How Children Learn
As your child continues to grow and develop on the outside, his brain is making similar leaps and bounds on the inside.
At this point, your children is busy trying to organize all the new things he's learning so they make sense. But toddler development doesn't happen all at once. Walking occurs in the early toddler months, while learning that one has a self (her own body and name, "I," "me," and "mine") usually occurs between 18 and 24 months. Remember, too, that there is a wide range in typical toddler development.
Think of cognition as a multipurpose word that includes:
- Paying close attention to a book or game
- Understanding the meaning of words and phrases such as "big girl"
- Remembering a family rule
- Figuring out the layout of her room
- Understanding how objects relate to each other (like a spoon to a bowl)
- Simple problem solving (use a toy rake to push or pull a ball that rolled under a couch)
- Distinguishing real from "make-believe"
Your child’s Milestones
Looking at a picture book, he listens as you name an object, points to it and tries to say the word, all while strengthening her memory of the object and the book. Cognitive growth doesn't happen all at once, and some forms occur earlier and some later.
Occasionally, he will be able to follow simple instructions (hooray!) like "Go get your shoes." He will be able to match two like objects. And he's also getting a pretty good grasp on the uses of many household objects, like the coffeemaker.
How Can Nutrition Help?
Your child's brain has been doing a whole lot of heavy lifting since way before she was born. Taking in information and creating pathways to storage areas for all of it takes energy, which can only come from the nutrition he receives.
So getting the right nutrients is critically important. The groundwork her brain is laying now will affect her for the rest of her life.
