Cognitive Learning
Banish boredom with brain teasers, memory games, and puzzles—they’ll help develop the concentration, memory retention, spatial skills, and critical thinking your child will use every day.1
Why Cognitive Learning is Important
Ages 1 to 3
Children rapidly develop cognitive skills at this stage, including object permanence, symbolic thinking, language, attention and memory, and spatial awareness. These skills lay the foundation for future learning.7 Provide your kids with opportunities for exploration and play based learning, read and talk to them, and offer age-appropriate challenges and problem-solving activities.8
Ages 4 to 7
Provide opportunities for children to practice and learn language, memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.9 More complex approaches, like executive functioning—planning, organizing, and self-control, along with spatial awareness, and number sense also become easier for kids to grasp during this period.10
Ages 8 to 12
Exploration, discovery, and learning during this period are crucial for supporting their cognitive development. They’ll be refining a range of skills such as attention, memory, language, logical thinking, metacognition, planning, spatial reasoning, and problem-solving. These help children think abstractly, reason logically, and solve problems effectively.11
Ages 13 and up
Cognitive skills become more complex and sophisticated with skills continuing to evolve as youth face increasingly complex intellectual and social demands. Opportunities for challenge and growth can help adolescents and young adults develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in academic, personal, and professional settings.12
FAQ
What is cognitive learning?
It’s the way people acquire knowledge and understanding through mental processes like perception, attention, memory, and reasoning. Cognitive learning involves thinking, understanding, and applying information, concepts, and principles through activities like reading, problem-solving, observing, and listening. It’s especially important for academic and intellectual growth.
SpringerLink. (2014). Cognitive Learning. In J. S. Matsumoto (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence (pp. 168-170). Springer. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_390
Valamis. (n.d.). Cognitive Learning. Retrieved from https://www.valamis.com/hub/cognitive-learning
References
1. https://www.phoenix.edu/blog/what-is-cognitive-learning-theory.html#:~:text=Cognitive%20learning%20theory%20focuses%20on,build%20up%20over%20a%20lifetime
1. https://helpmegrowmn.org/HMG/HelpfulRes/Articles/WhatCognitiveDev/index.html#:~:text=Cognitive%20development%20means%20how%20children,understand%20the%20world%20around%20them
2. https://www.edubloxtutor.com/cognitive-skills/
2. http://www.ifmlab.org/files/tutorial/IFMLab_Tutorial_6.pdf
3. https://www.edubloxtutor.com/cognitive-skills/
4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.697901/full
5. https://dme.childrenshospital.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Optional-_Teaching-Critical-Thinking-and-Problem-Solving-Skills.pdf
6. https://eastwoodschools.com/top-cognitive-skills-important-student-learning/#:~:text=Learning%20in%20schools%20need%20students,students%20might%20begin%20to%20struggle.
7. https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/intellectual-and-cognitive-development-in-children-and-teens/
8. https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/play-learning/play-toddler-development/thinking-play-toddlers
9. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/creativity-and-critical-thinking/development-milestones/cognitive-development-6-7-year-olds.html
9. https://naitreetgrandir.com/en/step/3-5-years/development/4-5-years/fiche.aspx?doc=child-cognitive-and-linguistic-development-4-5-years
9. https://naitreetgrandir.com/en/step/5-8-years/development/5-6-years/fiche.aspx?doc=child-cognitive-and-linguistic-development-5-6-year
10. https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/intellectual-and-cognitive-development-in-children-and-teens/
11. https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/intellectual-and-cognitive-development-in-children-and-teens/
11. https://www.virtuallabschool.org/school-age/cognitive-development/lesson-2#:~:text=Early%20adolescence%20(ages%208%2D12,using%20and%20manipulating%20symbols%20representationally
11. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/creativity-and-critical-thinking/development-milestones/cognitive-development-8-10-year-olds.html
12. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&ContentID=P01594
12. https://pressbooks.nscc.ca/lumenlife/chapter/cognitive-development-in-adolescence/