Module 3 Chapter Summary/Review

C
hapter3

C
hildren’s B

rains at W
ork:

F
rom

N
ursery to Schoolroom

, A
ges T

w
o to

Seven

O
ne m

orning w
hile I w

as observing a prekindergarten class in a
top-ranked school, a little boy’s parents w

ere also taking a look,
trying to decide w

hether they should enroll him
the follow

ing year.
W

hile he delved happily into the sand-and-w
ater table, they

circulated around the room
. I sensed som

e skepticism
about w

hat
they saw

, and I guessed the reason. T
his program

for three-
and

four-year-olds w
as designed to prepare children for a high-

pow
ered academ

ic setting-but it looked like too m
uch fun!

In one corner children intently m
easured sand and w

ater as they
engineered a dam

. N
earby, in the block area, tw

o boys and three
girls w

orked on a “W
hite H

ouse” w
ith a sliding ram

p to capture
“bad guys.” A

teacher in the art corner helped children classify
w

obbly clay anim
als for an im

aginary zoo, and several youngsters
in the dram

atic play area discussed their shopping list for a pretend
T

hanksgiving dinner. N
o w

orkbooks w
ere present in the literacy

area, but an aide read a story aloud and engaged a rapt group of
children w

ith questions, predictions, and evaluations. O
ne sm

all
boy spent the entire free play tim

e fondling and talking to the
class’s pet rabbit.

I could see the visiting m
other peering hopefully into the five-

year-old room
next door. W

hen she again found no desks or
w

orkbooks, she gave up. N
udging her husband, she w

hispered,
“This school isn’t w

orth the m
oney. They don’t do any w

ork here!”
As adults, w

e have a pretty clear idea of w
hat constitutes “w

ork”
and “play.” M

ost of us believe that in order to learn som
ething, w

e
m

ust w
ork hard at it, and too m

any have forgotten that the process
of m

eaningful learning can be fun, exciting, and even playful. Y
et

the hum
an brain changes during developm

ent, and the “w
ork,” as

w
ell as the fun, that is appropriate for teenagers and adults is not

right for young children. Those w
ho believe that “valuable tim

e” is being w
asted or that their children w

ill “get behind” if they are
allow

ed
to

learn
in

a
developm

entally
oriented,

creative
curriculum

-w
hich often looks like “play” even w

hen carefully
planned-are sadly m

istaken. A
s w

e shall see later, highly creative
and successful adults are often those w

ho once learned to play w
ith

objects and now
play w

ith ideas and innovations.
In this chapter w

e w
ill look at the exciting developm

ents that
occur during the preschool and early prim

ary years. Parents and
teachers w

ho understand the unique and dynam
ic nature of this

age period are best qualified to guide the process.

SE
‘IT

IN
G

T
H

E
ST

A
G

E
F

O
R

L
E

A
R
N

IN
G

B

rain-B
uilding E

nvironm
ents for T

oddlers

Studies show
that the right kind of “enriched” environm

ents
prom

ote brain grow
th and lay good foundations for a lifetim

e of
learning. B

ut w
hat does “enriched” m

ean at different ages?
First of all, good nutrition continues to get top priority. V

arious
parts of the brain seem

to resppnd to different nutrients; as just
one exam

ple,
recent studies indicate that adequate

iron
is

im
portant

both
for

m
yelination

and
for

a
specific

region
(hippocam

pus) that contributes to m
em

ory. M
any such specific

relationships w
ill continue to be found, so it is w

orth the tim
e and

effort it takes to help your child learn to m
ake good nutritional

choices.
“Enriched” w

ould include stim
ulating playtl1ings that becom

e
increasingly im

portant for cognitive developm
ent after age one.

Interesting and challenging play m
aterials in children’s hom

es
after the first year predict later IQ

and school achievem
ent in

reading and m
ath. A

s in infancy, a child’s firsthand involvem
ent

w
ith objects and experiences is a catalyst for brain grow

th.
In a m

arket of num
bing electronic glitz, the fact rem

ains that
sim

ple, open-ended toys are still best. A
toy should encourage the

child to m
anipulate, interact, or figure som

ething out. W
hen there

is only one “right w
ay” to play, or if toys try to “teach” routine

academ
ic

skills,
opportunities for

experim
entation

and
new

discovery are lim

ited. C
om

m
on household objects such as tools,

cooking utensils, and gadgets
provide great possibilities for

creative
problem

-solving and
im

aginative
play.

N
esting

and

58 of 330

stacking toys or objects, containers for dum
ping and pouring, art

m
aterials, and stringing or sorting different sizes of beads and

buttons, for exam
ple, all require active handling by the child and

teach about relationships: top, m
iddle, bottom

; sm
all, big, bigger,

biggest. W
ooden unit blocks in graduated sizes and shapes are all-

tim
e w

inners.
Toys that encourage m

anipulative play help higher levels of the
brain develop fine m

otor control and sequencing, w
hich are

related to later attention and self-control skills, handw
riting, and

proficiency in the arts. L
arge m

uscle activities integrate hands,
eyes, and m

uscles (as in throw
ing and catching a ball, or clim

bing
a jungle gym

) and prom
ote coordination of both sides of the body

-im
portant for building intellectual skills based on connections

w
ithin and betw

een the tw
o sides of the brain. A

ctivities involving
balance, spinning, or som

ersaults exercise the cerebellum
, w

hich
also contributes to academ

ic learning later on. B
etw

een the ages
of tw

o to four, the m
otor cortex has a m

ajor spurt in activity, so
this is a tim

e for new
physical challenges-

as long as they’re
m

anageable and fun.
L

ook also for toys that encourage children to pretend, such as a
dress-up box, toy tools and utensils, or sm

all play figures. It is
discouraging to hear reports from

early childhood teachers that
m

any of today’s m
edia-saturated youngsters are so full of other

people’s plots and im
ages that they can’t pretend or im

agine. D
on’t

let this happen to your child!

G
uidelines for C

aregivers

O
ther factors are also critical in determ

ining the quality of
preschool environm

ents. In a day-care setting, research show
s the

m
ost positive outcom

es, both for intelligence and behavior, are
related to sm

all group size; a close, affectionate relationship w
ith

the caregiver and other adults; language stim
ulation; and the level

of education of the caregiver. H
ere are further research-based

ideas that any adult caring for your child should heed:

• M
aintain reasonable rules so iliat the child’s safety needs can

be m
et w

ithout discouraging exploration.

• C
hild-sized furniture, easels, and chalkboards give a com

forting
feeling of control.

•
Try for

em
otional consistency and

a
reasonably stable

em
otional clim

ate.
•

A
void

harsh
physical

punishm
ent

or
overly

restrictive
discipline, and help the child feel successful.

• A
positive em

otional clim
ate also includes giving children

insight into the feelings of others (“T
im

is crying because you took
his ball.” “Sarah feels sad because her puppy is sick, and w

e should
be especially kind to her today.”) C

hildren w
ith better developed

em
otional and social com

petence at ages three and four show

better adjustm
ent in kindergarten. This “theory of m

ind” also
helps children m

anage their ow
n em

otions; it should be evident by
about age five.

• Let the child take the lead in play. Show
and guide; don’t direct

or boss. Be open to new
w

ays to play or use m
aterials.

• D
on’t “protect” your child from

m
aking a few

m
istakes-

and
learning from

them
. C

om
plim

ent process (“Y
ou’re trying hard”)

rather than outcom
e (”Y

ou w
on!”).

• Even toddlers can m
ake sim

ple decisions. “W
hat color Play-

D
oh w

ould you like today?” “W
hich book do you choose to take in

the car?” O
ffer uncom

plicated choices that you both can live w
ith

-an
d

then stick to them
.

• A
t this age it is appropriate to start suggesting that the child do

som
e self-evaluation. “H

ow
did I do?” “D

id I finish?” Encourage
the child to m

ake positive statem
ents about him

self. “I stuck w
ith

it.” “I thought of a new
w

ay and it w
orked.” “I did it on m

y ow
n.”

• Provide varied sensory stim
ulation and m

any opportunities for
active m

ovem
ent and exploration. A

llow
plenty of free play as w

ell
as planned and m

eaningful play experiences.
• T

he sensory aspects of play can be linked w
ith language. “H

ow

does
that

look/sound/sm
ell/taste/feel?”

T
his

is
a

good
opportunity for vocabulary building (e.g., sm

ooth, bum
py, sharp,

delicious).
• Encourage the child to talk about her play. Show

that you are
interested by listening and asking questions. Encourage her to
guide her play by talking about w

hat she’s doing.
• A

s the child gets older, select a w
eekly topic for play exploration.

For exam
ple, you m

ight put out a m
agnifying glass, collectingjars,

sorting boxes, and picture books for nature study. Let the child’s
interests guide you.

• Ideas for creative projects m
ay be found in m

any m
agazines.

Focus on the child’s involvem
ent, not on the finished product.

• A
void w

orkbooks or other purchased “learning” m
aterials that

“teach” rote-level academ
ic tasks of letters and num

bers. T
hese

w
ill com

e later.
• K

eep electronics to a m
inim

um
. R

eal intelligence and social
com

petence com
e from

real experiences and real people.
• Easels and paints, clay, sand, Play-D

oh, fingerpaints, w
ater,

construction paper, glue, and m
ud are exam

ples of m
aterials that

help refine and organize sensory intake system
s. If you tend to be

a fanatic about cleanliness, close your eyes and im
agine synapses

connecting inside that m
uddy head.

I once saw
a little boy w

ho becam
e alm

ost panicky w
hen he

spilled som
e m

ilk on the table in his day-care center. Later his
teachers told m

e they w
ere w

orried about his learning. “H
e’s

sm
art,” they said, “but he’s so afraid of m

aking a m
istake that he

never tries anything that looks hard.”
H

elp your child risk the adventure oflearning.

Security to L
earn

C
hildren w

ho feel safe because they can depend on an adult are
able to reach out to new

experiences. C
hildren w

ho are secure as
babies and toddlers tend to be better learners later on: m

ore
playful, m

ore curious, m
ore responsive to adults, and able to focus

attention m
ore effectively. In our zest for stim

ulating children’s
m

inds, w
e shouldn’t forget that a loving and safe hom

e is alw
ays

the first order of business. If you find your concerns about your
child’s intellect getting in the w

ay of sim
ple affection, stand back

and ask yourself, “W
hat’s really im

portant?”

H
O

W
D

O
C

H
IL

D
R

E
N

T
H

IN
K

?
A

ges an
d

Stages from
T

w
o to S

even

C
hildren’s thinking ability undergoes several m

ajor changes along

60 of 330

the route to adult-level reasoning, paralleling the m
aturation of

new
netw

orks in the brain. T
he years from

tw
o to seven are

characterized by cycles of m
yelination and synapse refinem

ent
that lead to

new
stages of learning,

so
dram

atic shifts
in

understanding can seem
to occur very quickly-

although a child
m

ay regress until the connections are firm
. D

ifferent types of
studies have indicated so m

any different “spurts” or “w
aves” of

grow
th that it is hard to find a tim

e w
hen this brain is not actively

developing som
e sort of ability. By age seven, sensory system

s have
becom

e m
ore integrated, language has m

ade m
ajor leaps, and

m
aturation of higher-level association areas enable the child to

reason m
ore logically and reflect on questions and ideas. By the

end of second grade, w
e hope to have basic foundations in place

for reading, m
ath, and handw

riting as w
ell as an ever-expanding

grasp of facts and concepts and a
solid basis of attention,

m
otivation, and independent problem

-solving.
A

t each stage in this process, certain types of experience are
im

portant. Since later developm
ent builds on earlier experience,

a child w
ho gets the brain food he needs at each stage has a better

chance of reaching the top of his cognitive ladder. T
he speed of this

clim
b is partially related to innate intelligence, but life experiences

and individual developm
ental tim

etables also play m
ajor roles.

A
ccording to w

ell-know
n theorist Jean Piaget, the child creates his

ow
n intelligence at each level by puzzling out inconsistencies

betw
een his bits of know

ledge, or “schem
as,” and the reality of his

daily experiences.

D
ifferen

t H
ook

s

If you and your child w
atch a TV

program
on the w

orkings of the
brain, chances are each of you w

ill learn very different things from

it. A
n adult can “get m

ore out ofit” by hanging the new
inform

ation
on to

previous
pieces

of know
ledge-m

ental
“hooks” about

biology, psychology, and years of practical experience w
ith one’s

ow
n brain. The term

“schem
as” w

as~sed by Piaget to describe
these m

ental hooks, the bits oflearning that com
bine to form

each
person’s structure of thought. T

he better the fram
ew

ork and the
bigger the hooks, the m

ore w
e can rem

em
ber and learn from

each

new
experience.

Since your child’s fram
ew

orks are sm
all and im

m
ature, her

learning in any situation is qualitatively different from
yours. Y

ou
can try to lend her your schem

as by explaining them
, but if she

lacks the personal experience, your w
ords w

ill fall right off her
incom

plete hooks. T
his theory m

ay explain w
hy each generation

seem
s to have to m

ake its ow
n m

istakes instead of taking the good
advice of its elders!

W
hen you talk w

ith your child or student, you can help bridge
the schem

a gap.

1. A
s you solve problem

s together, talk through your ow
n

questions. “I w
onder how

I should start.” “A
re these tw

o alike?”
“C

ould I put them
together?” “Is it w

orking?” “W
hat’s going to

happen?” “H
ow

did I do?”
2

. A
sk your child sim

ilar questions.
3. G

ive the child plenty of tim
e to think and answ

er.
4. Let the child reenact each solution several tim

es in order to
understand it.

5. E
ncourage understanding. A

sk, “W
hy do you think that

happened?” “W
hy did/didn’t that w

ork?”
6. A

s a teacher, I learned that if things w
eren’t going w

ell, I
needed to ask m

yself, “W
hat am

I assum
ing about this situation

that the child doesn’t yet understand?” It helps to ask w
hat the

child is thinking or seeing, and then listen carefully to her answ
er.

A
S

m
all P

iece o
f L

earning

I once had a conversation w
ith a six-year-old that taught m

e about
one child’s m

ental “hooks.” D
uring the first snow

storm
of the year,

the level of classroom
excitem

ent rose steadily until dism
issal

tim
e. A

s the day ended, M
arcy lingered behind, staring at the still-

barren grass outside. “W
hy isn’t the snow

sticking on the ground?”
she asked. N

ot w
anting to deprive her of the chance to do som

e
thinking (and learning) for herself, I replied, “W

hat do you think?”
“W

ell,” she replied, “I don’t know
because snow

is supposed to
stay there after it com

es dow
n-w

hy isn’t it?”
“It does seem

to be disappearing,” I acknow
ledged. “D

o you know
anything that w

ould m
ake snow

disappear?”
M

arcy thought for a m
om

ent. “N
ot really. Snow

is cold and it
stays. W

ell, m
aybe if you put w

ater on it.”
A

t this point I realized that M
arcy’s notion of snow

w
as both

inaccurate and incom
plete, so there w

as no w
ay she could grasp

the principle involved. Instead of trying to explain it to her, I took
her outside, grabbed som

e snow
flakes as they fell, and w

e w
atched

them
turn into w

ater. Finally w
e felt the ground tem

perature and
M

arcy drew
her ow

n conclusions. She enlarged her “snow
” schem

a
to include her observation that w

arm
th m

akes it m
elt, and she w

as
forced to change her ideas to accom

m
odate this new

inform
ation.

It is through countless such firsthand experiences that children
develop know

ledge and the ability to m
anipulate it m

entally. For
this type of learning, parents or thoughtful caregivers are the.first
and best teachers.

A
s schem

as develop and enlarge, they are com
bined into m

ental
operations, or patterns, that enable the child to think about
relationships in m

ore abstract w
ays. For exam

ple, a tw
o-year-old

m
ust line up blocks in order to see w

hat they look like; an eight-
year-old can think about lining them

up w
ithout actually doing it,

and a fifteen-year-old m
ay be able to m

ake com
binations in his

m
ind to test scientific relationships am

ong them
.

L
evels o

f P
rocessin

g

D
oes experience alone account for these changes? A

child’s ability
to com

bine new
ideas also results from

m
aturation of three special

system
s in the brain that neuropsychologistA

lexander L
uria called

“functional units.” A
s

the
child

handles
m

illions
of bits of

experience, chains of neurons link together-first w
ithin and then

betw
een different brain areas. In a sense, the thinking child m

akes
his ow

n brain fit together.
Low

er-level netw
orks com

e first. A
t the bottom

are reflex
responses and directing attention, then com

es the ,.eception of
countless pieces of incom

ing inform
ation and association of the

pieces w
ith each other for understanding. W

hen enough pieces
have been taken in, the child finally begins to inte1·p1·et them

and
plan responses.

63 of 330

H
ow

does L
uria’s m

odel w
ork in a real situation? Let’s say you

are trying to get your child to leave the TV
set.

T
he first functional unit regulates consciousness and initial

attention. T
o be consciously processed and rem

em
bered, the

inform
ation m

ust cross the attention threshold.
“O

ops, I hear M
om

‘s voice.”
O

nce the m
essage gets into conscious aw

areness, it is directed to
a specialized reception area w

here the second functional unit
converts it into a m

eaningful signal and sends it to the appropriate
part of the cortex, in this case the centers for auditory processing.
First it m

ust be received and sorted out from
other auditory

stim
uli:

“W
hat did she say?”

then sent to higher-level system
s to be analyzed and organized into

som
e sort of m

eaning:
“W

hat does she m
ean, ‘C

lean up your room
‘?”

and finally, associated w
ith inform

ation from
other senses or from

m

em
ory for com

plete understanding:
“O

h, I rem
em

ber, I left m
y clothes and toys all over the floor and

she’s having com
pany tonight.”

O
nly after all these steps are com

pleted can the thirdfim
ctional

unit, corresponding to the prefrontal lobes of the cortex, do its
w

ork of evaluating the inform
ation and planning behavior:

“G
uess I’d better pick up that stuff as soon as this program

is
over.”

For m
ost parents this particular exam

ple proves L
uria’s point

that the m
ere presence of a neural structure does not guarantee

that it can (or w
ill) be used! Practice is the essential ingredient,

and it takes all of childhood and m
ost of adolescence to perfect and

connect all the system
s.

E
A

R
L

Y
L

E
A

R
N

IN
G

: T
H

E
P

R
E

SC
H

O
O

L
Y

E
A

R
S

M
ak

in
g C

on
n

ection
s

A
child’s first m

onths lay the groundw
ork for consciously directing

attention, taking in bits of inform
ation to each of the senses, and

practicing w
ith body m

ovem
ents.

D
uring this “sensorim

otor”
period, the brain is not ready to deal w

ith m
uch beyond im

m
ediate

physical experience. A
s w

e saw
in the last chapter, at around eight

to nine m
onths of age the prefrontal cortex begins its long m

arch
tow

ard m
aturity, and the child suddenly starts to use m

em
ory to

link past and present experience: “O
ops, here com

es the sitter-
tim

e to cry!”
By eighteen m

onths, m
ost children begin to understand and

associate e>..’Periences in m
uch larger fram

ew
orks. M

ore com
plex

patterns of m
ovem

ents (m
otor program

s) are m
astered, an

d
–

m
ost exciting of all-language develops. C

hildren w
ith poor

foundations in reception areas m
ay fall behind w

hen they have to
start associating ideas. The higher levels at w

hich understanding
occurs are probably the m

ost sensitive of all to environm
ental

stim
ulation.

W
ith an increasing base of neural connections, the toddler sees

the w
orld in new

w
ays. The developm

ent oflanguage and sym
bolic

play represent the beginning of abstract thought. A
child talking

to G
randdad on a toy telephone show

s that she has a m
ental

representation of both G
randdad (out of sight) and the general

function of real telephones. W
hen she asks for a cookie that you

have previously put in a cupboard, she show
s that she has

organized and associated ideas one step beyond cookies she can
only see or touch. M

any believe that the roots of creativity also lie
at this junction of concrete and sym

bolic experience w
here pretend

play arises. C
hildren w

ho are good at pretend play also get along
better socially.

U
ntil som

etim
e around age six or seven, children’s “w

ork” is to
develop the basis for abstract thought by m

astering their physical
environm

ents, and by learning to use language. The preschooler
is m

ainly caught in present reality w
ith only a vague concept of

past, present, and future. H
e is “stim

ulus bound,” w
hich m

eans
that his attention is easily draw

n to any new
stim

ulus. Thus he has
genuine trouble keeping his m

ind on any one task or idea. H
e has

difficulty w
ith other people’s points of view

. The ability to
“decenter,” or m

ove out of his ow
n perspective, occurs very slow

ly,
as any m

other w
ho expects a child to see he,. point of view

can
confirm

! For this reason, preschool learning m
ust arise from

firsthand experience and interest. Perhaps the m

ost im
portant

thing to rem
em

ber is that the child com
es at any situation w

ith a
different set of hooks than yours. Parents and teachers w

ho respect

the unique quality of early intelligence have the best chance of
helping it grow

.

W
hat Should Preschoolers L

earn?

C
hildren w

ho don’t learn to search for m
eaning are often good

“technicians” in the first and second grades because they can deal
w

ith isolated data, but w
hen the dem

ands for com
prehension

increase, they “hit the w
all.” They have difficulty organizing

inform
ation into m

ore abstract ideas. “I don’t get it” becom
es their

A
fter years of studying young children’s learning, I am

increasingly
th

·
d th

k
.

11 .
.

em
e song.

convm
ce

at patterns are the
ey to m

te 1gence. Patterm
ng

inform
ation

really
m

eans
organizing

and
associating

new

inform
ation w

ith previously developed m
ental hooks. “G

ifted”
children have an unusual ability to pick up all kinds of patterns
and relationships in everyday experience. O

ne bright little three-
year-old, w

ho w
as being tested for adm

ission into a com
petitive

prekindergarten,
had

im
pressed

everyone
w

ith
her

huge

H
elping C

hildren C
reate M

ental Patterns

D
uring preschool years, our job

includes being intellectual
challenger for both boys and girls. Som

e D
ads in particular tend

to challenge sons and expect m
ore thinking from

them
than from

daughters. N

o fair! H
ere are som

e com
m

onsense guidelines for
vocabulary and outgoing personality, but she com

pleted the sales
everyone:

job w
hen she surveyed the artw

ork on the w
all and said, “Look!

The patterns in that picture are the sam
e as the ones in m

y dress.”
Children w

ho can “see” relationships and organize input at a
sensory level seem

to have an easier tim
e organizing thoughts and

ideas. Som
e youngsters com

e into the w
orld w

ith nervous system
s

that are better equipped for this assignm
ent than others, but w

hile
the brain is still developing rapidly, you = help any child. Focus
on helping the child m

ake physical and m
ental connections

through
lots

of self•organizing
play

activities
rather

than
em

phasizing specific bits of inform
ation. Because of im

m
aturity

in parietal lobe areas that connect sight, sound, touch, and body
aw

areness, it is still difficult for young children to com
bine

processes from
m

ore than one m
odality, such as in looking at a

letter form
and copying it, or sim

ultaneously dancing and singing
w

hile listening to m
usic.

Even babies can be conditioned to associate tw
o stim

uli that are
presented repeatedly together, but this learning lacks real m

eaning
for the child and m

ay use inappropriate parts of the cm
tex instead

of those best suited for the job. In fact, forcel{learning of any type
m

ay result in the use of low
er system

s since the higher ones that
should do the w

ork have not yet developed. The “habit” of using
inferior brain areas for higher-level tasks (such as reading) and of
l’eceiving instruction rather than C1″eating pattel’ns of m

eaning
causes big trouble later on.

66 of 330

• R
em

em
ber that the brain at tw

enty-four to thirty-six m
onths is

buzzing w
ith extra connections that are desperately trying to get

sorted out into concepts, relationships, and patterns of m
eaning

such as cause and effect, tim
e sequences, and social rules of getting

along w
ith others. This is som

etim
es a difficult brain to 1ive w

ith
-fo

r both you and the child-so be patient.
• The brain needs dow

ntim
e to firm

up all this w
ork. M

ake space
for quiet reflection and pondering. A

ppreciate your child’s w
isdom

as w

ell as her skills.
• H

elp your child figure out m
eanings and relationships in daily

events; his continual “W
hy?” questions are a w

ay of expressing his
need to m

ake these connections. O
ften, “w

hy” sim
ply m

eans “I
need m

ore explanation about this.”
• Introduce skills of sequencing-arranging objects according to

size, or rem
em

bering w
ords or events in order. It is beneficial to

talk about abstract sequences such as “If you go outside w
ithout

your shoes, your feet w
ill get cold because it’s w

inter”; “If you don’t
take your nap this afternoon, you m

ight fall asleep at dinner”; but
preschoolers m

ust stick to objects and im
m

ediate experience if
they are expected to put things in order them

selves.
• M

ental patterns are built on netw
orks of sensory connections.

Call the child’s attention to patterns in the sensory w
orld: “W

hat
does that taste like?” “D

o these look alike?”

• V
isual patterns are present all the tim

e. “Look at the tree
branches against the sky. D

oesn’t it look as if the tree has arm
s?

M
aybe w

e could draw
a picture.”

• Puzzles and com
m

ercial m
aterials can be helpful in visual

patterning. Parquetry blocks, dom
inoes, and kaleidoscopes are

exam
ples. “W

hat is w
rong w

ith this picture?” links visual and
cognitive skills.

• Patterning in stitchery activities is fun for both sexes, and links
visual and m

otor developm
ent.

• E
ncourage auditory patterning w

ith rhym
es, instrum

ents,
tunes, fam

iliar stories, or attention to sounds around the house.
T

ap out a sim
ple rhythm

O
ong, short, short) and see if your child

can im
itate it. See chapter 7 for tips on language patterning.

• W
hen children are old enough, sim

ple carpentry tools, w
ood,

large nails, screw
s, nuts, and bolts are excellent m

aterials for
m

aking perceptual and m
otor connections. M

easuring, cooking
activities, and gardening all involve patterns of relationships.

• M
otor patterns need to be practiced over and over-using

utensils and tools; cutting; catching and throw
ing a large, soft ball;

or playing gam
es of copying finger or body m

ovem
ents, for

exam
ple. Self-help skills and household jobs are very im

portant
for the child to m

aster-
help your child, but encourage him

to do
it him

self even if the job isn’t done exactly your w
ay! I have w

orked
w

ith children w
ho are afraid to attem

pt even sim
ple tasks because

M
om

has alw
ays jum

ped in and done the job for them
. T

hey often
appear inept and even disabled w

hen they start school.
• If a child truly needs help w

ith a m
otor pattern, scaffold the

learning by gently guiding her body through the action sequence
several tim

es in order to lay the neural path, or divide the action
into a series of sm

aller activity units. D
on’t expect a child of this

age to copy com
plex actions (kinesthetic) that you show

her
(visual)-a

llow
her to learn w

ith one sense at a tim
e (in this case,

her body). If your child has serious problem
s w

ith coordination,
consider

consulting
an

occupational
or

sensory
integration

therapist.
• G

ive your child tim
e to organize his ow

n play. M
others w

ho
hover m

ay im
pede the child’s ability to form

m
ental patterns of his

ow
n; one study even show

ed that too-frequent offering of food and drink
to

toddlers
w

as
negatively

related
to

later
school

achievem
ent.

• B
e sure to let your child m

ake reasonable choices w
henever

possible. L
earning to m

ake sim
ple decisions-

and m
inor m

istakes
-is hard but necessary. C

hildren’s conception of reality needs to
include close personal experience w

ith cause and effect. (“lfI press
too hard on the crayons, they w

ill break.” “If I pull out the bottom

shirt from
the pile, the others w

ill fall on m
e.”)

• R
ead aloud frequently and look for patterns in stories. H

ow
is

this character alike or different from
that one? W

hat parts should
stories have?

• E
lim

inate or set clear lim
its on screen tim

e, and choose a day-
care center w

here children do not w
atch m

uch-if any-T
V

or
video. O

ccupational therapists tell m
e they are now

treating m
any

“video kids” w
ho have m

issed out on som
e of the m

ost basic m
otor

patterning, and the attention skills and intellectual grow
th that

accom
pany it.

W
h

at ab
ou

t Sports?

H
ow

did w
e get the idea that w

e have to start training our children
for the O

lym
pics before they can read? A

t a m
eeting of a parents’

counseling group in a large m
etropolitan area, I recently heard one

m
other assert: “If you don’t have them

in organized soccer lessons
by the tim

e they’re five, forget it!”
W

hen I pressed her a little, she acknow
ledged that she got her

inform
ation from

a coach w
ho w

as trying to sell her a program
for

her son; she also adm
itted that w

hat she really hoped for w
as to

have him
be good enough to w

in a soccer scholarship to college.
Is it true that all is lost if kids don’t receive early training in one

or m
ore sports? It is true that because the m

otor strip in the cortex
m

atures early, m
ost young children can m

aster som
e large-m

uscle
activities fairly easily, including som

e of the basic m
oves of soccer,

such as kicking. M
any preschooler~can sw

im
, ski, and do creative

dance m
ovem

ents such as D
alcroze w

ith enjoym
ent-

if they aren’t
forced. Ice skating m

ay even fall into this category, depending on
how

it

is
taught.

These
activities

do
not

require
intricate

com
binations of visual and m

otor skills. Sports such as tennis and

69 of 330

baseball-as w
ell as understanding the rules, field positions, and

directionality of soccer, how
ever-add fine visual-m

otor, visual-
spatial,

and
abstract

thinking
challenges.

C
om

petence
and

enjoym
ent of such sports is far beyond m

ost children until age
seven or so.

“B
ut she w

ants to do it!” is a frequent parental cry. A
s alw

ays,
children w

ill try hard if they sense their parents care a lot about an
activity. W

hat a sham
e, though, to saddle them

w
ith expectations

they can’t m
eet or pressure for com

petition before they have the
physical coordination or m

ental perspective to deal w
ith it.

E
xpert soccer coaches w

ho are not pushing program
s agree that

it is “foolish” to feel that a child m
ust be in lessons or a league at

age five; som
e have told m

e that a m
otivated child can becom

e a
good player even as late as seventh grade. T

hey do agree that the
best w

ay to prepare for any sport is to play, inform
ally and w

ithout
pressure, w

ith the basic skills of catching, throw
ing, and kicking a

large ball, m
oving the body rhythm

ically and bilaterally, running,
hopping, skipping, clim

bing, follow
ing directions, learning that

gam
es have rules and that you can’t alw

ays w
in, and all the other

subskills that eventually m
ake som

eone an athlete. Y
ou

can
certainly hire a professional to do this, but even if you’re not an
athlete yourself, your child w

ould prefer your attention and the
closeness that ensues from

playing together.

A
s

to
placing

expectations-such as college-
on an activity that is m

eant to be
fun … don’t be a parental spoilsport!

A
few

rare youngsters are “naturals” at alm
ost any age, but if an

activity doesn’t take, back off and w
ait until that little brain and

body are ready to exercise together.

Intellectual B
uilding B

locks

“Play” is considered so im
portant by child developm

ent experts
that huge books of research studies have been published about it.
D

uring the preschool years, m
anipulative and sym

bolic fantasy
play are particularly im

portant. R
em

em
ber the children building

the
W

hite
H

ouse
w

ith
w

ooden
unit

blocks?
T

hey
w

ere
m

anipulating and pretending, but their teacher pointed out that
they w

ere also “actively involved in testing tw
o im

portant scientific

ideas: ‘system
s’ and ‘interactions,’ as w

ell as getting a solid
understanding of m

athem
atical concepts” (“W

e only need half as
m

any of these.” “The living room
should be a rectangle, not a

square.”).
Early physics lessons w

ere also m
uch in evidence

(“D
on’t m

ake that tow
er too tall or it’ll fall over!”).

C
hildren playing w

ith blocks also enlarge and change their
schem

as of relative space (“H
ow

do I get this block to bridge these
other tw

o?”), num
erosity (each block is som

e m
ultiple of the basic

unit), sym
m

etry and proportion, balance, stability, and gravity.
O

ne child, attem
pting to construct a roof to bridge four w

alls, soon
discovered that the w

alls w
ere too far apart and tried out a num

ber
of hypotheses

before
m

astering
the

relationships
involved.

Fortunately, no one interrupted her or stole her chance to learn by
“show

ing” her how
! A

nother youngster w
as busy constructing

som
e m

ental schem
as about num

ber. H
e lined up eight blocks in

a row
and counted them

in one direction, then backw
ard to see if

they w
ere the sam

e. Then he stacked them
up into a tow

er and
counted them

again-
up and dow

n. C
onvinced that “eight” is

“eight” from
all directions, he skipped off, unaw

are that he had just
m

astered an abstract m
athem

atical idea.

T
he P

ow
er of P

retending

Fantasy play w
ith others gets children to enlarge their m

ental
fram

ew
orks, get outside their ow

n m
inds, practice using language,

and gain inform
ation about other values and points of view

. In a
“pretend” household in the classroom

, for exam
ple, they w

ere also
using sym

bols: blocks as “food,” an em
pty can as a “telephone,”

and a ball as a “yucky baby.” This level oflearning separates hum
an

thought from
that of all other species. Play, in this sense, is the

gatew
ay to m

etaphor, to scientific insight, and to invention.
Choose a school that will encourage children to open this gate
before expecting them

to perform
advanced m

ental operations.

PL
A

Y
T

IM
E

A
S

A
G

A
T

E
W

A
Y

T
O

L
E

A
R
N

IN
G

• Playtim
e should be relaxed and pressure-free. Constructive

play usually begins only after a child feels fam
iliar and

com
fortable in a setting. A

ctivities should not be sw
itched

too often as long as the children are satisfied.
• The best play m

aterials suggest im
aginative uses rather than

being too literal-m
aterials for building a “pretend” house,

for exam
ple, rather than one already fitted out w

ith perfect
furniture and accessories; lengths of fabric rather than
costum

es; large em
pty boxes, etc.

• C
hildren use play to gain im

portant feelings of m
astery and

control or to deal w
ith issues that m

ay be troubling them
.

• C
hildren should be able to express “forbidden” feelings in

play at school about real events in their ow
n lives. For

exam
ple, a child w

ith a new
baby at hom

e m
ay tem

porarily
adopt rough play w

ith baby dolls at school. She gets rid of
som

e of her feelings w
ithout doing any dam

age to the real
baby, and sensitive adults m

ay encourage her to “use w
ords”

to help resolve the conflict.
• Rule-governed gam

es are fun for adults and children and
prom

ote m
any kinds of learning, as fong as they do not

substitute for exploratory and pretend play. You should know

that one of the best predictors of your child’s first-grade m
ath

achievem
ent is how

m
any board gam

es and card gam
es you

have played together. Learning to m
ove a m

arker a certain
num

ber of spaces in order, sequencing m
oves, recognizing

w
hether 10 is bigger than 3, taking turns, follow

ing rules,
applying strategies, and learning that the w

orld w
on’t end if

you lose-
all are great lessons for m

ath and for life. O
ne study

show
ed that a com

puter couldn’t sim
ulate this learning,

m
ainly because the verbal “coaching” of the a~

lt w
as the

critical aspect.
, Children playing together often m

ake up their ow
n “rules,”

w
hich m

ay seem
incom

prehensible to an adult. A
s long as the

children are satisfied, adults should stand aside. They don’t

72 of 330

have our schem
as for rules, and w

e have forgotten theirs.
• D

ram
atic play teaches social skills m

ore effectively than any
type of instruction.

• C
reative pretense activities are often used by a child to firm

up new

understandings about the w
orld; good schools allow

tim

e for a child’s em
erging thought.

T
H

E
E

A
R

L
Y

SC
H

O
O

L
Y

E
A

R
S

N
ew

C
hallenges in L

earning: T
he “Five-to-Seven Shift”

From
ages five to seven or eight, the brain is in one of its m

ost
dynam

ic states
of change as it practices com

bining sensory
patterns from

different m
odalities and m

oves into new
form

s of
sym

bolic thought. U
p until now

the child has been creating her
ow

n concrete sym
bol system

s such as using w
ords, developing

ideas about num
bers, and m

aking pictures of things she know
s.

N
ow

she starts to deal w
ith m

ore form
alized sym

bol system
s-

w
ords in books, m

ath equations, m
ental im

ages for thinking and
rem

em
bering.

N
europsychologists talk about the “five-to-seven shift” because

so m
uch change occurs in the brain during these years. O

ne study
found that a specific area involved w

ith language and spatial
aw

areness had changed 85 percent betw
een ages six and seven in

one girl’s brain. So your seven-year-old is really seeing things from

a new
and different view

point!
By age seven or eight, grow

th in the higher association areas
enables m

ore flexible intersensory com
m

unication (e.g., reading
for m

eaning, w
riting sentences from

dictation, reading m
usic

w
hile playing), and during this period m

ost brains are avid
learning m

achines. A
lso by about age eight, the tw

o sides of the
brain have developed firm

er com
m

unication links w
ith each other,

enabling better bilateral (tw
o-sided) control of the body (as in

holding a paper w
ith one hand and w

riting on it w
ith another), and

the ability to form
im

ages or thoughts in w
ords inside the head-

fundam
ental for later creativity and m

ental planning. (N
ot all

children follow
this exact tim

etable, how
ever. Check out the next

chapter to learn m
ore about different developm

ental tim
etables.)

Still to com
e is the real flow

ering of tertiary areas, so it’s unfair
to expect m

uch forw
ard planning or serious decision-m

aking.
Inform

ation still needs to be presented m
ainly w

ith concrete,
hands-on,

and personal m
aterials. C

hallenging projects and
them

e-based curricula can excite young intellects w
hile still

em
phasizing basic skills. C

hildren need im
portant and interesting

topics to think about at a tim
e w

hen the brain is eager to guzzle up
every bit of learning that com

es along. A
second-grader recently

stunned m
e at a dinner table by spontaneously retelling several of

the tales of the G
reek m

yths, com
plete w

ith m
ultisyllablic nam

es,
w

hich he had been studying through storytelling, reading, w
riting

about, and dram
atizing them

. H
e doesn’t realize that he w

ill be
very grateful for this base of inform

ation in both high school and
college-right now

he just thinks it’s interesting and fun.
N

ow
is the tim

e w
hen parents first get involved w

ith helping w
ith

assignm
ents that have to be done at hom

e. Som
e also need to cope

w
ith the challenge of choosing an elem

entary school. Let’s deal
w

ith the school choice first.

C
h

oosin
g an

E
lem

en
tary S

ch
ool or H

om
esch

oolin
g

I get m
any questions from

parents w
ho face a serious dilem

m
a

w
hen they have a choice of schools for their child. M

y m
ain

suggestion is that the parent first becom
e fam

iliar w
ith each

school, w
hat each one stands for and their basic philosophies about

how
children should learn. A

sk for an appointm
ent w

ith the
principal, if possible. Every school-

public or independent-
has

its
ow

n
character,

differing
even

w
ithin

the
sam

e
district.

M
ontessori or W

aldorf schools are specific exam
ples of schools

founded on a philosophy and m
ethods derived from

the thinking
of one individual: M

aria M
ontessori or R

udolph Steiner in these
cases. E

ach has clear ideas abouttl1e im
portance of curriculum

and
teaching that conform

to a child’s developm
ental needs.

W
hatever your options, sit in on a class if possible, and decide

w
hether the environm

ent “feels” right to you. If it does, your child
m

ay have a better chance of feeling com
fortable there. T

alk to other
like-m

inded parents for a candid appraisal. M
y general advice also

is to choose w
hat is best for your child at any given age period; for exam

ple, I w
ouldn’t advise picking an elem

entary environm
ent

w
ith w

hich you’re uncom
fortable just because the associated high

school has a good record for college adm
issions. C

hanges can com
e

later.
Som

e
parents

feel
that

their
child

m
ight

benefit
from

hom

eschooling, an option that has becom
e increasingly viable for

m
any fam

ilies. I continue to gain respect for hom
eschoolers as I

am
privileged to speak at som

e of their conferences and m
eet the

children as w
ell as the parents. R

easons for and im
plem

entation
of hom

eschooling ( or even “unschooling”) are as varied as the
fam

ilies
involved.

O
ne

of
educators’

m
ajor

criticism
s-that

hom
eschooled children are deprived of peer relationships-is m

et
by form

ing groups w
ith other hom

eschooling fam
ilies for social

and
educational

activities.
M

any
fam

ilies
also

supplem
ent

hom
eschooling w

ith enrichm
ent activities and traditional school

courses w
hen the child outstrips a parent’s know

ledge in particular
subjects, such as science or m

ath.
M

any excellent guides for alternative approaches to schooling
have been published; I have included som

e in the bibliography.

H
elp

in
g w

ith
Schoolw

ork at H
om

e

I am
not the only educator w

ho is concerned about the am
ount and

quality of w
hat passes as “hom

ew
ork” in the early grades. A

t these
ages, it is a sham

e to let schoolw
ork and extracurricular activities

deprive children of active playtim
e after school.

If you are
concerned that your school is overdoing it, ask for a m

eeting w
ith

parents and teachers to discuss the issue together and determ
ine

som
e age-appropriate ground rules.

Specific guidelines for helping w
ith hom

ew
ork w

ill be found in
chapter s. R

em
em

ber that lots of repetition w
ill be necessary

before a child’s skills becom
e autom

atic, as they are for you (e.g.,
w

riting,
spelling,

using
the

m
ultiplication

tables,
follow

ing
directions-even setting the table and playing ball). It helps if you
m

odel thinking skills in everyday situations as w
ell as w

ith
schoolw

ork. H
ere are som

e steps to help a child “get I~ together”:

1. Before you try to w
ork on anything together, m

ake sure you

74 of 330

have the child’s attention. Y
our child w

ill absorb your level of
enthusiasm

(or lack of it). If possible, let the child ask you for help
rather than hovering. T

his is her w
ork, after all.

2
. L

ink new
inform

ation to old w
ith ilJustrations, analogies, and

exam
ples; help your child m

ake the associations. (“This looks like
a problem

you had yesterday …. ” “C
ould you m

ake the sam
e kind

of study cards for m
ath that you m

ade for your spelling w
ords?”)

3. H
elp the child pretend to act out or draw

the idea (“If M
ary

had eleven oranges and ate tw
o … “).

4. Show
connections, com

m
on them

es, or organizing principles
of new

m
aterial (“These all seem

to be types of flow
ers, even though

they look different.” “W
hat vow

el pattern do all those w
ords

have?”)
5. T

ry to get the child to think up personal connections. (“D
id

you ever feel the w
ay Jose did in the story?”)

6. Tie abstractions to concrete experience. (“Let’s see if w
e can

cut this paper in thirds. W
hat ifw

e cut each third in half?”)
7. Pictures or diagram

s help organize m
any types of m

aterial.
H

elp your child m
ake charts, m

aps, or lists of things in categories,
or draw

“cartoon” sequences to get inform
ation into m

anageable
form

.
8. R

em
em

ber that the child still needs m
any specific instances

before generalizations can be m
ade.

M
oving tow

ard
A

bstract T
hought

A
s children start to put ideas together in new

w
ays, they begin to

get beyond the im
m

ediate physical characteristics of an object and
understand the principle involved. For exam

ple, the reversible
equation 4 + 5 = 9 is the sam

e as 9 = 5 + 4, and even 9 -4 = 5, and
9 –

5 = 4. A
younger child has a great deal of difficulty w

ith a
problem

like this; he believes that these things are different
because they look different. H

e cannot pull out the essential
relationship and tlrns he cannot “undo” and turn around the
sequence in his m

ind.
H

ow
do children get to the stage w

here they understand these
relationships? I am

w
illing to blam

e a certain am
ount of neural

readiness, but it is clear that they m
ust practice and experim

ent

w
ith hundreds of exam

ples. T
he m

other visiting the class at the
beginning of this chapter didn’t realize that her son w

as w
orking

on this im
portant type oflearning as he played at the sand table.

A
nother m

ajor area of grow
th is in categorizing, classifying, and

class inclusion. M
any school tasks contain subtle requirem

ents for
classification; outlining is one exam

ple of a job that is difficult for
students w

ho don’t get the idea of subtopics being part of one large,
m

ore abstract topic.
M

any things that seem
ridiculously obvious to adults are not

clear to children. W
e can explain until w

e’re blue-in the face, or w
e

can insist the child m
em

orize w
hat w

e w
ant her to know

-and
w

onder w
hy she has “forgotten” it the next day. O

ne task that is
difficult for prim

ary students is the “m
issing addend” so popular

in early m
ath books (3 + ? = 8). T

eachers and parents alike are
frustrated because, at this age, m

ost students can learn to perform

this operation only by rote-the m
inute they have to rem

em
ber or

organize it them
selves, they “forget” because they never really

understood it.
I also rem

em
ber having a near argum

ent w
ith a six-year-old I

w
as tutoring one sum

m
er about w

hether “bigger” m
eant “older.”

She w
as convinced that her daddy w

as older than her m
om

m
y

because he w
as “bigger,” and I couldn’t change her m

ind. H
aving

tried to m
ake m

y point by every pedagogical m
ethod at m

y
com

m
and, including w

aking m
y (large) grow

n son from
a nap for

a firsthand dem
onstration, I finally accepted the fact that I w

as
dealing w

ith a literal thinker w
ho w

as convinced that “taller” w
as

“m
ore.” T

his experience reaffirm
ed for m

e the fundam
ental truth

about learning-you can lead the child to the problem
, but you

can’t m
ake the m

ental leap for her. She has to be ready, and she
has to do it herself

P
rom

otin
g C

ognitive C
onflict

H
ow

can w
e prepare youngsters to fit those connections together?

A
s I learned the hard w

ay, attem
pts to explain to children w

hy their
reasoning is incorrect are doom

ed to fail. T
he trick is to give them

lots of firsthand experiences w

ith the subject in question, then get
them

to see the inconsistency in their reasoning and to w
ant to figure it out. W

hen som
ething doesn’t “fit,” a state of “cognitive

disequilibrium
” sets in, and the child can be pulled tow

ard new

levels by an adult asking the right questions. T
ry these ideas:

• A
sk questions rather than explaining w

hat is “correct.” (C
hild

says, “This lem
onade straw

is broken.” Parent, seeing that the
straw

is blocked, asks, “Is there anything in the straw
that is

keeping the lem
onade from

com
ing through?” rather than, “T

hat
straw

isn’t broken. H
ere, let m

e clear it out for you.”)
• W

hen the child asks you a question, respond w
ith a question

that is just hard enough to m
ake him

w
onder, but not so

com
plicated that it w

ill frustrate him
. U

se the child’s response as
your guide.

• A
t any age, hands-on experience is the first step. For exam

ple,
if your child is gaining concepts of classification, you m

ight suggest
sorting the fam

ily laundry or m
agazine pictures into piles and then

com
bining them

w
ith a general category label. M

ore suggestions
are included later w

hen w
e discuss m

ath and science.
• A

sk yourself, “Exactly w
hat is it I expect this child to do, and

w
hat is her fram

e of reference for it?”
• H

elp the child identify the relevant aspects of a problem
. (“W

hat
w

ould you have to do to m
ake that track long enough to reach the

other one?” instead of “H
ere, put this piece in there.”)

• If you don’t know
an answ

er, adm
it it. N

ow
you have the m

ost
exciting opportunity of all-to show

your child how
you ask

yourself questions and seek inform
ation._

• H
elp your child see the discrepancies betw

een his language or
m

ental operations and actual reality. (C
hild says, “It is snow

ing
because I put m

y boots on.” Parent asks, “Let’s think about that for
a m

inute. Pretend w
e’re at the lake in the sum

m
er. Y

ou have your
bathing suit on. N

ow
, let’s pretend you put your boots on [child

acts out the scene]. W
ill that m

ake it snow
? Is it snm

ving because
you put your boots on?”)

• A
s in the above exam

ple, m
any of a child’s inconsistencies in

reasoning are a result of faulty interpretati~h or use of language
(“because” in this case). Be ale1t for situations in w

hich you can
use real experience to m

odel language concepts. (“W
hy did the

paint spill? B
ecause … “)

77 of 330

• B
e tolerant of “w

rong” answ
ers if they are part of a process of

new
learning and m

ental exploration.
• R

em
em

ber that rules can be taught, but understanding can’t.
• M

ake sure that playing w
ith peers is a regular part of your child’s

life. C
hildren often ask each other the questions that prom

ote
positive cognitive conflict.

• T
ry to present your child w

ith m
anageable problem

s rather than
constantly providing solutions-it is her struggle w

ith the available
data that sparks cognitive grow

th.
• Piaget suggested that w

e stop w
orrying about how

fast w
e can

m
ake intelligence grow

, and concentrate on how
far! W

hen people
asked

him
w

hether w
e could accelerate children’s progress

through each stage, he scoffed at w
hat he term

ed “the A
m

erican
question.”

A
B

oss for th
e B

rain

H
ow

long does the brain’s childhood last? M
ature reasoning does

not occur until som
etim

e after age eleven or tw
elve, and can even

com
e as late as thirty, w

hen the frontal lobes finally becom
e the

“boss” of the brain. U
ntil then, thinking has certain lim

its. It is
natural for children to be literal thinkers, stuck in their ow

n point
of view

. Preschoolers have trouble telling reality from
fantasy and

m
ay appear to “lie” because of an inability to sort out the difference

betw
een w

hat really happened and w
hat w

as im
agined. C

hildren
of ages five to ten tend to becom

e very literal and rule-bound in
their m

oral judgm
ents, but they are also notorious for their

difficulty in im
agining consequences. A

pleasure at hand is m
uch

m
ore pressing than som

e future punishm
ent!

L
ate-m

aturing
areas

also
control

m
uch

of w
hat

w
e

call
“m

otivation.” A
young child usually has trouble planning for far-

off goals or developing and executing a plan of action. A
s you w

ill
see later, there is a lot w

e can do throughout the early years to put
m

otivation on track, but w
e need to be realistic. I frequently see

parents (and teachers) w
ho lam

ent, “I don’t understand w
hy she

is so unm
otivated-she doesn’t seem

to be able to see w
hy this is

so im
portant!” O

ne fam
ily prom

ised their eight-year-old son a new

bike in June if he got “good grades” all year. U
nfortunately, these

term
s w

ere far too vague, June seem
ed very rem

ote, and the plan
failed.

C
hildren of this age need help in planning, organizing, and

follow
ing through

on
sm

all interm
ediate

goals.
B

e w
ary of

dispensing rew
ards; ideally, the child’s rew

ard is his ow
n feeling

of satisfaction in a job w
ell done. It is never too early to establish

the idea that w
e are each responsible for aim

ing at our goals and
for feeling good about ourselves w

hen w
e reach them

.
Likew

ise, young children cannot objectively evaluate m
oral

issues or even put heavily em
otion-laden m

aterial into perspective,
and parents m

ay have to stand in to protect them
and interpret

input they can’t handle-even at higher grade levels. I once w
orked

w
ith a group of nine-year-old girls w

ho w
ere sent to m

e in
desperation

by their teacher. A
lthough they w

ere all bright
children, they w

ere unable to concentrate in class and seem
ed to

be in a perpetual state of excitem
ent. It didn’t take them

long to
close the door and start telling m

e that they w
ere really “w

orried”
about a lot of the sexual inform

ation they had picked up from

babysitters and the m
edia-

and w
hich they w

ere naturally busy
exchanging w

ith each other.
W

hen their fears and m
isconceptions started to pour out, I

understood w
hy they felt so threatened by this barrage of

frightening half-truths. N
o w

onder they couldn’t concentrate in
class! O

nly one child in the group felt com
fortable talking to her

m
other, w

ho had alw
ays m

ade a habit oflim
iting TV

, w
atching it

w
ith her, and discussing w

hat they saw
. For these girls, a ‘1earning”

difficulty turned out to have far different roots.
Y

oung children are even m
ore susceptible to inappropriate

content. It’s a hard parental assignm
ent, but try to be aw

are of
potentially anxiety-producing inform

ation to w
hich your child is

exposed, and m
ake yourself available to help put it in perspective.

TV
violence and even current events are hard enough for adults to

com
prehend, but im

possible for children. They need protection,
help w

ith interpreting w
hat they see, and lots of reassurance in

dealing w
ith the com

plexities of the w
orld.

C
H

IL
D

R
E
N

A
T

W
O

R
K

E

valuating E
arly L

earning

C
hildren betw

een the ages of tw
o and seven need intellectual

challenges they can understand and pursue actively. They also
need solid basic skills, but not in a “drill-and-kill” form

at. Som
e

very able brains sim
ply take a little longer or need special teaching

m
ethods in order to absorb these basics, as w

e shall see in the next
chapter. A

bove all, w
e w

ant them
to em

erge from
early childhood

excited and confident about learning.
Let’s take a m

inute to return again to the classroom
described at

the beginning of this chapter to evaluate the “w
ork” in progress.

The children m
easuring cupfuls of sand are m

aking m
ental

patterns
-putting

together
visual

and
m

otor
learning

w
ith

concepts of size, density, texture, volum
e, and fractions. H

andling
the m

aterials brings im
portant tactile inform

ation-a
n

d new

synapses-into
their

brains.
Because

m
aking

judgm
ents,

predictions, and plans are a part of this play, they are laying
groundw

ork for the brain’s executive control function. Language
develops as they discuss their project, and attention is sharpened
as they ignore the other play in the room

.
In the book corneF, a great deal of literacy instruction is

occurring, even though it just looks like story-reading and telling.
A

s you w
ill find in chapter 9, listening skills, com

prehension,
vocabulary-building, questioning techniques, and aw

areness of
the sounds m

aking up each w
ord-

not to m
ention pleasure in

reading-
are the im

po1tant “basics” for later skill developm
ent.

The clay anim
als in the art corner integrate not only creativity

and fine m
otor skills but also vocabulary and descriptive language.

W
hen a parent volunteer noticed that several children w

ere
inventing im

aginary anim
als, she encouraged them

to dictate a
book of original stories, m

ake draw
ings, and create a plaster-of-

paris relief m
ap based on their m

ythical anim
al w

orld.
H

ow
about the pet rabbit? It enabled one little boy to get som

e
badly needed tactile stim

ulation aslfell as a feeling of com
fo1t and

im
portance as he assum

ed the respiinsibility for its feeding.
This is the type of classroom

you should seek for your young
child, and the sam

e principles hold for early prim
ary grades even

80 of 330

as the curriculum
becom

es m
ore academ

ic. Learning that arises
from

personal

experience helps brains
at

any age
receive,

associate, organize, and com
prehend at the appropriate neural

levels. Far from
m

arking tim
e, w

ell-planned program
s at each level

develop the hooks of m
eaning that underlie intelligence.

W
hat’s th

e H
urry?

T
he parents choosing a school for their son at the beginning of this

chapter finally enrolled him
in an “accelerated” class w

here
children spend a lot of tim

e sitting at desks, filling in w
ork sheets,

and “being taught.” H
e m

ay, of course, becom
e a good student if

he can overcom
e the m

onotony of this introduction to learning,
but his chances w

ould be far better in a school that understood
young children’s needs. Studies show

that four-, five-, and six-
year-olds in heavily “academ

ic” classes tend to becom
e less

creative
and

m
ore

anxious-
w

ithout
gam

lilg
significant

advantages over their peers. Y
oungsters in w

ell-structured “play” –
oriented preschools and developm

entally appropriate prim
ary

grades develop m
ore positive attitudes tow

ard learning along w
ith

better ultim
ate skill developm

ent.
If

tasks
are

too
inappropriate

for
this

child’s
level

of
developm

ent, m
oreover, or if patterns of m

eaning are neglected,
he could end up as a “behavior problem

” or be m
istakenly labeled

“learning
disabled.”

By
overlooking

the
developm

ental
im

peratives of childhood, these parents have deprived him
of the

richest possible foundation for future learning.
G

ive your child the gift of patience for the broad-based m
ental

experiences that v,rill underlie joyous learning throughout life.
Pushing academ

ic skills before the levels of sensory reception and
association are in place is like trying to build a large penthouse on
an

apartm
ent

building
before

the
interm

ediate
floors

are
com

pleted. It m
ay look good for a w

hile, but eventually you’re in
for a collapse. C

hildhood is a process, not a product, and so is
learning. In a society that often respects products m

ore than the
processes of creation and thought, it is easy to fall into the trap of
anxiety over m

easuring achievem
ent in isolated skills. H

ave faith
–

in childhood and yourself. C
hildren’s brains generally seek w

hat

they need, and nature has given you the instincts to help them
get

it. R
ecently I w

as pleased to have as houseguests a friend from

A
ustria and her charm

ing five-year-old daughter, a bright little girl
w

ho has lived in tw
o countries and is fluent in both English and

G
erm

an. D
uring their visit I w

as particularly struck by the close
relationship betw

een m
other and daughter and the little girl’s

sunny disposition, w
hich survived both jet lag and a hectic social

schedule. In a rare quiet afternoon, w
e sat on m

y porch and talked
w

hile the child entertained herself inventing gam
es w

ith a few

pieces of plastic packing m
aterial.

“She’s so sm
art,” I finally said to m

y friend, a m
ath teacher. “A

re
you ever tem

pted to try and teach her to read or do m
ath?”

“T
hat’s nonsense!” she replied. “I w

ant her to be eager for it w
hen

the tim
e com

es, not spoil it for her.”
R

elax, parents, your children w
ill not get behind if you allow

them

the tim
e to accom

plish the natural w
ork of childhood.

sn n
f ~

~fl