Amazing brain development happens during childhood. Your interactions with children support their developing brains. Each day, you build a strong foundation for their future school and life success. Cognitive development is nurtured through relationship-based caregiving. This lesson will introduce you to important concepts about how the brain develops from birth to age 12. It will end with suggestions about what you can do to help make sure all children meet their potential.

Infants and toddlers usually follow predictable patterns in how they grow and learn. This lesson will help you understand typical cognitive development, or how infants and toddlers develop thinking skills. You will learn about developmental milestones and what to do if you are concerned about a child’s development.

Your relationship with infants and toddlers is one of your strongest tools to support development and learning. This lesson will focus on interacting with children to support play, exploration, and learning. You will discover how teachable moments and communication can help you make the most of every routine.

Children usually follow predictable patterns in how they grow and learn. This lesson will help you understand typical cognitive development, or how children develop thinking skills, during the preschool years. You will learn about developmental milestones and what to do if you are concerned about a child’s development.

Your relationship with the children in your care is one of your strongest teaching tools. This lesson will focus on interacting with children to support play, exploration, and learning. You will learn how teachable moments and communication can help make the most of every routine.

School-age children usually follow predictable patterns in how they grow and learn. This lesson will help you understand typical cognitive development, or how school-age children develop thinking skills as they mature. You will learn about developmental milestones and what to do if you are concerned about a school-age child’s development.

Your relationship with school-age children is one of your strongest teaching tools. This lesson will focus on interacting with school-age children and youth to support exploration and learning. You will discover how interactions with adults and peers can make the most of every routine.

In this lesson, you will learn the importance of providing children with a variety of age-appropriate experiences. This lesson describes how you can engage children in activities to promote cognitive development and address the individual needs of all learners.