Pre-K, K, and first grade are generally in the cognitive stage of development known as pre-occupational thought. During this stage, children have difficulty conceptualizing time and, therefore, may have difficulty projecting what their future lives may be like, including considering what careers they may want. This is not mean, however, that they can’t think about and learn about careers and college
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Children in the preoperational stage may display influence by fantasy, or magical, thinking, and have some difficulty discerning what is real or not.
For children to learn during the pre-operational stage, adults need to break down the content into smaller, more manageable pieces of information, give students lots of opportunities to practice what is learned in order to achieve mastery and allow students an opportunity to engage in practical application of learned material through model, such as gradual release framework.
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Children use a working memory where they actively process formation based on prior learning or discard information that is not necessary to remember.
Adults may help children improve their memory, capacities by incorporating activities that involve repetition and practice. These skills are highly necessary for future academic success.
Problem based learning involves the student center approach where students generate questions about a topic and direct the learning process.
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Students in experimental problem based learning have significant gains of knowledge of stem content in critical thinking skills over students who do not.