Cognitive Domain
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Given the characteristics of primary children previously mentioned, curriculum for this age group best complements cognitive development with organization and content that promote and/or include:
- Thematic or project-based inquiry to allow for in-depth integrated learning across content/subject areas
- Large blocks of time for work that allow children to pace themselves, stay involved, and work interactively with other children
- Opportunities for children to engage in planning and making choices directly connected to children’s learning experiences
A literacy-rich environment in the primary years is critical to the development of the written and oral communication skills and comprehension that are so necessary for later academic success. Primary school children benefit greatly from daily opportunities to interact with meaningful printed materials that become part of the curriculum, such as charts, lists, schedules, labels, and notes, which represent practical applications of language. Literacy materials should be available in all areas of the classroom, so that children can incorporate reading and writing in all of their activities and play. Books and other curricular materials for reading and writing should be plentiful, varied, and reflect the cultural experiences and real lives of children in the classroom.
Primary curricula are typically designed with good intentions by knowledgeable people to meet specific needs and goals; this is not a guarantee, however, that all the important domains of development will be addressed adequately or evenly. It may indeed be challenging for teachers in the primary grades to forge a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate approach from multiple separate subject area curricula, but it is not impossible, and such teachers have an opportunity to advocate for best practices that can make the school lives of children more productive, effective, and developmentally appropriate.
Chapter Summary
- Developmental knowledge about infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and children in the primary grades should guide and inform the decisions that teachers make about curriculum.
- While we expect children to achieve specific developmental milestones in the physical, affective, and cognitive domains, growth and learning occur in a highly integrated and gradual process.
- Curriculum must account for and support the needs and interests of both typically developing children and those with special needs. Specific supports, processes, and adaptations are implemented when children exhibit developmental delays or other special needs.
- A large body of research confirms the benefits of play across all developmental domains. Early childhood curriculum should incorporate support for play as a primary means of integrating experience and learning.
- Theories about play describe it as a developmental process from both cognitive and social perspectives; they are useful for teachers as they plan for, observe, and facilitate children’s play activities.
- In developmentally appropriate classrooms, teachers typically provide for play with designated activity or learning centers, materials that support development in many different ways, and large blocks of time that allow children to engage deeply in various activities.
- Curriculum for infants centers on care routines and developing secure relationships with adults.
- Toddler curriculum supports their increasing mobility and desire to explore, acquisition of language, and emerging social behaviors.
- Curriculum for preschoolers focuses on the refinement of gross and fine motor skills, developing social relationships, fostering emergent literacy, and internalizing a love of learning through exploration of their environment.
- Classrooms for children in the primary grades should look in many ways similar to those for younger children. Curricula for children from kindergarten through third grade include an increased emphasis on literacy and mathematics but should continue to balance learning in an integrated and individualized fashion.
Discussion Questions
- What do you think will be most challenging as you work at learning and understanding how to teach from a developmental perspective?
- Think about your experiences playing as a child; what kind of things did you enjoy doing the most and how do you think your play experiences supported your growth and development?
- What themes can you identify that run throughout early childhood curriculum?
Key Terms
Click on each key term to see the definition.
Modifications made to environments, materials, curriculum content, or strategies
The domain of development that focuses on social and emotional growth
Social stage of play when children begin to share and play together without necessarily sharing a desired goal or theme
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Broad continuum of behaviors related to difficulties with sensory processing, social interaction, and communication
A small tube open on both ends that is the approximate size of a baby’s airway, used to determine whether a toy or material presents a choking hazard
The ability to shift seamlessly between one language and another
Highest social level of play, when groups of children play together with a shared purpose or theme
Holding onto furniture or other objects placed close together to move from one spot to another
Exists when a child does not meet benchmarks or milestones typically expected for children in a particular stage of development
Patterns or sequences of development or learning specific to a particular dimension of the human organism, such as the cognitive (thinking), affective (social/emotional) or physical (gross/fine motor and brain) domain
The highest stage of cognitive play, which parallels concrete operations; groups of children play games with common understanding of rules or make up their own rules for games they want to play
Characteristics indicative of intellectual capacity beyond what is considered typical
A practice that places children with special needs in regular classroom or care settings with typically developing children
Individualized education plan (IEP)
A plan developed for an individual child with special needs 3 years of age or older that includes curricular and developmental goals, needed resources, adaptations, and support personnel, time lines, and follow-up measures
Individualized family service plan (IFSP)
Service plan developed for children from birth to 3 years of age with services sometimes delivered in the home
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
A federal law requiring that children with disabilities be included in regular classrooms or care settings to the maximum extent possible, also providing funding for resources to meet these children’s special needs
Developmental milestone achieved when an infant realizes that an object or person out of sight continues to exist
Playing side by side but not interacting with another child
Cognitive stage of play that parallels the sensorimotor stage, when children engage in repetitive or reflexive activities
An adult designated as the principal caregiver for a child or children
Characteristic of infant and young toddlers, playing without awareness of or interest in others
A condition or set of characteristics or behaviors that is not typical for other children of the same age, requiring resources or support services
A cognitive stage of play that occurs during the preoperational period, characterized by using objects to represent other objects and pretend
A child whose observable characteristics conform to those reported and/or observed in the majority of children in a given population
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