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

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