Growing Great Minds

What is Cognitive Development in Early Childhood?   Early ch ildhood is the period of a child’s development from birth to 8 years of age.  Cognitive development in early childhood begins the moment a child is born. Cognitive development is the development of the ability to think and reason.   It involves the development of  children's reasoning, problem-solving,  decision-making, understanding,  memory skills and brain development  as they explore and make sense of the world around them .   Cognitive development refers to a set of learning abilities that researchers consider to be "typical" for children in early childhood age range, birth to 8 years of age.  In other words, it's how much a child should be able to do or understand by a certain age. Examples of Cognitive Skills Milestones Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age.  Such as how they speak, learn, move, and play.  All children develop at ...

  Development of Academic Domains   Early Childhood Development: Developing Academic Domains            Academic Domains are specific areas of a child’s developmental progress and growth of academic subjects-reading,writing,math,music,geoghrapghy,social studies.etc. competences in this academic disciplines develop over the span of childhood and are supported with age-appropriate instruction     Academic Domain Developement Milestones are represented in chart below               Theoretical Backgeound supporting the development of academic domains   Piaget’s theoretical background of cognitive development is relevant to the development of academic domains.  Early academia and cognitive domains develop in tandem and are mutually affected in their development by other contextual factors.  Piaget would argue that c ore academic domains of school readiness (literacy, mathemati...

  Intelligence: What Is it and how  can you help your child?   What is Intelligence?  Intelligence is the concept of understanding different scenarios and problems that come across us in life as human beings. We use our intelligence to gain problem-solving skills whether it may be used during Real-World Scenarios or in the academic setting. Intelligence is garnered not only from us at birth but also through our experiences in life and what we are taught such as through belief systems or in the classroom. As people, we are constantly working on our Intelligence, even through Adulthood as we face issues we may have never seen before; however, as research and data show it is imperative as the facilitators of young children's lives, that we are constantly working with them on building and gaining more intelligence through the day to day lives.  What are the Developmental Milestones of Intelligence? There is not an established list of what is developmentally app...

                   Physical Development What is Physical Development? Physical development encompasses the growth and skill development of the body, including the brain, muscles, and senses. This development involves two types of skills: Fine motor skills Fine motor skills involve the use of the small muscles that control the hand, fingers, and thumb. They help children perform important tasks like feeding themselves, grasping toys, buttoning and zipping clothes, writing, drawing, and more. Gross motor skills: Gross motor skills involve using the large muscles in the arms, legs, and torso. These skills include walking, running, skipping, jumping, throwing, climbing, crawling, swimming, and hopping.                               Physical Development Milestones Gross Motor Skills: 0-6 months: Babies begin to lift thei...

What is Language Development in Early Childhood? Language development in children is the process in which the gain and ability to understand and communicate through speech occurs. However, it can also be defined as the process of developing the ability to speak, which begins by listening to and understanding the pitch of the mother's voice. To achieve fluency in the language, it is crucial that they understand the basic language patterns, expand and increase their vocabulary to reach the goal of fluency. This implies that before learning to read and write, toddlers first develop an understanding of spoken language. Children who do not acquire oral language skills frequently find it difficult to start on reading and writing later in life. Milestone Related to Speech and Language. The ability to listen is essential to be able to develop adequate speech and language development. The first signs of communication occur when infants cry for comfort, food, sleep or companionship. Below w...

  TABLE OF CONTENTS.  Overview.  Types of Families.  Community Challenges.  The Education of Culture.  Ways to help.  In a child’s life, the most important things to consider is not their milestones or their gender but the culture and community that they are born into. No one has the same culture or family and some kids may be from blended families and mixed cultures which gives them a more unique outlook on the world. In addition, there are multiple types of culture and family and, as discussed by Vygotsky with the sociocultural theory, the impact that family has on a child is profound enough to be carried with them for generations. This article will discuss the multiple types of families and explain ways that a child can be affected by them as well as provide an overview of what can be expected of a child within these types of families and how to better understand and help them grow.  Types of Families. There are multiple families living within ...