Cognitive and Language Skills
Procedure Number:ED 12 / Effective Date: / Relates to CFR # 1304.21(a) (4)
i through iv,
(a)(5), (a) (6), (c)(1)(ii)
SUBJECT: Cognitive and Language Skills
PROGRAM CURRICULA:
Creative Curriculum supports the development of cognitive and language skills through a developmentally appropriate and “print rich” learning environments and effective teacher facilitation and guidance.
Growing Great Kids Curriculum fosters the development of cognitive and language skills through specific strategies that teachers, Home Visitors, and parents/guardians can implement daily in and out of the home.
PITC (Program for Infant/toddler Care) supports the development of cognitive and language skills through consistent, positive, nurturing, and supportive relationships.
Zoo-phonics Curriculum offers children cognitive and language skill development through an effective program that supports learning through music, movement, and play opportunities.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE:
The program provides for the development of each child’s cognitive and language skills by:
Supporting each child’s learning, using various strategies, including experimentation, inquiry, observation, play and exploration. Adults use a variety of teaching strategies to support children’s learning and language development
Ensuring opportunities for creative self-expression through, music, movement, art, and dialogue
Promoting interaction and language use among children and between children and adults through primary care giving for infants and toddlers and small group and individualized opportunities for preschoolers; and
Supporting emerging literacy and numeracy development through materials and activities according to the developmental level of each child
Building connections to known and new language in meaningful ways for each child
From “Learning to Talk and Listen” though the National Institute for Literacy:
Infants listen to and become aware of sounds of the words being spoken by the adults around them. Very early on children begin to communicate their own needs through sounds and gestures.
Toddlersuse language to express feelings and ideas and seek information. They begin to talk in simple sentences, ask questions and give opinions about likes and dislikes.
Young Preschoolersbuild a larger vocabulary from the language of people around them and from new ideas in books. They tell make-believe stories and talk about things and events that are not in the here-and-now, such as things they cannot see, events that have already happened or might happen in the future. They use language that is more complex, with complete sentences and sentences with multiple parts.
OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES:
Growing Great KidsDaily Do’s
Infant/toddler, Preschool:
Teachers will build early language development by implementing Growing Great Kids“Play by Play” for infants and toddlers and young preschoolers and Growing Great Kids“Step it Up” with older preschoolers who are ready to verbalize their actions, daily.
To motivate learning, Teachers will incorporate Growing Great Kids“The 4 Steps to Success” daily and consistently specific to the pertinent level of development.
To support cognitive development and learning, Teachers will provide simple sensorimotor experiences for infants, toddlers and preschoolers as developmentally appropriate in five basic areas:
- Cause and Effect: “When I do this, it makes something else happen.”
- Understanding Space: “I am learning about shapes, sizes, and how things move.”
- Concepts, Patterns and Sequencing: “I am figuring out how things fit together and how things work.”
- Object Permanence: “It’s there even if I can’t see it.”
- Use of Tools: “This helps me get what I want.”
General Guidelines for Cognitive and Language Development:
Infant/toddler, Preschool
Respond to child initiated action.
Use simple clear language depending on the age and
developmental level of the child.
Support the context of language by reflecting the imaginary play,
art, and action of the child with simple clear language.
“Bathe” children in language. Listen to language and tone of voice, observe body language, and talk with the children.
Provide music and spoken language in the child’s home language
when possible.
Consistently map own actions and the children’s actions through descriptive language.
Speak to children in positive, calm tones.
Understand language development of young children.
Show respect for children’s developing language skills and their home language.
Use songs, games, poems, stories, to expand children’s language skills.
For older toddlers and preschoolers: Engage in dramatic play in which children act out familiar activities such as going to the grocery store or the library or using the telephone.
Model appropriate language use and correct grammar.
Offer a variety of activities that include sensory/motor stimulation with support from family members (water play or bath time play, finger foods, balls).
Train parents on emerging communication skills of infants and toddlers.
Preschool and Older Toddlers as Developmentally Appropriate
Ensure that there is frequent conversation with back and forth exchanges, consistent responding, and peer conversations.
Ask many open ended questions requiring more than a one word response, encouraging children to respond with a more advanced explanation.
Consistently repeat and extend children’s responses.
Use advanced language by using a variety of words and connecting them to familiar words and/or ideas.
Preschool: Provide opportunities for children to reflect upon experiences through writing and journaling experiences.
Have a variety of reading, writing, counting, measuring and other materials accessible to children.
Plan experiences for children to learn the functions and properties of objects, and to classify materials into groups.
Teachers will observe and act upon ten key strategies:
Infant/toddler, Preschool
- Create a communication friendly environment.
- Provide prompt appropriate response to spoken and silent language.
- Engage in observation of non-verbal cues and spontaneous gestures.
- Focus and engage in child centered/directed language.
- Self- talk (Growing Great Kids“Play by Play”); Teachers will talk about what they are doing as they do it.
Parallel talk (Growing Great Kids“Play by Play”); Teachers will describe behavior/actions that they see from the children and other adults.
- Expand language – repeat the sounds and words the children use and have back and forth conversations.
- Create meaningful language for bilingual children.
- Attend to child’s developmental level.
- Be playful with language – “Zoo-phonics” is the chosen phonics curriculum, used in conjunction with playful motions through music and movement.
- Engage in multi-cultural books,rhymes, stories, and singing and provide children opportunities to listen to stories read aloud by adults.
Create a multi-cultural classroom/learning environment:
Infant/toddler, Preschool
- Label items with clear, graphic pictures or real objects and in the languages of the children in the program.
- Display pictures of each child and their family by creating family photo books and “family banners.”
- Provide multi-cultural environments that are representative of all families in the program. Ask family members to share their culture and customs through developmentally appropriate activities. Teachers will assist and provide guidelines in this area before implementation.
- Foster children’s primary language by speaking it using simple phrases and nouns, while supporting the continued development of English.
- Provide books and materials that reflect families’ home languages and culture as well as that of others in the community.
In center- basedsettings, the approach is holistic, and the programpromotes each
child’s cognitive development through physical development by:
- Providing sufficient time, indoor and outdoor space, equipment, materials, and adult guidance for active play and movement that support the development of cognitive and gross motor skills;
- Including outdoor time in daily schedules.
- Providing appropriate time, space, equipment, materials and adult guidance for the development of small-motor skills according to each child’s developmental level; and
- Providing an appropriate environment and adult guidance for the participation of children with special needs.
- Providing special materials and equipment as necessary.
- Including music and movement in daily lesson/learning plans.
- Setting out material and supplies prior to the beginning of class.
- Providing opportunities for each child to freely move and interact with each other.
Growing Great Kids“Body Builders” and Head StartStrategies for Teachers – To support optimal cognitive development,milestones in physical development must be reached through:
- Good Nutrition:
- Serve healthy and nutritious snacks.
- Provide safe drinking water and keep children adequately hydrated.
- Discuss food and good nutrition during family-style meal service.
- If possible, have a vegetable garden as a children’s project.
- Daily Exercise:
- Use strategies as indicated throughGrowing Great Kids curriculum and Head Start’s“I am Moving, I am Learning” (IMIL) to provide daily developmental stimulation and physical exercise for all parts of the body, including the brain!
- Encourage outdoor play activities.
- For preschool, provide a balance between free play and a variety of structured sports – Head Start’s, “I am moving, I am learning” (IMIL) provides effective structured activities through music and movement that children can be invited to take part in.
- For infant/toddler, provide free movement and play opportunities, and Care Teachers can implement “Tummy Time” with the infants when appropriate, based on the child’s needs.
- In home–basedsettings, the approach is holistic, and the program encourages parents to appreciate the importance ofphysical development for optimal cognitive growthby providing opportunities for children’s outdoor and indoor active play, and guiding children in the safe use of equipment and materials.
Home Visitors will:
- discuss growth and physical development with the parents/guardians to plan and incorporate age appropriate gross and fine motor activities.
- plan, with parents/guardians, gross and fine motor to do at home visits and between home visits.
- identify equipment and activities to use in the home and local recreational facilities.
- encourage parents/guardians to initiate and engage in their child’s “play” and become involved in children’s physical activities.
- facilitate with parents/guardians, the creation of toys and activities in the home with their child.
- train parents/guardians on home safety, child development milestones, and appropriate behavior guidance.
Drafted 04- 2012
Edited 06- 2012
08 – 2012
09-05-2012
09-07-2012
09-12-2012
10-01-2012
09-13-2013
09-15-2013
09-25-2013
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