Unit 4: Preschoolers
How Preschool Children Learn
 Piaget’s 2nd stage = preoperational change
1. Preconceptional Substage




Children ages two to four are beginning to develop some
concepts
Children are able to form a mental image of what they see
around them
However, many of these concepts are incomplete or illogical
Children may see different members of the same group as
identical, such as all collies as Lassie.
2. Intuitive Substage


Children sometimes are able to grasp a problem’s solution by
how they feel about it.
Children base their solutions on “feeling” their way through
problems rather than on logic.
 For example, a child standing on the ladder of a slide may say
to his or her parent, “I’m taller than you,” because he or she can
see over the parent's head. The intuitive preschooler doesn't
use logic, such as “I may look taller, but my feet are higher than
my parent’s feet; thus I am still shorter than my parent.”
Obstacles to Logical Thinking
 Most children are still egocentric
 Egocentrism = the belief a person has that everyone
thinks in the same way and has the same ideas as he or
he does.
 Egocentrism, in this sense, does not mean children are
selfish or too concern with themselves
New Abilities Emerge
 Symbolic Play
 Mental Images
 Drawing
 Language
Symbolic Play
 Pretend Games
 They change things in some way or ways from the real
world or dreams
 Objects may stand for anything the child wants
 Roles may change, too, as the child can take on adult or
even animal roles


Leaf = plate
Stuffed Bear = child
What is she
“playing?”
What are they
“playing?”
Mental Images
 Mental Images = Symbols of objects and past
experiences that are stored in the mind.
1. Private and Internalized (thought about only)
2. Mental images are not exact copies of real objects and
experiences, but they do relate to the real world.

For example….
What mental images do you
have when you hear the
following words?
CAT
THUNDERSTORM
FLOWER
KENTUCKY
Drawing
 Preschool children no longer scribble
 They now attempt to draw objects and depict their world
through drawings
 Preschoolers intend their drawings to be realistic
 They draw what they think or know about a person, not what
is visually accurate

For example: a side view of a goldfish in a drawing may show both
eyes and even a smiling mouth. Drawing is a step between symbolic
play and mental images
 Preschoolers draw first then decide what their pictures
represent
 As children get older, they decide what to draw, form a mental
image then draw!
Language
 Spoken words are symbols used to represent
something.
 Words are also more abstract (do not relate to what
they represent) compared with many other symbols.
 For example, the word car does not look, sound, or move
like a car.
 Once language abilities develop, the child can
exchange ideas with others and thus learn!
 Children can also think with words!
 Thinking is faster using words compared with actions,
too!
What Preschool Children Learn
 Concepts Children Learn
 Physical Attributes
 Logical Thinking Concepts





Classifying Objects
Arranging by Size
Understanding Number Concepts
Understanding Spatial Concepts
Understanding Time Concepts
 Cause and Effect
Physical Attributes
 Preschool children develop concepts about:
 Size
 Shape
 Color
 Texture
 Etc.
 Preschool children are limited in their thinking about
physical attributes.
1. The child may not note the object’s most important
features

For example, the child must note a zebra’s stripes to
distinguish it from a horse. If the child notes the
zebra’s ears, this will not help, horses have similar ears.
2. Preschoolers tend to look at parts of an object, they
cannot always mentally “see the whole object.

For example…
Classifying Objects
 Classifying = the ability to choose an attribute and
group all the objects from a set
Arranging by Size
 Often preschool children cannot arrange objects by
increasing or decreasing size, weight, or volume.
Understanding Number Concepts
 Many preschoolers can count.
 However, counting does not show they understand
numbers.
 For example, a child may be able to count to five, but
they may not be able to count out five apples.
Understanding Number Concepts
 Once they can count objects successfully, preschoolers
still do not completely understand number concepts.
 It also requires seeing relationships!
 Unlike each object that has its own name, numbers
refer to groups. The number does not really refer to
just the last object named; but also to the entire group.
 Thus, a child must mentally see that one is in two and
two is in three!
Understanding Number Concepts
 Preschoolers really struggle with number concepts
such as:
 Less
 Few
 Many
 Some
Understanding Spatial Concepts
 Preschool children understand the words:
 Up
 Down
 Left
 Right
 Under
 Over
 Here
 There
Understanding Spatial Concepts
 However, until about age five years, preschoolers may
not know what is on the other side of a wall in their
own homes!
Understanding Spatial Concepts
 Preschool children also draw they think about space
rather than what they see.
 Learning left and right from another’s perspective is
hard– especially if the person is facing them!
 Allowing a child to help set the table, helps them learn
these concepts!
Understanding Time Concepts
 Preschoolers can recall the recent past
 Yesterday is recalled but a week or a year ago may be
forgotten.
 Children link time to events, such as time to eat lunch.
 They cannot see time passing.
 Morning, afternoon, and seasonal changes are gradual.
 For these reasons, time concepts are hard to
understand
 They are among the last concepts to develop!
Cause and Effect
 Preschoolers try to understand cause and effect
 They ask questions to try to understand
 “What causes the rain?”
 “What will happen to my dead fish?”
Cause and Effect
 Preschoolers may assign human qualities to
nonhumans, such as plants, animals and objects.
 Sometimes they use this to avoid being punished and
they say, “My teddy bear left my toys outside!”
 Sometimes preschoolers reverse cause and effect.
They may say, “Because I’m staying in bed, I am ill.”
Language Abilities Increased
 Due to egocentrism, sometimes preschoolers do not
communicate all the needed information when
speaking with others.
 They may begin their story in the middle rather than the
beginning because they think the listener already knows
the beginning!
 “She is eating!” Preschoolers assume you know who
“she” is. 
Articulation of Preschoolers
 Most toddlers have some problems making all the
sounds in their spoken language.
 In the English language, children master sound
between ages three and eight years.
Age
Sound
Word Examples
3 Years
M
N
P
H
W
monkey, hammer, broom, nails,
penny, lion, pig, happy, cup hand,
doghouse, window, bowl
4 Years
B
K
G
F
boat, baby, tub, cat, chicken, book,
girl, wagon, pig, fork, telephone,
knife
5 Years
Y
NG
D
yellow, onion, fingers, ring, dog,
ladder, bed
90% of all preschool children master these sound by the
given age!
Vocabulary of Preschoolers
 3 years = 900 words
 4 years = 1,500 words
 5 years = 2,000 words
Grammar of the Preschooler
 Sentence structure becomes much more complex
 Do not seem to notice proper word order
Grammar at
Three Years
Grammar at
Four and Five Years
•The -ing verb ending used.
•Rolling, Falling
•Longer, more complex
sentences
•Past tense for regular verbs
(-ed) used.
•Rolled, Walked
•Lengthen their sentences by
using clauses, conjunctions,
and prepositions.
•Past tense for some irregular •May still find the word
verbs.
order of questions confusing.
•Sank, ate
•The –s for making plural
used.
•Cars, dolls
•The –’s for possessive used.
•Bob’s, Daddy’s
1. Why do adults sometimes confuse preschoolers’
egocentrism with selfishness? What, if anything,
might an adult say or do to help these children
develop a less egocentric point of view?
2. How can a preschool teacher who has many
dramatic play, art and literature/language activities
justify these intellectual and not “just play”
activities?