My ideas and opinions about early childhood Think about some of the ideas you have about early childhood Think about some of the opinions you hold about early childhood Pair up with another person and discuss your thinking Share with the whole group

Personal and Professional Opinions What is a professional opinion? What is a personal opinion? It is our obligation to the children and families with whom we work to base on decisions on professional opinion that is based on solid theory and research. It is our obligation to leave our personal opinion at home if it is not supported by solid theory and research. That is what makes us professionals What about other professionals?

Sensorimotor Stage: 0 – 2 Babies learn about the world by gathering information with all their senses Curiosity is inborn and innate Babies quickly learn concepts related to size, weight, shape, time, and space Children in this stage are explorers!

Preoperational Stage: Preschoolers begin to develop concepts more like adults, but these concepts are still incomplete Language undergoes rapid growth Symbolic behaviors emerge Thinking is characterized by centration, irreversibility, and inability to conserve

Concrete Operational Stage: Children are becoming conservers Can make a mental reversal Can handle abstract symbolic activities The term concrete is important!

Formal Operational Stage: 11 - adulthood Children learn to solve problems in a logical and systematic manner Begin to understand abstract concepts; can solve abstract problems This stage is not reached by everyone!

Lev Vygotsky Recognized both developmental and environmental influences Mental tools – signs Speech Writing Numbering After the age of 2, cultural influences are critical Zone of proximal development Scaffolding

Information Processing This approach to learning theory arose in the 1960s Mental hardware and mental software Information based on Children by Robert V. Kail

Mental hardware Mental and neural structures that are built-in These structures allow the mind to operate Three components 1. Sensory memory 2. Working memory 3. Long-term memory

Sensory Memory Input (information) from the environment Information is held in raw, unanalyzed form very briefly (no longer than a few seconds)

Working Memory Ongoing cognitive activity Carpenter’s workbench

Long-Term Memory Limitless, permanent storehouse of knowledge of the world Facts Personal events Skills Information is rarely forgotten, although it might be hard to access

Mental software Mental programs that are the basis for performing particular tasks Understanding Searching Comparing Responding

Learning and Information Processing Infants Habituation Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Imitation Memory Preschool years Attention Memory School Age Children Strategies for remembering