Cognitive Development (CD) Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1: Children use their senses to construct knowledge about the world around them. Goal CD-2: Children recall information and use it for new situations and problems. Goal CD-3: Children demonstrate the ability to think about their own thinking: reasoning, taking perspectives, and making decisions. Strategy Infants and Toddlers Provides guidance to teachers on a variety of sensory experiences for infants and toddlers. Include fresh air; a range of smells, sounds, temperatures, materials to touch and feel; different surfaces (such as vinyl floors, carpet, grass, concrete, sand, and mud) and movement activities. Strategy Preschool Introduce a problem and encourage children to come up with as many solutions as possible. Then ask them two questions about possible consequences.
Throughout each day, critical thinking skills, such as reasoning, problem-solving, experimenting, and decision-making are developed through a variety of real-world scenarios for whole groups, small groups, or individuals across all domains. For example, children learn about weather across learning areas and engage in all aspects of thinking and reasoning while building upon the knowledge they acquire: • •
In Language & Literacy, children ask and answer questions about weather (Vol. 2, p. 12) In Numbers & Math, children discuss the probability of weather and how to prepare for it (Vol. 2, p. 251) 28
