V

Cognitive Development

A

Understanding Stability and Change

Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Play with a Jack-in-the-Box alongside the child (Note: sometimes children do not readily accept this toy.)
• Give the child a box large enough for them to climb in and out of so that they can be “Jack.”
• Play a simplified version of hide-and-seek using sounds to help the baby find you; repeat the game by having the baby hide

B

Representing

Child uses symbolic thought to represent.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Talk with families about the way they use storytelling, song, theater, and art in their home and community
• Make play dough with the child and use household objects such as wooden spoons or cookie cutters
• Use music to enhance the telling of stories

C

Memory and History

Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• At pick-up, talk to families about the child’s activities with the child present so that the family may extend the conversation after school
• Observe the child’s dramatic play and help them make connections (“You are pretending to feed your baby just like mommy does with your sister.”)
• Use songs, chants, and verbal cues to help children learn what comes next in caregiving routines

D

Investigating and Exploring

Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Bring in natural items, such as bird nests, feathers, and different types of soil
• Provide time for children to investigate objects and experiences during community walks
• Value repetition of experiences as a form of scientific inquiry

E

Understanding Cause and Effect

Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Help the toddler understand the effects of their actions on others (“The baby is smiling because you are talking to her.”)
• Provide cause and effect toys and experiences, such as water and sand, toys that sink and float, ramps and toys with wheels
• Provide materials that encourage children to explore cause and effect
  • A ramp to roll objects down
  • Cardboard rolls to push objects through
  • Push and pull toys
  • Pinwheels
  • “Busy boxes” that have various buttons and latches on each side

F

Engineering: Problem-solving with Materials

Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include “busy boxes” in the learning environment so children can practice manipulating a variety of latches, laces, hooks, hinges, and locks
• Allow child to solve simple self-help challenges such as maneuvering a cup off an out-of-reach shelf
• Provide various materials that encourage problem-solving skills, such as ramps, tunnels, stools, big blocks, and train or car tracks

G

Math

1. Comparing and Categorizing

Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide intentional collections of toys
  • An animal family with a male, a female, and a young animal
  • A variety of trucks, trains, and cars
  • A doll with a bottle, a brush, and clothes
  • A toy broom, mop, and dustpan
  • A collection of objects that are all the same color
  • A collection of heavy objects
  • A collection of pieces of fabric such as velvet and burlap
• Store and display collections of items in separate, accessible, attractively presented bins

2. Number Sense and Quantity

Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage counting out loud in multiple languages
• Read books about numbers that reinforce concepts of one-to-one correspondence, numerical order, and mathematical concepts of more, less, too many, and all gone
• Use number and quantity vocabulary during mealtimes (“two crackers, one apple, and one cup of milk), and count as you pour each cup of water (“one, two, three, and stop”)
• Name groups of two objects, and identify groups that do not include two items (“That’s not two, that’s three!”)

3. Patterning

Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Read books that involve a simple sequence of events encompassing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or morning, noon and night, such as The Big Red Barn , by Margaret Wise Brown
• Sing repetitive songs, read repetitive stories, and recite nursery rhymes with child
  • I Went Walking , by Sue Williams
  • “The Wheels on the Bus”
  • “Where is Thumbkin?”
  • “Los Pollitos Dicen”

4. Spatial Sense and Geometry

Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage whole body movement
  • Roll in the grass or on the rug
  • Crawling, walking, and running over distance
  • Kicking, throwing, and rolling balls
  • Crawling through tunnels
• Name shapes in the environment
• Take children on community walks along different routes and discuss the landmarks you see; ask children to point to different landmarks at various points along the path
• Provide various size and shaped containers that children can fill with water, sand, or play dough