Objective 5.01: Cognitive Development of Toddlers

Intelligence The ability to understand and interpret situations The ability to learn

Toddlers learn concepts… …general categories of objects and information. The toddler learns that a red, round object is a ball. She then thinks ALL red round objects are balls.

How Toddlers Learn Incidental: unplanned learning. (Child pushes button on a toy and learns this makes music play.) Trial-and-error: trying different ways of doing something until one works

How Toddlers Learn cont. Imitation: copying the behavior of others Directed learning: learning on purpose; parent guides the learning

The Toddler Brain Attention: the ability to focus on a task. Toddlers are EASILY distracted. Memory: the ability to recall information. Toddlers mostly have short-term memory.

The Toddler Brain cont. Perception – learning from sensory information. Answer toddler questions Use simple descriptive words

The Toddler Brain cont. Reasoning: ability to solve problems. –Toddlers mostly use trial and error. –By age 3 a child can think through a simple problem.

The Toddler Brain cont. Imagination: thinking of things in different ways Creativity: using imagination to create something new Curiosity: wanting to know what, why, and how. Toddlers need to explore!

Playing is Learning!  Play provides many learning opportunities— exploring, imagining, creating, and trying out different roles  Play can stimulate and expand the ability to learn

Encouraging Toddlers to Learn  Provide your time and attention  Be patient! Allow time for toddler to think, solve problems, consider choices, and make decisions  Show toddler by example how to work out problems for himself/herself  Keep explanations simple