Item 6 of "Principles of child development and learning that inform practice" brings up a point of confusion. Even though research and observation tells us that young children live in the here and now and are very limited in their understanding of the abstract sometimes built in survival mechanism like understanding more and less confuse the issue.
In order to survive in the environment even babies need to be aware of when new items are added to the environment and when items are taken away. This knowledge of the environment assists them in coping, adjusting and learning. Some adults use this ability to support their view that young children can think more abstractly than we give them credit for. A built in ability functions without understanding in the beginning and takes time and experience in order to develop true understanding. For example, the ability to find and suckle a food source is a reflex (or built in) in the beginning but becomes learned later on as the child gains experience eating and their brain and motor skills mature.
My concern is that adults will leap ahead in their expectation of a child's abilities with out providing them with opportunities to practice and gain experience in order to fully understand an abstract concept and move on to the next level. Make sure to provide direct experience with all of the senses and lots of opportunities to explore and practice with three dimensional representations of objects and real objects when ever it is possible.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
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