The Preschool Child and Cognitive Development

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The preschool child (3–5 years):

• Is eager and excited about learning new things and making new discoveries
• Is interested in finding out how things work, what things change into, and how they can be transformed
• Is interested in nature and natural phenomena
• Is discovering how things are alike and different and what things belong together
• Is interested and ready to learn about counting and creating sets of objects up to 10
• Is able to understand concepts and make generalizations and is ready for a thematic curriculum
• Enjoys sorting things and making collections
• Tries out different ways of making objects move, change, and fit together
• Learns from watching adults and other children and imitates what he sees
• Remembers things that happened in the past and anticipates what will happen in the future

The caregiver:

• Provides opportunities for children to learn through hands-on experience
• Provides children the time and space to manipulate, explore, and experiment
• Provides opportunities for children to learn about things outside their immediate experience
• Allows children to try things in their own ways, to make mistakes, and to try again
• Provides children with a variety of experiences with plants and animals
• Provides children with opportunities to learn about counting, measuring, and arranging items into sets by size and shape
• Introduces familiar themes, such as transportation, families, weather, and building things