Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

Ashford University
Week 3 Assignment
PSY 104
Elisa Fleming
Professor: Jennifer Marshall
Date: June 21, 2020
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

Here at Brookeville Community Center our mission is to give children the best

learning experience possible. In our classrooms we give children the chance to explore while

learning at the same time. The classes are structured based on the theories of psychologists Jean

Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory of a classroom entails that a teacher is able to

use the scaffolding techniques to assist the child within their zone of proximal development.

He understood that children can learn but they tend to learn or comprehend in a way that works

best for them. When a child is guided based on their ZPD status our main goal is to help them as

much as possible to achieve that desired goal. Our main goal is to get to that point where a child

can work independently based on the tools that we provide them. (Vygotsky,1934) We all had to

crawl before we can walk that’s my motto. Reality is that we all needed some type of assistance

along the way to help us get to where we are today. Vygotsky believed that a developing child

learned better with socio- cultural influences which also increased language that also helps

with future reasoning, attention, and memory. (Vygotsky,1934)

Piaget’s theory of a classroom explains the importance of the way the child develops

biologically and how it can impact the child’s thought process. (Piaget,1964) He also felt that

social interaction also helps to stimulate the child’s brain growth. In todays world the theories
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

are being applied in many classrooms around the world. The theories of the two psychologists

are used together in classrooms and homes to enforce understanding for a better learning

environment. Learning is based on the biological development as well as the social and cultural

interactions within their environment.

1. Infancy classroom/Sensi-motor stage (0-2) years of age

In this classroom infants at the beginning stage are born using involuntary reflexes.

Jean Piaget believed in 4 stages of development which we implemented in the classrooms.

He had 6 substages of development as well. (Mossler, 2014) During the sensi-motor stage

the classroom prepares the infants to make use of their reflexes and sensation that we are

born with. Reflexes is an innate reaction that helps with the use of survival. Such as the

moro reflex, grasping reflex, stepping reflex just to name a few. When it comes to

sensations this would be the five senses such as touch, smell, see, taste, and hear.

In the infant classroom there will be have an open floor full of space to help them move and

explore. Infants are born dependent on their caregivers to help them along the way. Activities

that are used in the infancy classroom are tummy time where the infant lays on their

stomach on a flat soft surface. This helps them to strengthen their neck muscles every time

they raise their head up from the mat. Also an adult can lay them on their chest for more

support and talk and sing to them. This will help them to raise their heads more frequently.

An adult is always there to help guide them through the process. Also squishy toy time is an

activity that is used to help build their hand muscles. This helps with early formation of

dexterity. These activities can also help them understand cause and effect early on as well.
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

During this activity the infant lays on the mat or sits upright with the help of an adult for

support and will tend to go towards or reach for an object that is making the squishy noise.

They are given the toy and they try to squeeze it themselves. They can start to realize when

the toy is squeezed it will make a sound. At first this will be considered a circular reaction

and later turn into an intended goal. Vygotsky believed that we are born with 4 elementary

functions which are sensation, attention, perception memory.

For the infant this would be the sensation stage. When it comes to the zone of

proximal development this would be within their zone of proximal development because they

would need some assistance from their community to help them achieve this goal later on.

(Vygotsky ,1934) This also help them to be more aware of the sound it makes as well as help

with eye coordination. The activity moving mobile toy time can help the infant see the

different colors and the varieties of toys. They will start to reach using arm muscles and grip as

well. The different bright colorful toys can help strengthen vision as well. During this activity

the infant is laid on its back while a moving mobile of toys is above their head to increase a

reaction for them to touch, feel, and observe the toys amongst them.

They will do this for a few minutes a day to help arm, hand strength and coordination. We

will also play light music to get them use to sound and this will also help them to feel relaxed.

These activities can also help them understand cause and effect early on as well. Infants will

learn object permanence from about 4 to 8 months sometimes even sooner depending when

they start to understand. During this activity I will have a blanket and a toy and I will show them

the toy and then hide it under the blanket. If the look under the blanket to retrieve that toy this

means they understand when something is taken away it still can exist. (Piaget 1964) During
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

this activity the infant lays on the mat or sits upright with the help of an adult for support and

will tend to go towards or reach for an object that is making the squishy noise.

They are given the toy and they try to squeeze it themselves. They can start to realize when

the toy is squeezed it will make a sound. At first this will be considered a circular reaction

and later turn into an intended goal. Vygotsky believed that we are born with 4 elementary

functions which are sensation, attention, perception memory. For the infant this would be

the sensation stage. When it comes to the zone of proximal development this would be

within their zone of proximal development because they would need some assistance from

their community to help them achieve this goal later on. (Vygotsky ,1934) Infants tend to

create new schemas as they go along to understand how everything may work. Jean Piaget

believed that schemas was an idea of the way something worked. Infants would use

assimilation when interacting with a new experience and trying to imply that in their existing

schema to try to make sense of things. (Mossler, 2014)

2. Early Childhood Classroom/Preoperational stage( 2-7 )years of age

During the preoperational stage the early childhood classroom prepares the

children are not yet prepared for logical situations. They may think using transductive

reasoning meaning they may think certain objects they play with are related in some sort of

way since they have the inability at this time to make logical reasoning. Teachers are using

the scaffolding technique to help guide children through the learning process. This process is

crucial to get the best effective learning results as possible. (Vygotsky,1934) Children

during this stage will show egocentrism which means that children will tend to see things
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

one sided and may think everyone sees things the way they do. We will give them activities

for more exploration to help them to see other possible perspectives. Jean Piaget had the

Three Mountain Problem that would see how the child would see their point of view as

well as the teachers point of view. (Mossler,2014) For example I will have an activity called

guess the picture or an object.

This lets the child determine what they think it is or what may be happening. This activity

helps children to see other points of views instead of just their own. During this activity the

child and the teacher will sit at a table on opposite sides. There will be a picture of a house

with trees, Or a picture kids playing, or a picture of a family. The child is supposed to

determine what they think may be going on in the picture. Also when the child is asked to

describe my side of the picture and if they say they see it the same way they see it from their

side this means the child still has egocentric thinking.

We will also encourage dress up play activities. to encourage the child to see another

persons role or position. This will help them to see another persons perspective when it

comes to the role they play. (Mossler,2014) For example we can have them dress as the

mother and father to help them understand what their parents roles may be. We will also

enforce them to understand conservation by doing this we will do activities using playdoh,

water and coins. When it comes to the coin activity this helps the child to understand that

the number of coins never changes even when spaced out or rearranged in another way.

During this activity the child sits right across the table from the teacher. There are 10 coins

all together. I will place on the table for the child and spread them apart to make it look

bigger or smaller foe the child. The child will determine if the coins are bigger in size or if

the quantity is still the same. For the water and glass activity there will be 3 glasses in total.
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

I will have the same amount of water in the first two glasses and then I will poor one of those

glasses of water into a tall glass. This will give the illusion that there is more but it up to the

child to determine that there is still the same amount of water in the glass. When it comes to

the playdough activity I will have 2 rolled balls of playdough the same size and amount and

I will reshape them to see if the child can see that there is a difference or if they are the same.

My whole objective is to get the child to see that it is still the same amount and size even

while being reshaped.

3. Adolescent classroom/ Formal operational stage. (Age 11 to 17)

During the formal operational stage the adolescent classroom prepares teens to think

more critically. At This stage teens are able to use deductive reasoning by gathering facts to

make a conclusion. They can use Abstract thinking by determining many outcomes of a

particular situation. They can see a situation from many sides or angles and make a conclusion.

They have also process meta-cognition that allows them to be aware of their thinking processes

and if they need to modify the way they think they can. (Mossler 2014) Teachers help teens to

reach their full potential. The are given activities that will make them really think. For example

teens will be given current event activities, and put in separate groups to brainstorm

information. Teens will explain their perspective on what is going on in the world and they can

give their insight on it and explain what they think could be done in a hypothetical situation. We

will give them ethical and moral situation activities. They will learn Geometry this will teach

them different angles and shapes to prepare them to think critically as well. They will use
Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

charts, diagrams, graphs to explain data by explaining similarities, differences, to hypothesize

by using concrete evidence that is placed in front of them. These activities will help them

prepare for situations they may need to perform evidence based arguments. This helps them to

see errors and correct them. This can help strengthen the brain power of the prefrontal cortex

since it is still developing at this time as well.

Cognitive And Effective Activities For Child Development.

Reference:

Mossler, R. A. (2014). Child and adolescent development (2nd ed). Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu/

Piaget, J. (1964). Development and learning. in R. Ripple & U. Rockcastle (Eds), Piaget rediscovered
(pp.7–20). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1934). Thinking and Speech. In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (eds.)., The Collected Works
of L. S.