Caring for School-Age Children
Chapter 5
Development in Middle Childhood:
Cognitive
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Cognitive Theories
• Explanations of the mental processes
children use to think and acquire
knowledge
• Explanations of how these processes
affect a child’s understanding of his
experiences
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Characteristics of Middle Childhood
• Children can selectively focus on tasks
• Children can reason in logical steps to
solve problems
• Children can learn strategies for
increasing memory
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• Language develops rapidly and is used to
communicate ideas, interact with others,
develop competencies
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Piaget
• Cognitive development follows predictable
stages
• Each person proceeds through the stages
at his or her own rate
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• There are four stages from birth to 15
years
– Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years)
– Preoperational (2 to 7 years)
– Concrete operations (7 to 11 years)
– Formal operations (11 to 15 years)
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Principles from Piaget’s Theory
• Children construct their own knowledge
• Development of intelligence is the result of
progressing through the stages
• Children progress through stages at
different rates
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Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
• Some skills are clearly present in earlier
stages than indicated by Piaget
• Children’s abilities are not homogeneous
at a particular stage
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Implications for Child Care Staff
Members
• Provide many different materials for
children to explore
• Allow plenty of time for free exploration
• Provide experiences that allow children to
solve their own problems and make
decisions
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Behaviorist Learning Theory
• John B. Watson: behavior is shaped by
environment and use of rewards
• B. F. Skinner: rewards for behavior will
likely cause children to repeat the behavior
• Albert Bandura: some behaviors are
learned less directly, such as through
modeling
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Evaluation of Behaviorism
• Learning theory has contributed to a more
scientific study of human development
• Emphasis on behavior does not take into
account the inner life of the child
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Implications for Child Care Staff
Members
• Carefully arrange the learning environment
• Use appropriate reinforcers to bring about
desired behavior
• Model behavior that is expected of
children
• Help children find alternative behaviors to
those that are generating negative
responses from others
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Sociocultural Theory:
Lev Vygotsky
• Children’s participation in authentic
cultural activities is important
• Adults instruct children in acquiring the
knowledge and skills that are valued in
a particular culture
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• The social environment is the necessary
scaffold or support that moves children
to next intellectual level
• Scaffolding comes from a skilled peer or
adult
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• Language plays a crucial role in the
development of cognitive abilities
• The zone of proximal development is the
difference between what one can do with
help and what one can do independently
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Evaluation of Sociocultural Theory
• Has increased knowledge of cognitive
development
• Emphasizes the importance of
understanding cultural values
• Does not take into account developmental
processes that are not social
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Implications for Child Care Staff
Members
• Learn more about different cultures and
cultural values
• Include families
• Encourage children to appreciate cultures
other than their own
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• Scaffold children’s development of
competencies that are important to their
culture as well as the broader society
• Choose and plan activities that
gradually move children from assisted
to independent performance
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• Cultivate each child’s communication
skills
• Establish a meaningful relationship with
every child
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Intelligence and Learning
• Theorists attempt to understand and
measure intelligence
• Stanford-Binet: standardized test of
intelligence
• Robert Sternberg: 3 intelligences
(academic, creative, and practical)
• Howard Gardner: 8 multiple intelligences
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Implications for Child Care Staff
Members
• Understand that each child is unique
• Let children choose their own methods of
learning
• Use cooperative learning that includes
feedback from others
• Provide a variety of experiences allowing
use of senses in different ways
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• Encourage children to use language
• Foster ability to visualize by giving
opportunities to work puzzles and draw
maps
• Provide games that require problem
solving and strategies
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• Give children a variety of musical
opportunities
• Use the outdoors as another classroom
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Language
• Rapid development of language
• Language enhances cognitive skills and
social situations
• Different forms of language
• Play language vs. academic language
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Second Language Development
• Normal to switch between languages
• Different cultural patterns in language
• Learned through meaningful activities
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Implications for Child Care Staff
Members
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•
•
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Provide a variety of reading materials
Read to children and encourage them to read
Plan activities that expand vocabularies
Model correct English
Provide opportunities to use primary language
Include language in culturally based activities
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Personal Reflection
Review the different theorists.
Which one do you most closely
align yourself with? Why?
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