Virginia ELDS Birth Five Learning Guidelines

AREA FIVE: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (CD)

Children develop in their cognitive abilities through their earliest observations and experiences with their natural, physical, and social environments as they question, explore, describe, predict, think, and share their thinking. Much of infants’, toddlers’, and preschoolers’ behaviors are their way of questioning and testing ideas about the world and how it works. Actions like dropping, climbing, throwing, and dumping are examples of a young child’s growing awareness and experimentation with objects around them. Children also increasingly use mathematics strategies to solve problems. For example, figuring out how many cups of sand it takes to fill the large bucket on the playground. They are also developing the skills to creatively express their growing knowledge and skills. Caregivers and educators support children’s cognitive development by encouraging and providing opportunities for them to explore and experiment in their classrooms, homes, and communities, and providing language-rich stimulation and intentional learning opportunities for children to develop new knowledge and skills. Children with disabilities may demonstrate their cognitive growth at a different rate and may need additional support or require accommodations, such as adaptive materials and environments, or assistive technology or devices, to show their progress. Children who are English learners or multilingual learners should be given opportunities to engage in activities that are culturally meaningful and show their cognitive abilities using multiple means of expressions and representations. Sub-Areas for Cognitive Development, with Focus Areas appearing in corresponding bulleted lists, include:

CD1. Science: The Natural and Physical World • CD1.1. Paying attention to the natural world • CD1.2. Testing questions and ideas

CD3. Mathematics

CD4. Fine Arts

• CD3.1. Comparing numbers, counting, and recognizing quantities • CD3.2. Understanding number relationships and solving problems using operations

• CD4.1. Exploring and expressing ideas through movement and dance • CD4.2. Learning about and through music • CD4.3. Building understanding, empathy, and relationship skills through drama and theatre arts • CD4.4. Using visual arts media to express thoughts and feelings

CD2. Social Science: People, Community, and Culture

• CD3.3. Geometric thinking and spatial reasoning • CD3.4. Sorting,

• CD2.1. Learning about ways that people interact • CD2.2. Understanding relationships and connections • CD2.3. Learning about differences

classifying, and patterning

• CD3.5. Describing,

comparing, and measuring

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VIRGINIA BOARD OF EDUCATION | doe.virginia.gov