Examples of Developmental Changes in Children’s Approaches to Learning

MKEA Conference

SNAPSHOTS / 4-5 years / 5-6 years
When it comes to learning, four-year-olds are developing greater self-control and ingenuity. Their pretend play is more complex and imaginative, and can be sustained for longer periods. They can also make plans and complete tasks. Four-year-olds want to try new experiences. They also want to be more self-reliant, and seek to expand the areas of their lives where they can be independent decision makers. / Five-year-olds are creative and enthusiastic problem solvers. They offer progressively more imaginative ideas for how to do a task, make something, or solve longer-term or more abstract challenges. As they participate in a variety of new experiences, five-year-olds ask more analytical questions and weight their choices. They are also more social as they learn new things and prefer activities that involve other children.
Initiative, Engagement, and Persistence
Decision-Making / Further expands areas of decision-making (e.g., child may say, “This morning I’m going to work on my Lego building.”) / Deliberates and weighs choices (e.g., may spend a long time thinking about whether to go to the store with mom or to stay home and help dad).
Attention / Has an increased ability to focus attention, and can ignore more distractions and interruptions (e.g., at preschool, can focus on a drawing even when other children are nearby; might say, “I’ll play with you later. I want to finish this.”) / Can maintain focus on a project for a sustained period of time (e.g., spends a rainy day building a complicated fort out of chairs and blankets, complete with props and signs). Is able to return to an activity after being interrupted.
Persistence and Task Completion / Is increasingly able to complete tasks, even those that are longer-term and less-concrete (e.g., keeping track of the days until his or her birthday on a calendar). Has greater ability to set goals and follow a plan (e.g., child says, “I’m going to pick up all these branches,” and then works until it is done). / Persists in longer-term or complex projects, with supervision. Can return to projects begun the previous day. Uses self-talk and other strategies to help finish difficult tasks and assignments from adults (e.g., a school project to make an alphabet book).
Self-Help and Independence in Learning / Increasingly makes independent choices and shows self-reliance (e.g., chooses clothes, feeds, and dresses self). / Chooses and follows through on self-selected learning tasks. Shows interest and skill in more complex self-help skills (e.g., decides to learn to skate, zips jacket, prepares a snack).
Curiosity and Eagerness to Learn
Participation in Varied Experiences / Asks to participate in new experiences that he or she has observed or has heard of others participating in (e.g., says, “Jack goes fishing. Can I?”) / Tries an even wider range of new experiences, both independently and with peers and adults (e.g., goes on a camping trip with grandparents, tries to learn to play piano like older brother). May deliberately take risks when learning new skills.
Questioning / Asks questions about future events, as well as about the here and now (e.g., asks, “When will we go to Sarah’s house again?”) / Asks higher-level questions (e.g., asks, “What would happen if we had no food?” Or “Why was Raymond mad at me?”)
Eagerness to Learn / Starts to show more enthusiasm for learning letters, shapes, and numbers (e.g., while looking at a book with dad, points to a word that contains the letter “S” and says, “S! That’s in my name! What is that word?”) /
Expands verbal and non-verbal enthusiasm for learning new things, including academic (e.g., reading, writing) and physical skills (e.g., riding a bike).
Reasoning and Problem Solving
Flexibility and Resilience / More flexible and able to draw on varied resources in solving problems (e.g., tries to build a large structure with blocks, but the building keeps falling down. After several failed attempts, he or she tries making a larger base. May also look at how other children have made their buildings.) / Is increasingly able to think of possible solutions to problems. Can use varied and flexible approaches to solve longer-term or more abstract challenges (e.g., when planning to have friends over on a rainy day, thinks about how to deal with a limited space to play).
Help Seeking / Seeks help from both adults and peers, and has a greater understanding of the kind of help that may be needed (e.g., says, “Can you hold this end of the string for me, so I can tie this?”) / Analyzes complex problems more accurately to identify the type of help needed (e.g., says, “I think I know how to play this game, but I think you’ll have to help me get started. Then I can do the rest.”)
Thinking Skills / Grows in ability to understand abstract concepts, especially when his or her thinking is supported by physical interaction with materials (e.g., systematically pours sand into measuring cups, then looks at and comments on amounts). / Continues to benefit from hands-on experiences to support more abstract thinking skills (e.g., makes a book about last summer’s vacation trip, complete with sections for each place visited, drawing to illustrate, and labels written with adult help).
Invention and Imagination
Pretending / Engages in more sustained and complex pretend play (e.g., creates a long scenario with several other children, taking a pretend trip with many stops). Expands the roles acted out in pretend play. Is less dependent on realistic props. / Collaborates with other children in extended and complex pretend play, taking on more varied roles and situations (e.g., acts out roles of lions, hunters, rescuers, and other animals in a dramatic and sustained scenario).
Creative Approaches to Situations / Offers creative, unusual ideas about how to do a task, how to make something, or how to get from one place to another (e.g., says, “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s walk backwards to the kitchen!”) / Offers increasingly creative, unusual ideas about how to do a task, how to make something, or how to get from one place to another (e.g., asks, “Let’s use these old boxes to make a spaceship! Where’s some paint?”)

From M. Hyson, (2008) Enthusiastic and engaged learners: Approaches to learning in the early childhood classroom. New York: Teachers College Press; Washington, DC: NAEYC - found in C. Copple (2012) Growing minds: Building strong cognitive foundations in early childhood, p 56-61. Washington, DC: NAEYC

Susan Zoll, Ph.D., Wheelock College