Thinking, Learning, and Language Development in Child Care

Toddler rolling ball

As young children grow, they learn different ways to process information from the world around them, and their thinking skills are very different at different ages. Infants are focused on exploring the world around them. Preschool-age children like to ask questions and test out ideas. School-age children think logically, but still have a hard time understanding abstract concepts such as “freedom.”

Child care providers can help young children develop thinking skills by observing carefully, providing interesting materials and problems, asking …