Cognitive and Language Development Milestones Picture Book

Anna Nunez

The University of Arizona Global Campus

ECE 332: Child Development

Dr. Dawn Gregory

September 5, 2022  

My name is AG, and I am 5 years old. This book is about how I grow... or what my teacher calls develop!

My brain is growing every day. I can understand language, but I am working on understanding the outcome of things, even if they didn't happen. My teacher says I am in the pre-operational stage and developing mental operations. 

I am learning how to focus so that I can solve problems or stay on task. My teacher says my executive function is emerging and growing fast. 

I am not easily tricked anymore. If something is moved from where it was put, and I see it, being moved I know to look in the new spot. My teacher says I am developing false belief reasoning. 

My family's beliefs and culture help me develop too. I don't just learn from my experiences in my environment. My teacher says the sociocultural theory by Vygotsky influences the way I develop too. 

As I learn new things, I need to be guided just enough to be challenged but not become frustrated. My teacher calls this scaffolding. I have a zone my teacher calls my zone of proximal development. This means it is the skills and tasks I know and can do on my own and the skills and tasks I can do and learn with help from my teacher.  

If you hear me talking to myself as I work on an activity or when I am focusing on a challenging task know this is normal for my age. My teacher calls this Private Speech. I am self-guiding or self-directing. As I grow older, I will do this type of thinking inside my head. 

My teacher says I am learning the social rules or pragmatics of language in social interactions with others. This means I am learning when to speak and listen. I am learning what and how to say what I am thinking and how to understand what others are saying when they respond differently from what I said.