Families

Infants and toddlers, especially during their first three years of life, experience rapid growth in cognition and general knowledge. Cognitive development is the strategies children use to explore and learn about their world, and how they discover learning and problem solving. General knowledge is the accumulation of information gained through exploration, which they need to enrich their daily interactions and begin acquiring problem solving and creative thinking skills.

Exploration and discovery: The way infants and toddlers learn about their world by first using sense and reflexes (infants), and later physical and motor skills (toddlers). New brain connections are formed through these exploratory experiences.
Concept development and memory: This involves learning the relationship between objects and experiences. Infants only understand people and things within their immediate world, but toddlers can store memories, label and relate them to previous experiences.
Problem solving and creative expression: This emerges as infants find strategies to meet their immediate needs. Toddlers can identify obstacles, test ways to overcome them, and use various methods to express themselves.

Bottom line: Cognitive development occurs throughout daily activities and routines. Parents, caregivers and teachers must bring order and meaning to the environment, provide new experiences, and throughout the day, help children make connections between past events and current experiences.

Preschoolers (3-5 years old)

Cognitive development includes the skills and strategies children use to explore and learn about the world around them. General knowledge is the accumulation of information that facilitates daily interactions—it’s acquired through explorations with the environment and people.

There are four components to cognitive development and general knowledge in preschoolers:

Mathematical thinking: This refers to the child’s reasoning. Preschoolers demonstrate math skills by using simple strategies such as sorting and grouping, recognizing patterns, understanding spatial relations and comparing and measuring objects—all to solve problems. Math helps children understand their world.
Scientific thinking: Children show this by asking questions, using simple tools and making comparisons. Preschoolers find the natural world and physical events fascinating. By responding to their questions, adults encourage inquisitiveness and scientific thinking.
Social studies: This is when children identify attributes of familiar people and understand family roles and relationships. By doing so, they’re developing new ways of examining places and the environment. Group rules become easier to understand and follow. In this stage, preschoolers begin understanding leadership.
Arts: This involves the expression and representation of art, and an understanding and appreciation for it. Art gives children opportunities to express ideas and feelings, use words, manipulate tools and solve problems. Children learn to express what they know, pursue their own interests, and value others’ contributions. They learn to acknowledge different ways of being creative, and show appreciation through questions and commenting.

Bottom line: Cognitive development occurs throughout daily activities, play and routines. Parents and teachers should provide stimulating environments and new experiences, ask questions, and encourage children to make connections so they have opportunities throughout the day to grow and develop cognitively.

Cognitive development / general knowledge

Infants and Toddlers (0-36 months)

Preschoolers (3-5 years old)