INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF TODDLERS UNDERSTANDING LEARNING Learning begins

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF TODDLERS

UNDERSTANDING LEARNING Learning begins from the day you are born and never ends. Parents are a child’s most important teachers. They provide a variety of learning experiences throughout a child’s life. Understanding how a child learns will help you be able to help them learn more effectively. v Intelligence is defined as the ability to interpret or understand situations and use that experience when faced with a new situation or problem. A person’s intelligence is determined by both heredity and their environment.

METHODS OF LEARNING Children learn through a variety of methods besides when you sit and teach them. They learn on their own through everyday play and their own experiences. v Incidental Learning – this is when learning happens by accident or is unplanned. For example a child sits on a balloon and it pops, this will be something the child remembers for a long time. v Trial-and-Error Learning – this is where a child will have to try several different solutions before they find the solution that works. Such as doing a puzzle and finding the right piece may take several tries.

METHODS OF LEARNING v Imitative Learning – this is really a type of learning that a child does by watching others and imitating what they see. Example: a 3 -year-old pretends to bath and dress her doll just like she has seen her mom do to her younger sibling. v Directed Learning – this is a type of learning where they are being directly taught what to do or shown what to do. Example: teacher shows how to use a computer.

DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS v For a child to think effectively they must learn to organize information they receive from their senses, this is done by concepts. Concepts is the arranging of objects and information into general categories. For example an early concept is that all women are “mama” but later on they learn that “girl”, “boy”, “man”, etc. have a more refined meaning. v Children also learn by categorizing objects by shape, color and size. For example: grass and trees are green, balls are round, etc.

7 BASIC ELEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY 1. ATTENTION – children are not able to block out all the senses like an adult can when they are concentrating on a task. For example, when you are reading a book and are able to concentrate on the words of the page not the sounds around you. A child’s attention goes from one thing to another until they are older so their attention span is very short. 2. MEMORY – no learning would be possible without memory. A child is able to react to a situation because of a previous experience and how they handled it. For example, a child gets bit by a dog will remember the next time they see a dog and possibly be afraid.

7 BASIC ELEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY 3. PERCEPTION – this is the ability to receive and use information from the senses. This is an ability that gradually improves as the child grows older. Children as endless questions of “Why? ”, “What’s that? ”, “How does that work? ” and as an adult it is easy to just ignore them or tell them your busy but if you do you are missing a learning opportunity. A child will quit asking questions if you don’t give them answers to the ones they ask. 4. REASONING – this is just the basic ability to solve problems and make decisions, it is also important in forming concepts and recognizing relationships. You can help your toddler by having them make decisions like “Do you want to wear the red shirt or the yellow shirt? ”. Children need positive experiences to gain self confidence and the willingness to make a decision even if it is wrong.

7 BASIC ELEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY 5. IMAGINATION - an active imagination is an active part of learning. It allows a child to try new things and to be different people if only in their minds. Until about age 5 a child will not be truly lying they are just not sure where imagination stops and reality begins. 6. CREATIVITY – being creative is very similar to having a vivid imagination except with creativity you are putting your imagination to work producing something. Example being a painting of a daydream. If children are given the opportunity they can become more creative. Encourage them to play using their imaginations like pretend games, don’t insist on conformity allow them to have a purple cow if they want, praise their efforts and display their work.

7 BASIC ELEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY 7. CURIOSITY - don’t try and overprotect your child, let them explore, get into cabinets, closets, poke around and play with different items it is their way of learning and very educational. A child may put a plastic cow in the salad and say “Cow eat too”. Make sure you watch your child because curiosity can be dangerous so limit their environment and remove any hazardous materials or choking hazards.

HOW TO ENCOURAGE LEARNING v Adults can have either a positive or negative effect on learning. If you provide the child a relaxed environment and a wide range of activities it will encourage your child to learn. If you are harsh and show not interest or don’t really care your child will not be interested in learning. v Here are some tips to help guide the learning of a young child a) Try and give them time and attention – they love encouragement and they love attention b) Allow them time to think – do not hurry their decision making, it takes them time to process c) Try to give them only as much help as they need –in this way you are helping them gain their independence. Let them help in the kitchen stirring ingredients, or put up the laundry.

HOW TO ENCOURAGE LEARNING d) Show them how to solve a problem – you can show them how to best build with blocks so that the blocks don’t fall over all the time. e) Maintain a positive attitude – encourage your child instead of scolding all the time, this will help build their self confidence. f) Keep your explanations simple – try not to elaborate or go on and on you will loose their attention and they will not understand anything you say. g) Allow your child to explore and discover new things – if they want to play in the mud let them it washes off and it will give them a fun experience h) Help them understand the world around them – take them to new places like the library, park, supermarket, gas station, or the mall. Everywhere can be a new learning experience for them.