This post will continue the discussion of cognitive development for 3 to 4 year olds in the domain of math. We will finish the component - Patterns and Algebra, and then take up the component - Measurement. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
The second learning expectation for the component - Patterns and Algebra is: Begins to identify, describe, and extend patterns. The first performance indicator is: Begins to recognize, duplicate and create patterns. This one hits one of my biggest frustrations with childhood experts. Most of them would have you believe that children will automatically pick up patterns if only you leave them alone with toys long enough. Really? This has not been my experience. Most children have to have patterns demonstrated over and over and over before they begin to understand the concept. Of course, I picked up patterns easily as a child, but I have a very strong natural aptitude for math. How many people do you know that do not have a strong natural aptitude for math? That is the percentage of the population that will not pick up patterns no matter how long you make them stare at toys. One of the children in my care now has struggled horribly with patterns, and he has had tons of exposure. It was not until his fifth birthday that patterns started getting easier for him, and he is not developmentally delayed. He just has no natural aptitude for this type of mathematical concept. This concept needs to be directly taught and often in order for most children to become proficient. For some it will take a few months and for others like the boy in my care it might take years.
The second performance indicator for this learning expectation is: Begins to place objects in order through trial and error. Honestly, tell me how many children have you seen with the patience to learn to place things in order by trial and error? Or is the more realistic scenario the following? The child picks up a stackable toy, tries to figure it out for about two seconds, and then throws it across the room or uses it in another way. Today's children lack patience. I have to make my children keep trying with toys of this nature and sometimes have to guide them with gentle clues. Children forty or fifty years ago might have set with toys and fiddled with them until they figured it out. Today it better blink and make noise or the children will not know what to do with it. Our culture has trained today's children for instant results. Anything that must be accomplished through trial and error will be met with wailing and gnashing of teeth from the children. Again, you, the adult, will have to oversee this type of activity and make them keep trying.
Now we will move on to the component - Measurement. The learning expectation for this one is: Begins to demonstrate understanding of time, length, weight, capacity, and temperature. The first performance indicator is: Recognizes and labels measurable characteristics of objects (e.g., "I need the long string."). Whether a 3 year old will conquer this particular performance indicator very much depends on the level of that child's language development. All the learning domains overlap one another but language development will almost always precede math development at this age. If a child lags behind in language development, it causes all the other domains to lag as well. This is why when children come through my door I will concentrate on language matters until I bring those up to speed. Also, a 3 year old will never pick up these concepts without a great deal of exposure to these concepts. I cannot stress how important it is to continually talk about time, weight, capacity, and temperature at every opportunity. The children must hear those concepts in context to begin to develop an understanding of what they mean.
The last performance indicator we will look at for this post is: Uses approximate measures of familiar objects using nonconventional measuring tools. Sometimes it is almost laughable how little childhood "experts" that do not actually work in the field know about how children learn. Children will not of their own accord start measuring anything. That concept does not even cross their mind until an adult models it. Not only that but it takes many exposures for a great deal of children to actually take an interest in measuring. They will participate when the adult is doing the activity, but for them to experiment on their own takes multiple exposures. Some children pick the idea up quickly, but when the newness fades so does their interest. This needs to be something childcare providers and stay-at-home mothers do with their children weekly in order for the concept to grow as it should. If the adults in a child's life never measure things around the children, measuring will never pull up on the child's radar.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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