Approaches to Learning
Some of the important skills young children develop fall into a category called approaches to learning — how children learn. Approaches to learning refers to the behaviors a child uses to gain knowledge and skills. There are 4 focus areas in this section, each spanning ages 3–9.
These areas of focus weave together to help the child build self-regulation skills known as Executive Function — the set of skills that include self-control, memory and recall, and flexible thinking that children develop to keep their emotions, actions, and thinking in control. All children develop at different rates, and your interactions and support will help your child grow no matter where they are along the path.
- Executive Function: The set of skills that include self-control, memory and recall, and flexible thinking that children develop in order to be ready to learn and keep their emotions, actions, and thinking in control.
- Flexible: The ability to change ideas easily toward success.
- Motivated: To be encouraged by interest and excitement in activities and ideas for doing something.
- Persevering: To continue with an activity or action when challenging or success is not promised.
- Persist: To continue with an activity or course of action when things are difficult, challenging, or frustrating.
- Self-control: The ability to control one's actions and emotions to cope with difficulty or undesired situations.
- Self-regulation Skills: Skills that give children the ability to keep actions, emotions, and behaviors in-check to produce positive results.
Working on lengthening a child's attention span and helping them ignore distractions and deal with interruptions.
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Glossary
- Active Listening Skills: 5 ways to show you're listening — maintain eye contact, don't interrupt, ask questions, repeat back what the speaker says, and listen for total meaning.
- Concentrate: Thinking about, listening to, or watching something closely without being distracted.
- Distractions: Something that takes attention away from an activity or task.
- Interruptions: When activities stop because of an outside cause (e.g., a game stops because the telephone rings).
- Props: Items used in pretend play — for example, hand-made menus when playing restaurant.
Helping children learn to be flexible, have self-control, and remember multiple things at once.
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Glossary
- Abstractly: A generalized idea or quality instead of an actual or specific person, object, or action.
- Art medium: The materials or methods used by an artist (e.g., paint and crayons).
- Executive Function: The set of skills including self-control, memory, and flexible thinking that help children keep their emotions, actions, and thinking in control.
- Imitate: To copy or do something the same way.
- Mind's eye: When you imagine or remember how something looks when you can't actually see it.
- Mirroring the leader: Copying the leader using the same arms and legs relative to the direction they are facing.
- Perspective: To think about and understand something from another point of view.
- Visualize: To form a mental picture of someone or something.
Helping children show eagerness to explore and investigate and to be motivated to make sense of the world around them.
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Glossary
- Motivation: Being encouraged by interest and excitement in activities and ideas for completing tasks to deepen learning.
- Independence: Gaining the ability to do things for yourself.
- Predict: Using prior knowledge to guess what may happen in the future or within a certain activity.
Helping children manage emotions, think creatively, and persist until a problem can be solved.
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Glossary
- Bartering: To discuss a trade or exchange for things.
- Persisting: To continue with an activity or course of action when things are difficult, challenging, or frustrating.
- Reinforce: To give support to or encourage something (e.g., an idea, effort, or feelings).