Notice and discuss changes in weather
Name colors and shapes
Copy simple patterns
Experiment with different objects during play to compare their effects
Repeat actions to improve results

12. Caregiver Responses
Provide an enriched environment with a variety of objects to promote exploration indoors and outside
Rotate materials often
Allow uninterrupted play time
Model curiosity, finding answers together rather than providing them
Engage and play alongside

13. Problem Solving Indicators:
Experiments with different uses for objects
Shows imagination, creativity, and uses a variety of strategies to solve problems
Applies knowledge to new situations
Begins to develop interests and skills related to numbers and counting

14. Preoperational Thinking
Ideas are based on experience, not explanation
Can only focus on one characteristic of an object at a time
Over-generalizes information due to limited experience
Adjusts ideas and concepts only through experimentation

15. Conservation

16. Caregiver Responses Is the puppy sad?
Provide large blocks of uninterrupted free-play time
Provide real-world experiences
Plan open-ended activities
Ask open-ended questions
Is the puppy sad?
How do you think the puppy is feeling?

17. Problem Solving

18. Memory
Indicators:
Shows ability to acquire and process new information
Recognizes familiar people, places, and things
Recalls and uses information in new situations
Searches for missing or hidden objects

19. Information Processing
Memory begins with sensory memory
Information gained from sensory memory then moves into short term memory
To be remembered for any length of time, information must be moved from short-term memory into long-term memory

20. Caregiver Responses Engage in face-to-face play with infants
Organize the environment and keep materials in consistent locations
Read favorite books over and over again
Play memory games and sing favorite songs frequently
Ask what they would like to sing/read
Ask three-year-olds simple questions about past experiences

21. Imitation and Make Believe
Indicators:
Uses objects in new ways or in pretend play
Uses imitation in pretend play to express creativity and imagination

22. Imitation and Make Believe
0-8 Months
Copy caregiver actions (sticking out tongue, clapping hands)
Differed imitation: imitating a new act after a delay
8-18 Months
Pretend with realistic objects (phone, cup)
Self-directed play (pretending to eat)

23. Imitation and Make Believe
18-36 Months
Pretend with less realistic props
Direct play towards objects (feed the doll)
Socio-dramatic play (pretend with peers)
36-48 Months
No props are required
Detached participant (the doll feeds itself)
Socio-dramatic play becomes more elaborate

24. Caregiver Responses Play with infants and toddlers
Songs and finger-play with repetition
Provide space and time for pretend play
Offer a variety of materials to scaffold pretend play
Encourage and engage in play without controlling it

25. Inclusion Strategies Modify environment Adjust expectations
Provide visual supports
Project cards
Picture schedules
Monitor reactions
Snack
Read
Home

26. Conclusion
Action Plan
Q & A