Month: November 2023

Reading intervention is the process of noticing pupils who are having trouble and helping them, either in class or outside of it. This can involve special tutoring programs, modifying the way teachers teach and providing alternative learning texts.

Teachers can enhance comprehension instruction by activating students’ prior knowledge and allowing them to make connections between text and their own understanding or experiences.

Phonics

Reading intervention is a targeted approach that is used for pupils with significant difficulty. It usually involves a teacher working on a one-to-one basis with a student or a small group of students who have similar problems. It focuses on the key concepts that pupils need to grasp in order to be successful at reading: phonics, vocabulary and comprehension.

Phonics is the teaching of the sound-symbol correspondences between spoken language sounds (phonemes) and the written spelling patterns or graphemes that represent them. It is a critical part of the reading process, enabling pupils to decode new words and build up a bank of print word knowledge.

Research indicates that systematic synthetic phonics instruction significantly improves the reading skills of disabled and low-achieving children. It also helps them make progress in a range of other reading abilities, including vocabulary and reading comprehension. However, it doesn’t help them improve their ability to suppress irrelevant information, a key skill in comprehending text.

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension, or understanding what you read, is a crucial skill for students. It allows them to connect information from the text with their own knowledge and experiences.

To comprehend a text, students need to have adequate background knowledge and vocabulary skills, as well as comprehension strategies and support. Explicit instruction in these areas is essential for developing and struggling readers.

Comprehension instruction should be responsive, focusing on the students’ needs. For example, if students are working on a specific decoding strategy such as Heggerty phonemic awareness or Orton-Gillingham, the teacher should continue to provide explicit instruction and practice of these strategies in reading and writing.

Another great way to build up comprehension is by having students mark and annotate the text. This gets students really engaged in the text and makes it easier to remember and understand what they have read. It also hits kinesthetic and tactile learning styles. Try this activity with your students.

Vocabulary

Students often arrive in the classroom with differing vocabulary knowledge and experiences. In fact, a study showed that children from less economically favored families had fewer words in their cumulative monthly vocabularies by age 3 than children of more economic advantage (Baker, Simmons, & Kame’enui, 1997; see References).

Vocabulary is important because it helps readers comprehend what they read. Comprehension is a complex process that relies on many skills and elements, including vocabulary.

A goal of vocabulary instruction should be to develop students’ word consciousness, which is a curiosity and interest in the novel words they encounter. To achieve this, teachers should incorporate brief review activities into their reading units. These strategies include partner review routines and choral responses to describe words with examples and nonexamples. Students also need multiple exposures to new words and their meanings in order to make them permanent parts of their lexicon. This is why incorporating a variety of science of reading vocabulary strategies into your lesson plans is so critical.

Reading Fluency

Reading fluency is a key component to reading comprehension. Students who read slowly may struggle to decode words and comprehend meaning at the same time, which leads to frustration and decreased motivation to learn.

When students can read more quickly, it frees up their mental energy to focus on understanding the story and its deeper meaning. This is why focusing on improving reading fluency is so important.

Studies have shown that repeated reading (RR) is highly effective for building fluency, with passage previews, goal setting, teacher modeling and feedback, and partner reading being particularly effective.

To build student fluency, it is important to have them read aloud with guidance, such as using a metronome or playing music in the background. In addition, it is helpful to have them practice with texts that they are interested in so that they can lose themselves in the reading and not be distracted by the fact that they are making mistakes.

Education enables children to acquire academic achievements they will need to interpret life situations and make the best possible decisions. It also helps kids cope with stress by teaching them to be self-disciplined and to cooperate with others.

Hundreds of millions of children around the world are deprived of education, because poverty prevents them from going to school.

Social and Emotional Development

Children learn to be social by interacting with their peers and teachers. This is a foundation that influences all other forms of learning. It is important for students to feel connected, respected and cared about. When a child feels confident in herself and her ability to interact with others, she is better prepared for academic success.

Early social emotional development can be promoted in classrooms with small class sizes, lots of teacher interaction time and positive discipline strategies. Providing children with choices and letting them know they are respected and cared about promotes empathy, perspective taking and prosocial behavior (Matte-Gagne, Harvey & Stack, 2015).

A common misconception is that young kids do not understand concepts like cause and effect, number or symbol play. Many adults also underestimate children’s abilities to communicate their emotions and the feelings of others. These assumptions lead to the mistaken belief that it is inappropriate for teachers to talk about feelings with young kids.

Language and Literacy Development

Many studies have shown that language development is closely linked to literacy. Children who have abundant opportunities to interact with language from infancy through the kindergarten years develop neural pathways that lay the foundation for recognizing that speech has patterns, letters represent sounds, and print conveys a message.

The most effective way to foster language and literacy development in young children is to talk with them, read books with them and sing songs together. When caring adults discuss the world with children — from how recipes work to the rules of baseball — they plant seeds that help kids grow into curious thinkers, readers and writers.

The SDG4 agenda includes a commitment to quality education for all from birth to age 8 and calls for equitable access for all children regardless of their economic, cultural or socioeconomic status. The goal is to ensure that children are ready for school, so they can start learning and developing into healthy, confident individuals.

Thinking Skills

Children are naturally curious and want to know more about the world around them. Helping them to make sense of their experiences, analyse, compare and evaluate is essential in developing their thinking skills.

This is a vital life skill that can benefit them academically, professionally and socially. It allows them to think more independently and will allow them to come up with better judgements and enriched thought processes.

Kids build their critical thinking skills through the natural back and forth conversation they have with their parents or caregivers, interacting with friends or by playing board games. In addition, encouraging them to find out more about their own interests (such as asking them why the sky is blue or where does the sun go at night) will also develop their thinking abilities. It is important that they are not rushed or made to feel offended if their answers are different to those of adults as this can discourage their critical thinking development.

Cooperation

Cooperation teaches children the value of working together to achieve common goals. It builds trust with others, increases empathy, fosters pro-social skills, and promotes a sense of belongingness. It’s a critical foundation of family life and society.

Even very young toddlers can learn to cooperate if they are provided with opportunities to practice cooperation in daily routine activities, such as planting a garden or building a puzzle. They can also cooperate with other family members by helping each other to wash the car or prepare a meal.

Although every child reaches the cooperative stage of play at their own speed, by the age of three they are generally successful in tasks that require them to assign one another roles and rules during play. This flexibility helps them work through conflict that may arise while they are trying to reach their common goal.

When kids can see adults working together, they’ll be more likely to try to cooperate with other people, even in challenging situations. Try reading books or watching television shows about teamwork and cooperating with others.

Schools are made up of much more than just teachers. Education support professionals (ESPs) play a crucial role in students’ lives, from cafeteria workers and bus drivers to paraprofessionals and teacher’s aides.

Learn more about the types of roles available for education support officers, including salary. You can also find out about gaining a qualification to help you work in this role.

Volunteering

When parents and their children take the time to volunteer, it shows that they care about their school community. It also gives teachers, administrators and staff time to focus on their main job, educating students.

Volunteering can also help students develop soft skills that are valuable in the workplace, such as teamwork, communication and problem-solving. It can also introduce them to new cultures or cross-sections of society that they may not have experienced otherwise.

Some schools even encourage volunteering by integrating it into classroom learning, known as Service Learning. This allows students to pursue volunteer opportunities that are directly connected to academic topics, like reading to residents of a nursing home or working on a water conservation project. Additionally, by highlighting their volunteering experience on a resume, students can set themselves apart in the employment market. Volunteering can also make it easier to find an entry-level job for college and university graduates, especially if they’re having trouble getting in touch with employers and recruiters because they don’t have professional work experience yet.

Helping Your Child Develop Good Study Habits

Developing good study habits is critical for kids to achieve success in school and in life. It’s not always easy, though. For some, it can be difficult to concentrate when there are distractions around them, especially if they are tired or have trouble with focus.

For children who struggle with focus, it can help to set aside a dedicated study space. Make sure it is away from distracting areas like the TV, and consider setting a quiet time for studying. Getting enough sleep is also important for children who want to be at their best for studying.

Encourage kids to try different methods of studying to find what works best for them. For example, some kids can learn better by hearing information rather than reading it, while others learn better when they write it down. Incorporate these strategies into your child’s regular homework routine to help them develop strong study habits. Also, encourage them to take breaks while they are studying to refresh their brains.

Supporting Your Child’s Individual Needs

Education support professionals make schools run smoothly. ESPs are the backbone of every school and classroom, and they make learning possible for all students. They are tasked with making sure each student’s needs are met, and they often have to work with limited resources. It is important for educators to be communicative with their ESPs and share information about students, day-to-day classroom occurrences and teaching pedagogy.

Educators provide kids with personalized instruction and support to ensure they can meet their individual goals. This can be in the form of specialized learning (the unique special education instruction that helps kids meet their IEP goals), related services or accommodations and modifications.

The Education Support Charity is a UK-based charity “dedicated to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the education workforce.” They offer free telephone counselling for trainees, newly qualified teachers, serving teachers, headteachers, lecturers and senior management, as well as TAs and all other education staff.

Participating in Inclusive Events

While there is much to be done, many schools have made progress towards creating inclusive environments. From declining instances of homophobic insults to the growth of extracurricular resources like Gender and Sexuality Alliances, students have found that inclusion can help them thrive in school.

While the majority of studies on inclusive education focus on its positive effects for students with special educational needs (SEN), some research has examined how it can benefit typically developing children as well. They have discovered that kids who interact with peers with different abilities develop more empathy, are less biased and more respectful of others.

Incorporate inclusivity into your event planning by including accessible signage, providing screen-reader friendly documents, indicating food allergies or other special dietary restrictions in advance and offering a gender-neutral restroom. This will ensure that people from all backgrounds feel welcome and included at your event. Additionally, consider offering transportation options for those with accessibility needs, as well as making sure your venue has plenty of room for scooters or wheelchairs and spaces to escape from sensory overload.

Reading intervention is a program that helps students who find it hard to read. It involves a student working with a teacher, speech-language pathologist or computer reading program outside of class.

Inquiry survey respondents reported that school boards vary in which commercial programs they use, what grade levels they offer and whether their eligibility criteria aligns with the research on effective classroom instruction and interventions. This can lead to equity issues.

Phonics

The ability to hear and identify different vowel and consonant sounds helps students learn how to read words. This is known as phonological awareness. This is a critical step before learning phonics, which teaches children how to connect letter symbols with the sounds they hear in spoken words.

This process is called decoding. When students understand the relationship between letters and sounds, they can translate print into speech, which enables them to read unfamiliar words.

Phonics is usually taught in early childhood and primary grades to establish a strong foundation for reading and writing. However, it can also be used with older students who struggle to read.

Our phonics program, PHONICS for Reading, is aligned with i-Ready Assessment to ensure that learners get the right level of instruction. Its clear teacher scripts enable it to be taught by any educator, including teachers of special education and interventionists. This enables schools and districts to leverage resources and maximize the potential of their teaching staff.

Vocabulary

A student who has a good understanding of vocabulary can build and develop a deeper level of schema (cognitive connections) around words they encounter in reading. This is one of the reasons why it is critical to include vocabulary instruction in your Reading intervention program.

As students progress through the Reading curriculum, they will encounter words that are not part of their oral or speaking vocabulary. Those words will need to be taught through explicit vocabulary instruction that includes morphology, word relationships and vocabulary in context.

A common problem is that students who have high comprehension skills but a limited or unfamiliar vocabulary perform poorly on Lexile assessments and are misjudged as struggling readers. Using a variety of science of reading vocabulary strategies is key to helping learners acquire new vocabulary words and make them their own. Exposure to vocabulary words through reading, practice with elaboration activities and meaningful repetition are necessary for students to truly understand the meanings of words.

Comprehension

Comprehension is a key factor in overall reading achievement, especially among students with poor reading proficiency. It is also one of the areas that is monitored in international reading assessments, such as the PISA test.

One strategy to improve comprehension is to teach students how to use graphic organizers, such as story maps, Venn diagrams and word webs. These strategies are helpful for visual learners and help them see how the concepts relate to each other.

Another way to improve comprehension is by asking open-ended questions. This allows students to think about the questions and answer them, which promotes metacognition. When asking questions, make sure that you give students enough time to respond before calling on someone. If you call on a student too quickly, they may not think about the question and will be unable to answer.

Finally, teaching students that their prior knowledge can help them understand the text is important. This is called schema activation. For example, if students are reading about a trip to the park, they can draw on their past experiences and knowledge of parks to understand the text.

Fluency

Students who struggle with fluency have trouble reading quickly, causing them to spend a lot of time trying to recognize words or their sound-symbol correspondences. This slow processing takes up valuable brain resources, preventing the student from paying attention to meaning and comprehension.

Reading fluency can be improved through repeated oral reading. This can be done by allowing students to read passages on their own or with the guidance of a teacher or more proficient peer. Students can also practice reading rhythmic and rhyming books, which help them develop a sense of pace and intonation.

Research supports the effectiveness of RR for developing foundational word-reading accuracy and fluency. However, there are mixed results on the impact of RR on reading comprehension for older students. This may be because proximal measures of comprehension (such as literal recall or questions answered directly from the text) do not always predict comprehension outcomes in the classroom. A deeper and more standardized measure of comprehension would be needed to determine whether RR improves comprehension.

Education is a key element of children’s lives. It teaches them about different cultures and helps them to get along with others. Kids also learn how to study and how to learn new things.

Educators must uphold each child’s unique value and dignity. This requires recognizing diversity in family structure, language, religion, racial identity, and abilities and disabilities.

Education is a human right

Education is considered a human right, but many children and young people do not have access to it. According to the GEM Report and UIS data, 244 million children and youth worldwide are not in school. Education is important because it helps to understand and promote the rights of all people, regardless of their sex, ethnicity, or religion. It also gives students knowledge about their local and global environment.

Education is also a critical pathway out of poverty. UNESCO estimates that 171 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty through education alone. It is a powerful tool for transforming the lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations. It can also reduce child labour, which violates the right to dignity of children. Education teaches people how to think critically and make informed decisions. It also enables them to participate in public life and exercise their citizenship. It is an indispensable component of democracy. The Council of Europe has long been a champion for human rights in education.

It is a social right

In a world full of adversity, education is the one thing that all children can do to better themselves and their lives. However, too many things stand in the way of their ability to exercise this right. These include poverty, conflict, health crises, natural disasters, geographic isolation and social exclusion. Children who don’t get the chance to go to school often get stuck in cycles of poverty, with each missed opportunity compounding their disadvantages.

UNESCO’s work is based on the notion that “learning begins at birth”, which was introduced in the World Declaration on Education for All in Jomtien. The organisation believes that high-quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is not only a critical investment in each child’s potential but also yields significant medium- and long-term benefits for individuals and society as a whole. It also recognises that non-state actors are increasingly filling the gap in this field. However, it stresses the need for state-led quality assurance and accountability mechanisms.

It is a moral right

A person’s right to education is a moral imperative because it requires the sacrifice of a person’s time, which could have been spent with family, or pursuing their own interests. Furthermore, it is the foundation of a society and it contributes to the well-being of individuals and communities. This is why it is essential that all kids have access to quality education.

Early childhood is the most critical stage in a person’s life. This is the time when they develop their self-esteem, perception of the world and moral outlook. The education they receive at this age will have a lasting impact on their lives.

International human rights law guarantees the right to education. During belligerent occupation, occupying powers must facilitate schools and ensure that the learners are educated in their own language and religion (Article 24 Geneva Convention IV). During civil conflicts, detaining powers must provide education to children and young people, within or outside internment, according to their own choice of subject and school (Article 94 Geneva Convention IV). This includes providing them with access to books and teaching them to read and write.

It is a legal right

Education is a fundamental human right and one of the most important factors for lifting people out of poverty and unlocking their full potential. Yet millions of children around the world still struggle to access education, and face obstacles ranging from discrimination and child labour to dangerous journeys to school.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education, which is essential for their personal development and for the progress of society as a whole. However, the practical application of this right is a complex issue. It requires a balance between educational freedom and equal access to quality education.

Moreover, the right to education also requires States to provide basic education that is free of charge and accessible to all. In practice, this often means creating a free public education system that provides basic skills and enables students to pursue higher learning. Several federal laws, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, guarantee children a constitutionally protected statutory right to education.

Education is a vital part of an individual’s life. It fosters intellectual growth, builds self-esteem, and helps instill a sense of purpose.

A school’s staff is made up of more than just classroom teachers and principals. Education support professionals (ESPs) are critical to a successful learning environment. They work alongside instructors and assist with a variety of tasks in the classroom.

Education Supporters

Education support professionals are the backbone of our school systems. Paraeducators, secretaries, custodians and bus drivers are just a few of the people who keep kids safe and provide them with the tools they need to learn. Without them, students wouldn’t get the extra help they need to manage their behaviour or cope with disabilities and learning challenges.

They guide and support students and teachers by helping create education and lesson plans, providing education counseling, and suggesting teaching techniques to improve educational effectiveness. Education support workers work collaboratively with other members of the school staff and primarily report to the school principal or dean of students.

They often receive little on the job training and must learn how to perform their duties by observing other staff and students in action. They may also need to attend training seminars to improve their knowledge of specific subject areas or policies and procedures.

Instructional Support Professionals

Students need more than teachers and principals to make learning possible. Education support professionals work behind the scenes in cafeterias, hallways and classrooms to keep schools running smoothly. They include cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, secretaries and security staff. They also include paraeducators, or teacher’s aides.

The Center for Instructional Support works to ensure that every student has access to a safe school environment where they can cultivate academic curiosity and confidence; read complex texts in all subjects; work on real-world problems; participate in the arts; and share their ideas, both written and verbally.

ESPs play a crucial role in all of these areas. The term “educational support professional” is a more accurate description of their duties and responsibilities than “pupil services personnel” or “related service personnel.” Congress adopted the new name with the passage of ESSA. The term is also used in state statute. NJEA has a long record of success in safeguarding and promoting the careers, training and pension/health benefits of educational support professionals.

Administrative Support Professionals

Administrative support professionals work in a wide range of industries, and typically report to the office manager. They perform a variety of administrative tasks, such as filing and completing reports. They may also assist with customer service and data entry.

Tutoring and formal classes to obtain a Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) diploma, vocational training or an apprenticeship program are examples of education support services that can be provided. Educational supports can include transportation assistance, day care expenses, clothes, books and supplies.

The organization Education Support, a UK charity, helps teachers cope with stress and burnout by offering telephone counselling. Its services are open to all teaching staff, including trainees, serving teachers, and headteachers. Its services also include counseling for support staff in the adult, further and higher education sectors. Its website also includes fact sheets and information useful to teachers. The organization also offers career guidance and a mentoring scheme for new teachers. It also runs a conference and exhibition for the education sector.

Schools help children develop their character and social skills. Being around hundreds of people their own age teaches them how to interact with others and be part of society.

When choosing a school for your child consider the following questions. Do the teachers encourage children to be creative? Does the school encourage daily attendance?

Education

Education is one of the main goals of schooling. Students learn new skills and gain knowledge that can lead to a better future. This can also help them become more confident. In addition, schools can help students become independent and make good decisions.

Students may choose to attend college after graduation. Colleges provide a wide range of academic programs, including bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees. Graduate schools offer master’s degrees or professional degrees.

Students can benefit from gender-equitable education systems, which can reduce school dropouts for girls and increase their earnings and health outcomes. Gender-equitable education can also reduce harmful norms around masculinity that fuel gang violence, child labor and recruitment into armed groups. Students can also benefit from the 9% increase in hourly earnings that comes with each additional year of schooling. This can improve their quality of life and build prosperity for their families. In addition, students can also benefit from being exposed to different cultures and ideas in school.

Socialization

School is one of the primary agents of socialization, alongside family. In schools, students learn societal norms and values and internalize them into their own behaviours.

This is primarily achieved through the formal curriculum of academic subjects, but also by the hidden curriculum of school culture. This includes implicit messages about the value of punctuality, obedience and conformity to authority figures. It may also include the value of achieving high grades and a competitive attitude towards others.

A major component of socialization in schools is the peer group, which typically consists of classmates in younger years and then becomes more specific to adolescent subgroups in the teenage years. Developing relationships with peers, especially positive ones, is important for children’s happiness and success in school.

Some of the current rules created and enforced in schools are not conducive to healthy socialization. For example, top-down rule making and reprimands put teachers on unequal social footing with students and encourage the creation of student resentment and rebellion against authority.

Discipline

School discipline is an important component of the educational process. It serves two primary purposes: to maintain a safe environment conducive to learning, and to teach children socially appropriate behaviors and attitudes. Serious student misconduct involving violence or criminal behavior defeats these goals and makes headlines, but most discipline issues in schools involve noncriminal misbehavior.

Disciplinary measures in schools often involve reprimanding students, placing them in “time out” or withholding recess, lowering grades and corporal punishment. The most extreme disciplinary action is exclusion, in which students are removed from the classroom and placed in special education or detention.

The most effective discipline strategies rely on logical consequences rather than simply punishing students for their actions. This allows them to see the impact of their actions and the direct effect on others. It is only when they understand that their behavior is not acceptable that they start to change. This is called supportive discipline. This comes before corrective discipline, which includes punishments like detention and suspension.

Community

A school is a large social hub in the neighborhood. It houses students, teachers, administrators, coaches, and other staff. Most of these people have a wide circle of family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances. These people are known as residents, because they live nearby. The school also provides social and health services for the community. These services may include free legal representation for students, counseling and mentoring programs, after-school sports and tutoring, food services and mental health clinics, and other educational programs.

Schools should promote community involvement by promoting an environment of trust, respect, and inclusivity. They should also create a positive relationship between students and their parents by emphasizing common goals and values.

At the micro-level, it is crucial to guarantee that formal decision-making organisations, such as school management committees, integrate minority populations and encourage their active participation (Flecha, 2015). Training opportunities should be developed, including strategies to tackle socio-cultural beliefs against education and discriminatory gender norms that affect children’s education and enrolment (consult Policy page on school-based initiatives for displaced communities). Also, flexible timetables should be arranged and transportation provided when possible to ensure everyone can participate in meetings and decisions.

Kindergarten is a child’s first experience in an academic classroom without the protection of home. Children have short attention spans, but teachers help them learn to sit quietly and respectfully listen.

Language and literacy are a big focus in kindergarten. Kids will learn to identify the letters of the alphabet, match upper- and lowercase letters with their sounds and recognize high-frequency sight words.

Social and Emotional Development

Children who have healthy social-emotional development are better able to follow classroom rules and engage in meaningful relationships with peers. They are also better able to control their emotions and build a positive self-image.

One important skill children must learn in kindergarten is how to communicate their needs to others. For example, they need to know that it’s ok to tell their teacher they need to use the bathroom or ask for help if they don’t understand something.

In addition, they must be able to interact in groups without being supervised directly by adults. This isn’t easy for young children, but it is necessary for them to develop independence and confidence as learners. Parents can help prepare kids for this by role playing situations that are similar to school. For example, you could set up a stuffed animal school and have them practice taking turns, asking for help or resolving conflicts over toys. Children who can do these things are more prepared for kindergarten and beyond.

Language and Literacy Development

While many children have some experiences with learning in preschool, kindergarten is often their first experience in a structured school environment. This shift from home-based activities to a classroom setting teaches children how to be part of a group led by adults who are not their parents.

In addition to developing their receptive language skills, kindergartners learn how to express themselves using their emerging literacy skills. Emerging literacy encompasses all aspects of reading and writing, including print concepts, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary.

By the end of kindergarten, children typically know the 26 upper- and lowercase letters, their names, and the sound each letter makes. They also learn basic math concepts, like counting and comparing numbers. Children are exposed to new English words through teacher instruction and in their daily activities. Effective teaching strategies include integrating new vocabulary into the classroom curriculum and presenting them thematically (McGee, 2008). In their book “Collaborative Conversations: Speaking and Listening in the Primary Grades,” Laura Beth Kelly, Meridith K. Ogden, and Lindsey Moses describe how they supported a class of kindergarten children in becoming participants in discussions about literature.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development includes a child’s growing ability to think logically and make connections. Children are able to categorize objects, sort information, learn from experiences and develop the capacity for problem solving.

They are able to understand the concepts of size, distance and time. They are able to recognize differences and similarities in things they observe (Flavell, 1977).

The great Swiss psychologist Piaget suggested that children reasoned in four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage (0 to 2 years), the preoperational reasoning stage (2 to 6 or 7 years), the concrete operational reasoning stage (6 or 7 to 11 or 12 years) and the formal operational reasoning stage (12 years and throughout life).

Many new theories of cognitive development have emerged from research over the last 25 years. However, major questions remain about the nature of these stages, their universality and the extent to which children’s thinking differs from others’. Also, questions about the interaction of nature and nurture and the continuity or discontinuity of cognitive development continue to be important issues.

Physical Development

During the kindergarten years, children undergo physical development at a rapid rate. They gain more muscle strength and coordination, which allows them to use their bodies in a variety of ways. For example, they learn to jump or run, to throw and catch a ball, and to move their hands to string beads or scribble on paper. These physical skills contribute to their cognitive and social-emotional development.

Physical activity also helps children develop their fine-motor skills, which are necessary for learning to read and write. Children who have strong fine-motor skills can grasp concepts such as the properties of shapes (e.g., rectangles and circles) and group toys by type.

Teachers and families can support their children’s physical development by encouraging indoor and outdoor physical activities and creating flexible physical development plans that track and accommodate children at different stages of growth. In addition, they should encourage their children to get 10 to 11 hours of restful sleep each night.