A Better Understanding of

Your Child

0-2 Years Old> Reflexes> Hand-eye coordination> Habits> Experimentation > Symbolic representation

7-11 Years Old> Appropriate use of logic. > Seriation (sort objects) > Transitivity (logicalrelationships)> Classification> Multiple problem solving> Reversibility> Conservation > Empathy

4-6 Years Old> Start mental activities tosolve problems and obtain goalsbut is unaware of how she/he came to this conclusion > Learn through imitation and play> Build up symbolic images

2-4 Years Old> Speech> Intuitive reasoning> Highly imaginative minds> Assign emotions toinanimate objects

Key Steps in Children DevelopmentJean Piaget

Jean Piaget• Swiss scientist and philosopher well

known for his work studying children, in particular his theory of cognitive development:

• Children learn through actively constructing knowledge through hands-on experience

• The adult's role in helping the child learn is to provide appropriate materials for the child to interact and construct.

• Questioning is used to get the children to reflect on what they were doing.

• His approach can be seen in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools, and in the pedagogy of preschool centers

Bust of J. Piaget in Neuchatel, Switzerland

Benefits of Reading

Books Help Children Develop Vital Language & Reading Skills

• The more children read, the better they become at reading. • Children can build their vocabulary through books, associate it

to context and reuse it to grow confidence in and outside school

Reading Can Open Up New Worlds and Enrich Children's Lives

• Through books, children can learn about people and places from other parts of the world, improving their understanding of and concern for all of humanity

• Books also give kids the opportunity to flex their critical thinking skills in such areas as problem solving, the concepts of cause and effect, conflict resolution, and acceptance of responsibility for one's actions.

Benefits of Reading

Reading Can Enhance Children's social skills & understanding of

social rules

• Great opportunity for adult and child to share some quiet, relaxed quality time together away from the rush and stresses of the business of daily living

• Encouraging children to talk about what they've read or heard as well as giving them a head start at school as well as giving them a confidence boost.

• Books can encourage children empathy to be more cooperative, to share with others, to be kind to animals, or to respect the natural environment.

Reading Can Provide Children with Plenty of Good, Clean Fun

• Reading should be viewed as a pleasurable activity - as a source of entertainment and useful and interesting factual information.

Benefits of Reading

Benefits of Images & Illustrations

Benefits of Images/Illustrations

• Clarify text explanation & provide sense of familiarity, reality etc.

• Stimulus for learners to interrogate or explain

• Focus learner on key ideas

• Provide confidence-building visual cues for learners with visual memories

• Allow the reader to think about abstract concepts and relations

• Support the creation of more complete mental models

• Child-friendly & fun for better assimilation of knowledge

The 5 Minds For the Future

The 5 Minds For The Future

• Prof. Howard Gardner’s 5 Minds for the Future (Harvard University)

The 5 Minds For The Future

The 5 MindsSynthesizing To-the-Point Questions &

Answers; Fun FactsDisciplined Clear, Structured &

Informative FactsEthical Understanding Other

Cultures, Responsibility toward the Environment, Etc.

Creative Original Questions & Attractive Artwork

Respectful Diversity, Differences, Other Point of Views

• Learn about key subjects from different angles

• Different from school: – Completes knowledge– Stimulates subjects association – Encourages cross-curricular learning

• Through different mediums: – Questions & Answers– Realistic artwork & cartoons– Extra information & Fun Facts

• These stimulates your child’s various intelligences (Prof. Howard Gardner)

• Builds reflexes and motivation for self-learning

• Opens your child’s mind to other cultures and point of views

• Facilitates parent-children interactions

• Arouses curiosity & eases home-works

• 24 volumes organized by key topics