Intellectual Development means being able to communicate, to think both creatively and abstractly, to pay attention, solve problems, and develop keen judgment and a lifelong readiness to learn.
Emerging Skills
Use well formed sentences
Talk about things that happened today and tomorrow, having developed some understanding of time
Have detailed conversations with playmates
Engage frequently in imaginary play
Repeat simple rhymes and songs
Understand three-step directions (for example, "Pick up your toys, put them on the shelf and come and sit with me")
Through the comfort and responsiveness of an adult, preschoolers will learn how to handle their emotions and how to seek help when needed.
Parents Can:
Read their preschooler his favourite book before bed
Child Will:
Enjoy a special shared time of reading
Use words and sentences he has memorized to be an active participant in this experience
Parents Can:
Encourage their preschooler to ask questions
Child Will:
Feel her curiosity is supported
Expand her own ideas and accounts of events
Parents Can:
Interpret when their preschooler has difficulty expressing himself
Child Will:
Develop a sense of trust that he can turn to adults when help is needed
Play
Through opportunities for play, preschoolers will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while learning about themselves and others.
Parents Can:
Play word games with rhymes
Child Will:
Further develop her understanding of language, as well as building her vocabulary
Parents Can:
Play guessing games that encourage their preschooler to think about functional relationships (for example, "What do you need for cleaning your teeth?")
Child Will:
Practice thinking about objects and their functional characteristics
Have to use his memory rather than relying on concrete objects
Parents Can:
Set up an area for imaginative play with puppets
Child Will:
Develop her own stories and act them out
Experiment with new phrases and descriptions
Teach
Through routines and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, preschoolers can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate.
Parents Can:
Read stories that have a clear beginning, middle and end, and use new words
Child Will:
Begin to incorporate the structure of stories into his own descriptions and accounts of his experiences
Parents Can:
Ask their preschooler to tell them about the stories that go with the pictures she has drawn
Child Will:
Begin to understand how the written word can represent her thoughts and ideas
Parents Can:
Visit the local library or bookstore to explore books with their preschooler
Child Will:
Begin to develop an interest in the written word
Be encouraged to love the activity of reading books
