From age 6 to 11, children are

ready to explore and learn from

every experience.

New intellectual abilities

emerge, as they move from THINKING
their family to the wider world
of school.

Let’s look at how this

development is viewed by
Piaget, Vygotsky, and
information-processing theorists.
 Karla is 7 Jacob is 13
LETS HOLD “IN MIND” THIS FAMILY OR ANY OTHER FAMILY AS WE
LEARN ABOUT COMMON MILESTONES IN COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN 7-12.
 PIAGET ON
MIDDLE
CHILDHOOD
 Concrete operational
thought

 Ability to reason
logically about direct
experiences and
perceptions

 From about age 7 to 12

Hierarchy of categories
• Classification
• Involves organization of things
into groups (or categories or
classes) according to some PIAGET ON
common characteristic MIDDLE
• By age 8, most children can
classify. CHILDHOOD
• Seriation
• Includes knowledge that things
can be arranged in logical series
• Following a series is tied to
many practical applications.
PIAGET ON MIDDLE
CHILDHOOD
 Math is understood in deeper ways

 Development of familiarity with and

grasping logic behind numbers
 Use of mental categories and
subcategories flexibly, inductively, and
simultaneously
 Cognitive maturation
  Role of instruction
 Education occurs everywhere
and knowledge is acquired from
social context.
 Guiding each child through zone
VYGOTSKY of proximal development is
AND crucial.
CULTURE  Children are apprentices in
learning.
 Language is integral as a
mediator for understanding and
learning.
 VYGOTSKY AND CULTURE

 Cultural variations

 Culture and context (e.g., school)

affect wide variety of learning.
 Culture affects how children learn, not
just what they learn.
 Learning is not simply the result of
maturation.
  Information-processing theory
 Compares human thinking processes, by
analogy, to computer analysis of data

 Like computers, people sense and perceive large

INFORMATION amounts of information.
PROCESSING  Seek specific units of information (as a search
engine does
 Analyze (as software programs do)
 Express their conclusions so another person
can understand (as a networked computer or
a printout might do)
INFORMATION PROCESSING

 Knowledge leads to knowledge.

 Knowledge base
 Body of knowledge in a particular area that makes
it easier to master related new information
 As knowledge base increases during school
years, children are better able to judge.
 Accuracy
 What is worth remembering
 What is not
  Control processes (neurological mechanisms)
 Require the brain to organize, prioritize, and
direct mental operations
 Metacognition
INFORMATION  Metamemory
PROCESSING  Spontaneously develop as prefrontal cortex
matures and with instruction
 Closely related to development of theory of
mind
LANGUAGE

 Vocabulary

 Builds during middle childhood with

development of logical, concrete
operational thinking
 Enables use of prefixes, suffixes,
compound words, phrases, metaphors,
and meaning of never-heard words
 Becomes pivotal for understanding
curriculum
LANGUAGE

 Adjusting vocabulary to
the context
 Pragmatics
 Ability to use words and
devices to
communicate in various
contexts
 Allow children to
change formal and
informal linguistic
codes to fit audience
  Code changes occur when
children speak one language at
home and another at school.

 Almost 1 out of 4 U.S. school-

age children have home
LANGUAGES language other than English;
1 of 20 speak regional dialect.
 Alternate codes have distinct
patterns of timing, grammar,
emphasis, and vocabulary; all
require more than literal
translation.
LANGUAGES

 Comfort using home

language or regional
dialect is correlated
with pride and
motivation.
 Ability to use
standard English is
correlated with
school achievement.
LANGUAGES

 Approaches
Respect for home language is  English Language Learners
needed when teaching school (ELLs)
language.  Immersion
 Bilingual education
Learning several codes is  English as a Second
easiest at younger ages. Language (ESL)

Educators and political leaders

disagree about how to teach
English as a second language.
LANGUAGES

 Information-
processing approach
 Learning two
languages during
middle childhood
related to cognitive
advances
 Ability to inhibit one
language while
using other
 Motivation to learn
for immigrant
children
Socioeconomic status
• Low-SES families: Smaller
vocabularies, simpler
vocabularies, impaired grammar
Correlations
LANGUAGES
• Hippocampus development and
inadequate prenatal care, no
breakfast, lead, crowded
housing, neighborhood violence
• Home language heard, mother’s
education, access to books
• Overheard versus child-
directed speech
  Schooling worldwide
TEACHING  Cultures differ in what is valued, but there
AND are some age-based goals.
 Educational practices differ between and
LEARNING within nations.
 Age Norms and Expectations
Count to 20.
Understand one-to-one correspondence of objects and
4–5 years numbers.
Understand more and less.
Recognize and name shapes. AT ABOUT
6 years
Count to 100.
Understand bigger and smaller.
Add and subtract one-digit numbers.
THIS TIME:
8 years
Add and subtract two-digit numbers.
Understand simple multiplication and division.
Understand word problems with two variables.
MATH
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide multidigit numbers.
10 years Understand simple fractions, percentages, area, and
perimeter of shapes.
Understand word problems with three -variables.
Begin to use abstract concepts, such as formulas and
12 years
algebra.
 Age Norms and Expectations

Understand basic book concepts. For instance, children learning English and many
other languages
understand that books are written from front to back, with print from left to right,
4–5 years
and that letters make words that describe pictures.
Recognize letters—name the letters on sight.
Recognize and spell own name.

Know the sounds of the consonants and vowels, including those that have two
6–7 years
sounds (e.g., c, g, o).
Use sounds to figure out words.
Read simple words, such as cat, sit, ball, jump. AT ABOUT
8 years
Read simple sentences out loud, 50 words per minute, including words of two
syllables.
Understand basic punctuation, consonant–vowel blends.
Comprehend what is read.
THIS TIME:
9–10
years
Read and understand paragraphs and chapters, including advanced punctuation
(e.g., the colon).
Answer comprehension questions about concepts as well as facts.
READING
Read polysyllabic words (e.g., vegetarian, population, multiplication).

Demonstrate rapid and fluent oral reading (more than 100 words per minute).
Vocabulary includes words that have specialized meaning in -various fields.
For example, in civics, liberties, federal, parliament, and environment all have
11–12
special meanings.
years
Comprehend paragraphs about unfamiliar topics.
Sound out new words, figuring out meaning using cognates and context.
Read for pleasure.

Continue to build vocabulary, with greater emphasis on comprehension than on

13+ years speech. Understand
textbooks.
ROOM TO LEARN?
TEACHING AND LEARNING

 The hidden curriculum

 Unofficial, unstated, or implicit patterns within a
school that influence what children learn
 Examples
 Teacher characteristics and expectations,
background and ethnicity
 Characteristics and organization of the learning
spaces
 Sports competitions, student government,
extracurricular activities

 Can you think of other examples?

TEACHING AND LEARNING

 PIRLS
 Girls ahead of boys in reading
in every nation
 Boys ahead of girls in math
and science
 TIMSS
 Gender differences in math
narrowed or disappeared
(gender-similarities
hypothesis) in some nations.
 Classroom
 Girls have higher grades
overall; grades dip at puberty.
SCHOOLING IN THE UNITED
STATES
 National Standards
 National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
 Finds fewer children
proficient than do state tests
 Identifies achievement gaps
among Hispanic American,
African American, and
European American fourth-
grade reading and math
scores
 Wider gap between high-and
low-SES schools
SCHOOLING IN THE UNITED
STATES
 Why are there disparities in the U.S.
achievement scores?
 More economic than ethnic reasons
 Disparity in local school funding
SCHOOLING IN THE UNITED
STATES
 Ten controversial issues
1. Public education and public funding priorities
2. Voucher use
3. Charter school
4. Home-schooling
5. Public education and freedom of religion
6. Arts in the curriculum
7. Learning a second language in primary school
8. Computers in education
9. Class sizes
10. Role of soft-skills education in curriculum
SCHOOLING IN THE UNITED
STATES
 Who decides?
 Science of child cognition is not necessarily understood by those
who determine what children learn.

 In most nations, public education decisions are set by the central

government.

 In the United States, local districts provide most funding and

guidelines; parents (as voters and volunteers) are active within
schools.