Cognitive Development in Children going to Day Care Centers and Preschools

Play and creative activities are the best ways for young children to learn and grow. It may seem that preschoolers and children going to Abu Dhabi day care centers are just playing, their cognitive mind is working hard to put together all the vital information about the surrounding environment. Children at the age of 1-5 years show their own ways of reasoning, questioning, categorizing and problem solving. Your child’s cognitive development – that is the ability to think, ask, learn, imagine, remember, and understand – depends on two factors: your relationship & support and the early education provided at day care center or preschool.

Over time, with playful experiences and more practice, your child will probably:

• Be able to acquire and store information. Generally, 3-year olds begin to retain and remember certain things, events and other interactions. They use mnemonic strategies to recall information, so you can talk more about events to increase their memory.

• Be able to think, but differently from adults! They start to think about little things that surround them, starting from other children at preschool to leaves falling from tree. 4-5 year olds also begin to understand & think that different people have different feelings & perceptions. 

• Start to understand concepts such as ‘bigger,’ ‘taller,’ ‘friendship’ and other small things four years onwards. They also have some concept of time at the age four years, and by the time they reach five years, they begin to understand that the day is divided into hours and minutes.

• Play simple games such as jigsaw puzzles, ‘snakes and ladders,’ building & construction, memory card together.

• Read story books, rhymes and other interesting books for kids together every day before going to bed.

• Let your kid solve simple problems himself/herself. Try not to jump immediately to help him/her. This will enable your child to develop solution for such simple problems and eventually they will develop problem-solving skills.

• Play more outdoor games and ask questions about nature to know where your kid’s imagination is going.

 

• Involve a preschooler in cooking, gardening, and other creative stuff at home to make him/her think that he/she can do anything. This will develop a sense of self-esteem and build their self confidence.

Learning by doing is the best methodology for cognitive growth at this age. Your child can learn faster only when you step back and provide encouragement and support at every step. Many preschools and Abu Dhabi day care centers have different programs for infants, toddlers and young children to help children prepare for transition from preschool days to kindergarten & develop cognition. Talk with your preschool teacher to help them devise more play ideas for cognitive development of young children.