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.

Comfort 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: Incorporate sorting and classifying into daily routines Child Will: Confidently sort and classify Begin to seek opportunities to sort and classify Demonstrate her increased awareness of the qualities that make objects the same and different Parents Can: Begin to talk about "same" and "different" as it applies to their preschooler's toys and daily experiences Child Will: Develop a better understanding of his environment Feel he is in a safe environment where he can explore things and examine the qualities of things Begin to share with others his feelings about things in his environment, based on the qualities an object may possess Parents Can: Introduce the concepts of adding and subtracting Child Will: Begin to experiment with this mathematical concept Share her hypothesis with others, knowing she will be guided Recognize the adults in her environment as people who can help her understand and solve problems

Play Through opportunities for play, preschoolers will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while also learning about themselves and others. Parents Can: Play simple games like "What time is it Mr. Wolf" or "Mother May I?" that require their preschooler to count the number of steps he takes Child Will: Count correctly using one-to-one correspondence Begin to apply directions Parents Can: Provide opportunities for their preschooler to count, trace letters and complete puzzles with numbers Child Will: Begin to master the ability to print numbers Recognize the printed sequence of numbers Begin to recognize random numbers up to 10 Parents Can: Play matching games with playing cards, or make their own set of matching cards - use index cards and print two cards with the same number Child Will: Recognize numbers randomly Engage in turn-taking games Feel confident about which cards/numbers are the same and different

Teach Through routines, and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, preschoolers can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate. Parents Can: Share books with their preschoolers that illustrate one-to-one correspondence, as well as those demonstrating "same" and "different" Child Will: Develop his observation skills Gain confidence in counting Understand that numbers indicate quantity - for example, two is more than one Begin to understand "more" and "less" Begin to use plurals – two balls, three balls etc. Parents Can: Spend time with their preschooler tracing numbers and replicating patterns Child Will: Develop and master his ability to print numbers Gain confidence in number recognition Parents Can: Use household objects and their preschooler's toys to demonstrate and practice simple adding and subtracting (for example, "If you have three dolls and you take one away how many are left?") Child Will: Begin to develop the language of addition and subtraction (such as "add," "take away," "plus" and "equals") Begin to experiment using the language and the concepts Begin to understand "more" and "less" Parents Can: Talk about time, days of the week, months and years by talking about special events or activities that are happening at home or school Child Will: Begin to talk about days of the week Begin to associate certain events with days and months of the year Begin to take an active interest in knowing upcoming events at home or school Begin to associate the clock with time