Cognitive Development
One of the ways that we get ready for a party is to decorate! Yes, there are lots of things that we can buy to decorate, but often the most special thing is something that children have made. Plus, it’s beautiful and a way to match your celebration to the season. In fact, many holiday […]
Children absolutely love playing with magnets because they are fun but also because they make you feel like a scientist! This is a great way to set up a science exploration table in either an indoor or outdoor classroom. Magnets are a great way to explore physical properties of different objects as you use experimentation […]
Children make connections to understand how the world works and our various systems in transportation, food, nature, and more. Adults can facilitate this learning by asking open-ended questions and inviting children to think beyond the immediate toys and materials right in front of them. Making daily connections and discoveries across disciplines is one of the […]
One of the great abilities of human beings is the ability to utilize complex cognitive abilities to think through different steps for completing a task. People use this ability every day! Just to eat, we plan out our meals as we search for recipes, write down the ingredients, plan our route to the grocery store, […]
Children love pretend play! Whether hammering with a little plastic hammer, mashing a mud pie, or talking on a pretend telephone, many caregivers have seen children engage in rich pretend play, or sometimes called imaginative or dramatic play. In early childhood, caregivers may notice that children’s pretend play functions as a demonstration of their knowledge […]
Throughout human existence, creative and curious homo sapiens have sought to solve problems. Whether they were figuring out how to roll heavy slabs of stone to build great structures, how to transport water across great distances, how to heal the sick, how to get to the moon, or how to communicate with loved ones on […]
Subitizing is the ability to instantly recognize the number of objects in a group without counting them. There are two forms of subitizing. Perceptual Subitizing: The ability to see a small number of objects in a group and instantly know how many there are without needing to count them. (i.e. knowing how many dots are […]
Visual Discrimination is the ability to identify the differences and/or similarities in objects based on color, texture, size, position and more. This skill is vital in reading, writing, math and science skills. When children can sort objects, notice the difference between shapes like an oval and a circle, see the sometimes subtle differences between letters […]
What is Executive Function? Executive Function are mental processes that provide functional skills such as planning and meeting goals, self-control, following multi step directions, and being able to stay focused. Why are These Skills Important? A great example of when a child uses these skills is getting ready for school. It sounds easy, but in […]
