Teach

As an adult, you have already developed many of the thinking skills that help you navigate the world around you. Think about the skills and strategies that have helped you succeed at daily tasks like:

• Reading and following the recipe for a new meal
• Finding a different way home when traffic is heavy
• Estimating the amount of material you’ll need for a home improvement project
• Finishing a book and discussing it with friends
• Filling out a job application
• Fixing a leaking faucet or pipe
• Budgeting for groceries and other essentials

What thinking skills helped with these kinds of tasks? Reading, writing, measuring, calculating, problem-solving, hypothesis testing, comprehending, and recalling facts are all essential for many of the tasks you accomplish every day. You started developing those skills as a child, and they continue to develop as you encounter new situations as an adult.

The children, youth and staff you serve are all on their own developmental journeys from infancy through adulthood. The work you do every day lays the foundation for staff to support children and youth as they develop the thinking skills they need to be successful in school and life. This course will help you understand how your work contributes to the development of thinking skills in the children and youth you serve.

What is Cognitive Development?

Cognitive development is all about learning and reasoning. When a child imitates an adult, that’s cognitive development; when a child makes a “ruff” sound when they see a dog, that’s cognitive development; and when a child smiles upon hearing a familiar voice, that’s cognitive development. Cognitive development happens all the time and is influenced by both our genes and our experiences.

According to Dodge, Colker, and Heroman (2016), “Cognitive development refers to the mind and how it works. It involves how children think, how they see their world, and how they use what they learn.” Who children become has everything to do with the experiences they have early in their lives. Brains are built over time, and each experience affects growth and development. While genetics are important, the interplay between genes and experiences is the focus of research today. While the brain can be influenced at any age, it is the most pliable in the early years.

Brains are built over time, and early experiences affect later growth and development. Developmental psychologist Jean Piaget provides a theory of cognitive development which explains how a child develops an understanding of their world. Piaget describes cognitive development as a process that occurs due to interactions with the environment. According to Piaget’s theory, there are four stages of cognitive development, which are listed below. All children progress through these stages in the same order, however, the ages at which children progress through these stages will vary.

1. Sensorimotor (birth to age 2)
2. Preoperational (from age 2 to age 7)
3. Concrete (from age 7 to age 11)
4. Formal Operational (from age 11 through adulthood)

Scientists no longer debate which is most important, genetics or experience; the same is true for which developmental domain is most important. All of the domains of development are important, and they are inextricably linked. Carol Dweck of Stanford University says, “We can’t carve people up—there isn’t the cognitive person, the emotional person, the motivational person, the social person. All of these co-occur in the brain” (Galinsky, 2010).

As a Training & Curriculum Specialist (T&CS), you have the opportunity to help staff members understand the critical difference they make in the lives of children and youth. Child development researchers at Harvard University have created videos that can help you understand and talk about the importance of early experiences. Follow the link below to learn about three principles to improve outcomes for children.

Science X Design: Three Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children: https://youtu.be/1OU_9ty5mMw

High-Quality Learning Programs Make A Lasting Difference

As you saw in the video, science continues to reveal the importance of early experiences on cognitive development. Your program plays an important part in these experiences from birth through age 12. You not only support healthy attachments between children and their families, you help staff become important, responsive adults in children’s lives. You ensure positive child outcomes by supporting skilled personnel, small group sizes, appropriate staff-to-child ratios, warm and responsive interactions, and a developmentally appropriate curriculum. It is critical that you are able to articulate what it means to teach children and youth effectively, create environments that are conducive to learning, and implement the staff training and support systems that help staff members achieve important goals.

You help create a climate that promotes the optimal development and learning of children and youth. Fostering a spirit that encourages new ideas and allows for mistakes is the underpinning of a culture that supports ongoing professional development. That, in turn, supports cognitive development in children and youth. You help staff members offer the experiences, environments, and interactions that prepare children to learn. In other words, you are a difference maker.

Model

Training & Coaching Practices That Support Cognitive Development

As a T&CS, you support adult learners. Those adult learners, in turn, support the development of the infants, toddlers, children, and youth they serve. To do this important work, you should:

• Create a community of learners who are committed to deepening their understanding about how children and youth develop and learn by taking time at staff meetings or through written communications to discuss research and best practice.
• Recognize staff members who ignite children's desire to learn.
• Learn about and celebrate neurodiversity of children, youth, families, and staff.
• Recognize and discuss the role of stress on child and youth development. Learn about how to identify, prevent, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
• Address negative interactions by staff immediately. Have a conversation and spend time modeling appropriate interactions. Observe and provide feedback frequently to ensure interactions become and remain positive.
• Model warm relationships with families, children, and staff.
• Show appreciation for what children are learning and what teachers are doing by talking about what you observe every chance you get.
• Nurture a culture of ongoing professional development and continuous improvement by acknowledging the time and effort staff are committing to learning more and doing more.
• Model and show appreciation to staff for their efforts on behalf of children and families.

Observe

Finally, take a minute to reflect on how Training & Curriculum Specialists support the needs of staff members across program areas. In the video below you will hear how one T&CS describes her role in adult learning and professional development. 

Completing this Course

For more information on what to expect in this course and a list of the accompanying Learn, Explore and Apply resources and activities offered throughout the lessons, visit the Training & Curriculum Specialist Course Guide. 

To support the professional development of the direct care staff members or family child care providers you oversee, you can access their corresponding Course Guides:

• Infant & Toddler Cognitive Development Course Guide
• Preschool Cognitive Development Course Guide
• School-Age Cognitive Development Course Guide
• Family Child Care Cognitive Development Course Guide