Early childhood education
knowledge has grown due to advances in medical technology. Cat scans, MRIs and
Pet scans have opened up the brain to study in ways never before possible.
Information on how the brain assimilates information, how it processes
information and how it reacts is building new understanding. This understanding
is forcing researchers to ponder how to develop early childhood curricula that
infuses new knowledge about language, cognition and motor development, as well
as social and emotional behavior.
Language Development
According to Dr. Ann Epstein's article "Montessori Early Childhood Language:
Life-Long Literacy," language development is the cornerstone of all early
childhood curricula. Although a good early childhood curriculum is an asset in a
classroom, the moment-to-moment interactions children have with teachers and
other children have a more significant impact on language development than only
implementing the curriculum. Communicating with children positively impacts the
development of language concepts and skills. Talking to children about what is
happening in their lives is the opportunity to create language that fits within
context.
Cognitive Development
Cognition is the process of thinking. Piaget, a prominent child development
researcher, identified two stages of early childhood cognitive
development--sensori-motor and symbolic representation. A curriculum focusing on
sensori-motor development provides infants to 2-year-olds with the opportunity
to learn about the world using their senses. A curriculum focusing on symbolic
representation has activities for 2- to 4-year-olds that support the ability to
create mental images and to remember them when the object is not immediately in
front of them.
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