12 Intellectual Development of the Toddler

1. 12 Intellectual Development of the Toddler Chapter 12 Page 305

2. Toddlers are eager to learn • They are curious • Stay on task until they are satisfied

3. How & What Toddlers Learn • Piaget’s theory • 1st Stage = sensorimotor stage • Includes children from birth to 2 years • Learn through their senses and motor actions • Learn by discovering new ways to solve problems • Beginning of thought occurs from 18 – 24 months

4. Discovering New Ways to Solve Problems • Busy exploring • Lots of interest in new actions • Piaget called them “little scientists” • Enjoy repeating actions

5. Working Toward a Goal • Actions involve reaching a goal • May be obvious to adults • They want to know what happens to an object when thrown, shaken, or moved • Being to solve common problems by themselves • Learn how to feed and dress themselves

6. Beginning of Thought • 18 – 24 months • “figure things out” mentally instead of actually testing it • Not mature thinking yet

7. Thinking & Imitation • Deferred imitation – ability to recall an observed behavior and later imitate it • Used in both pretend play and language

8. Thinking & Goals • Thinking also shows in a child’s way of reaching goals • For ex. Using a stepstool to reach something in the bathroom

9. Thinking & Hiding Games • Search for object they have not seen someone hide • Knows the object exists (object permanence)

10. Thinking & Shape, Size, Color & Texture • Attributes– shape, size, color and texture • Begin to perceive differences in shape, size, color and texture

11. Thinking & Object Exploration • Learn by throwing, rolling, shaking or moving objects • Learn that hard objects make a loud noise and soft vice versa • Valuable thinking skill is when they have prior knowledge and use it on new objects

12. Thinking & Language • Language is a symbol system in which words are used as labels for people, objects and ideas • Must use 2 thinking skills: • 1. Associate the word with the person, object • 2. Must recall the word and meaning when they hear it

13. Language Abilities • Learning language is important for children’s mental and social development • Parentese –high-pitched style in which parents speak to their children • Parents first language teachers • Speak close to children’s faces • Use shorter sentences and singsong fashion

14. Learning Spoken Language • Develops at a faster rate between 1 and 3 years • Articulation – making the sounds of a language • Takes time and effort

15. Learning to Articulate • Learn to control the tongue, lip muscles, and vocal cords • Children who can’t make one sound will substitute for another • D for th • Dat for that

16. May drop a sound if they can’t pronounce it • Adult should pronounce properly • No need to force child to speak right, go by example

17. Learning Meanings; a Major Brain Development Activity • Wiring for language is very active in the toddler years • Window of opportunity for language learning • Most important thing for word growth is the number of times a child hears given words

18. At 20 months toddler of chatty mother or caregivers knew more than children of less talkative ones • 24 months the gap doubled in favor of talkative caregivers

19. May confuse words: wrong name for object • (cow for moo) • Communication –skill needed to understand others and be understood by them • Meanings to words give toddlers new tools, communication and a new way to think

20. Language part of thinking process • Learn words go with actions • Say goodbye and wave • May talk to themselves out loud, then whisper and then just think the words

21. Vocabulary • Grow slowly until 18 months to 2 years • Fastest growth occurs around 30 months of age • Very in number of words • May use some words for awhile and then drop them and pick them up again

22. Grammar • Grammar – is the study of preferred word usage and order in a given language • Children begin to learn grammar rules • Single-word sentences and then simple sentences

23. Within 6 months toddlers begin to put words together • Combing words is an advanced skill • Important skills from: • Listening to adults • Having books read to them

24. Single Words • 12 – 18 months of age • Toddlers use sentences of only one word • Single word may mean different ideas at different times • Bye-bye for leaving and for car driving

25. First words are usually nouns • Simple action verbs • Next learn descriptive words (adjectives, adverbs)

26. 2 or More Words • 19 months • Combine 2 or more words • 24 – 30 months begin 3 or more words in their sentences • All gone milk • Milk is gone • Fly bird

27. Different Rates of Learning to Talk • Can vary by several months • Hearing sounds and learning meaning all along • Begin to talk, they progress quickly

28. Learning to talk depends on the following: • Hearing – child must hear human speech clearly • Interest – some are more interested in speaking

29. Mental abilities – closely related to thinking, a child with mental disabilities are often slower and vice versa for bright or average children • Gender – girls tend to excel in verbal skills • Not known if genetic or environmental

30. Need for speech– get what they need without saying anything • Interesting environment – just as adults have more to way when they have new experiences so do toddlers

31. Summary • As toddlers explore and learn about their world they discover new ways to solve problems • Language is one of the most difficult skills children must learn • Peak age of language development occurs between 1 and 3 years of age

32. Toddlers need many experiences in hearing words and sentences • Using single words for familiar people, objects, actions before joining words to form sentences • Number of conditions can affect language development

33. Girls tend to talk sooner than boys • Having a need for speech important • Interesting environment important

34. Activity • Do the question on page 316 • 1 – 10 • Have a speech professional come in for a talk??