- Describe the cognitive developmental milestones for children and youth in a way that supports staff members’ knowledge of child development.
- Identify ways to support staff when they have concerns about a child’s development.
Learn
Ages and Stages of Cognitive Development
It is your role to help staff members understand the critical elements of child development. This lesson provides a brief overview of how cognition (thinking skills) develops from birth through age 12. Staff members have read similar information in their own lessons, so this is intended to provide you with consistent information and terminology. The information and resources are intended as a reference for you or as something you can provide to staff members as a refresher.
Infant and Toddler Milestones
Infants' and toddlers' thinking skills grow as they interact with the world and people around them. As you learned in the first lesson, early experiences matter. Consistent, nurturing experiences help infants and toddlers make sense of the world. Those experiences literally build brain architecture. As infants and toddlers develop, they begin to understand and predict how things work: they open and close a cabinet door over and over, they fill and dump a cup of water in the water table, they bang a spoon on a high chair to hear the sound.
You will help staff members understand these milestones. Staff received a chart about infant and toddler development in their own lessons. It's important that you help them keep in mind that individual differences exist when it comes to the specific age at which infants and toddlers meet milestones; each child is unique. As highlighted in the Communication and Physical courses, milestones provide a guide for when to expect certain skills or behaviors to emerge. Here is a reminder about general cognitive developmental milestones:
Cognitive Developmental Milestones
2 months
6 months
12 months
18 months
24 months
36 months
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). Developmental Milestones. An electronic resource available from: http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/actearly/pdf/checklists/All_Checklists.pdf
Preschool Milestones
During the preschool years, amazing changes happen in children's "thinking skills." Their memories are becoming stronger-they often remember surprising details. They can share their ideas in new and interesting ways. Their imaginations are becoming a primary vehicle for play and learning. They begin to compare, contrast, organize, analyze, and come up with more and more complex ways to solve problems. Math and scientific thinking become more sophisticated.
Read the table below that lists some cognitive developmental milestones in preschool.
Cognitive Developmental Milestones
Age 3
Age 4
Age 5
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). Developmental Milestones. An electronic resource available from: http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/actearly/pdf/checklists/All_Checklists.pdf
School-Age Milestones
School-age children's thinking skills become increasingly sophisticated as they encounter new people, places, and ideas. They develop the ability to learn in abstract ways from books, art, movies, and experiences. The chart below highlights cognitive development during the school-age years.
Cognitive Developmental Milestones
Middle childhood (ages 5-7)
Early adolescence (ages 8-12)
Helping Staff Members Understand Cognitive Development
Staff members must use their knowledge of child development to work appropriately with the children in their care. Be prepared to teach staff effective strategies for facilitating cognitive development. When working with staff members in the classroom, observe as they engage with children to ensure they do the following:
Infants and Toddlers
- Give infants and toddlers the safe space they need for movement and discovery (areas for climbing, crawling, pulling up, etc.).
- Provide a consistent, nurturing relationship with each infant and toddler.
- Recognize that children need different things as they move through the developmental stages.
- Observe children on a regular basis to determine where they are developmentally so staff can both support and challenge their emerging skills.
- Remember that children are unique and progress at different rates and that one area of development may take longer than other areas.
Preschool
- Provide interesting materials that spark preschoolers’ interests and allow for hands-on exploration.
- Provide a range of developmentally appropriate and culturally diverse books.
- Find teachable moments to encourage learning and development.
- Observe children on a regular basis to determine where they are developmentally so staff can both support and challenge their emerging skills.
- Remember that children are unique and progress at different rates and that one area of development may take longer than other areas.
School-Age
- Provide thought-provoking materials and challenging games for school-age children to complete if or when they have some downtime.
- Provide a variety of developmentally appropriate and culturally diverse books for school-age children to read.
- Model the values of caring, respect, honesty, and responsibility.
- Make sure that the space is culturally sensitive and that there are no negative portrayals of different genders, races, or ethnicities.
- Ensure the space reflects the needs and interests of the school-age children.
- Provide spaces where school-age children can cool down or de-stress.
- Allow the school-age children to design or personalize part of the space.
- Implement activities where children and youth can use their strengths and abilities.
There are some common struggles shared by many new staff members as they learn to understand cognitive development. Sometimes staff struggle with collecting and interpreting information about children's development. They may not understand how to make the connection between a child's development and the experiences your program offers. Watch this video to learn from experienced training and curriculum specialists about other challenges you might be prepared to support.
Helping Staff Understand Cognitive Development: Common Issues and Concerns
What can you do when staff members encounter these problems? As an instructional leader, you can help staff members understand how to make the most of the information they collect about children's development. Data is meaningless unless it is put to use! Staff might need your support identifying how their observation notes match up with developmental milestone checklists, learning standards, or curriculum objectives. They might need support learning how to plan experiences around caregiving routines for infants and toddlers, or they might need support knowing how to use what they know about child development to plan for the wide variability of ages in school-age programs. You can help staff members identify where children are and what goals are appropriate for them. While plans for different age groups will vary, they share some similarities. All quality plans, regardless of the age of the children, consider the interests of the children, the abilities of the children, and the experiences of the children. Teach staff how your program collects information about children's interests, abilities, and experiences. Make sure staff members know how to follow your program or Service's observation and assessment procedures. Then teach staff members how to analyze the information they collect. What does their data tell them about individual children, groups of children, or the whole class or program?
Meeting the Cognitive Development Needs of All Learners Including those with Special Needs
Teach staff members about your program's commitment to serving all children and youth. In their own courses, staff members have learned strategies for meeting the needs of individual learners. There are also additional inclusion modules that staff members may complete (i.e., KIT). Staff members will need your support to know how and when to use the strategies they have learned. Teach staff members to recognize the range of abilities in their classrooms or programs. It is critical to understand the needs of children with individualized education programs (IEPs), but it is equally important to understand that all children and youth need individualization. Help them consider and plan for the preschooler who needs an extra challenge, the toddler who is learning more than one language, or the pre-teen who sits quietly by herself.
Model
You help set the expectations for developmentally appropriate practice in your program. You can use the following strategies to help staff members understand the development of children and youth with a range of needs and abilities:
- Have a strengths-based approach. Begin conversations by discussing what the child, youth, or family brings to the program and what they can do.
- Focus on outcomes. Discuss with staff members the development and learning goals that are appropriate for each individual child. Then help plan experiences to meet those goals.
- Advocate for maximum participation. Recognize when a child is capable of more than is being offered. Make sure all children have the opportunity to challenge themselves and participate to the maximum extent possible.
- Interact. Talk to every child. Communicate that every child has a place in your program. Jump in and help when needed.
- Arrange for the staff member to observe others who have strong or creative methods for observing and documenting children's development.
- Model observation and note taking, then discuss how and why you recorded what you did about a child's development.
- Help identify other sources of information that can contribute to understanding the child's development.
Observe
Observe in classrooms or programs. Make special notes about children you see struggling. Also be sure to note children who seem to need an additional challenge. Look for signs that staff members understand child development and have realistically high expectations for children's development. Take a look at the following scenarios and think about what you would see, say, and do in each.
See Say Do
Use the menu at the left or the pager below to cycle through scenarios
Scenario | What you see:Joshua, age 10, is in constant motion. He paces from area to area in his school-age program. He does not try any activities. He does not talk to any peers. He just walks from space to space. Staff members have come to you with concerns about his development. |
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You Say | What staff might say to support thinking skills:“I understand your concerns, and I’ve noticed some of the same things. I’d like to think with you about what you usually expect from a 10-year-old: How does this compare with what you see other children Joshua’s age doing? What’s the range of ways other 10-year-olds get involved in programming?” |
You Do | What staff might do to support thinking skills:Observe with the staff members. Observe Joshua and several peers. Also provide a description of typical development during the pre-teen years. Have a conversation with the staff members about their notes and your own. Discuss how Joshua’s behavior is the same or different from expectations. If concerns persist, follow your program’s policies for addressing concerns about development. |
Scenario | What you see:Britta, age 4, has cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair and has limited control of her hands and arms. She does not like the sensory experiences in her preschool classroom. She will not put her hands or fingers into water, sand, paint, or any other substance. She hates play dough. Last week when the class planted flowers, Britta cried and refused to participate. The staff members in Britta’s room tell you they are worried that Britta is missing out on important experiences with the other children. They are having a hard time understanding what she knows and where she is developmentally. |
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You Say | What staff might say to support thinking skills:“You’ve noticed an important thing: every child shows you what they know in different ways. I’m wondering what Britta might be able to show us if we look in different ways. It sounds like she doesn’t like some of the typical hands-on activities. Let’s brainstorm together some different ways she can show how much she knows and can do.” |
You Do | What staff might do to support thinking skills:Share resources about Universal Design for Learning (http://www.udlcenter.org/) to identify different ways Britta can express herself. Help make sure staff members are familiar with Britta’s IEP and the types of supports Britta needs for learning. Share observations you make about Britta’s development across domains—being sure to emphasize ways Britta’s cognitive development is age-appropriate. |
Scenario | What you see:Celina, age 17 months, is extremely affectionate. She hugs children and is reluctant to let go. Often, the other children start to scream, cry, and push away. A few times she has wrestled children to the ground while giving hugs. The staff members in Celina’s room have requested your help and would like to talk to her family about their concerns. |
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You Say | What staff might say to support thinking skills:“I’m glad you are paying such careful attention to Celina’s development and thinking about ways to involve families. Let’s take a moment to review your notes and observations about Celina’s development. Toddlers sometimes have a hard time using words, so they use their bodies instead.” |
You Do | What staff might do to support thinking skills:Review staff members’ assessment and observations of Celina. Observe in the classroom to help identify situations or peers that seem to be associated with the most hugging. Help staff members understand how toddler cognitive, communication, and social development are connected. |
You play an important role in promoting the cognitive development of all children, including those with special needs. You can support staff as they learn about child development. Understanding child development helps them plan and implement programs that support all children and youth.
Explore
Much of what we know about child development comes from theory and research, but it has important implications for your work every day. Take some time to think about how knowledge of cognitive development gets put into practice in your program. Complete the Turning Theory Into Practice Exercise which applies theory and research about child development to everyday practices that support cognitive development.
Apply
You may be part of conversations with staff members about child development. Use the Discussing Cognitive Development guide to have conversations with staff members about child development. You can also use the tool to prepare for meetings with families about their child’s cognitive development.
Demonstrate
Grisham-Brown, J., Hemmeter, M. L., & Pretti-Frontczak, K. (2005). Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.
Head Start Center for Inclusion. Retrieved from http://headstartinclusion.org/
Milbourne, S., & Campbell, P. (2007). Cara's Kit (consultant's version): Creating adaptive routines and activities. Missoula, MT: Division for Early Childhood.
National Center on Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/.
Sandall, S. R., & Schwartz, I. S. (2008). Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.