Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning and Decision-Making Skills

Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning and Decision-Making Skills

The paper discusses the significance of reasoning and decision-making abilities and why young kids should understand these reasoning and decision-making skills early. Farrar & Montgomery (2015) affirm that teaching young learners decision-making and reasoning skills in early childhood is a wise practice because these are life skills that children need to learn so they can know how to make thoughtful decisions or selections. Besides, decision-making assists younger children in becoming independent and responsible among their peers and adults. According to Muratori et al. (2019), decision-making is deciding because one desires an event or action to happen in the present day. Therefore, the paper will also discuss the activities learners can engage in to support reasoning and decision-making skills. Such activities will assist kids in understanding the rationale behind reasoning and decision-making.

Reasoning

Reasoning is linked to the acts of cognition and thinking and entails using one’s brain and intellect. Hence, the development of one’s or a child’s reasoning originates from processing. Kids learn to process things by observing, problem-solving, and analyzing. Following is the act of viewing something or an action. Following this, a child can process what is happening and reason or decide what to do next. Problem-solving is the act of finding a solution to a predicament. For instance, when a child sees two of his friends fight, they can use problem-solving skills through reasoning and decision-making to call the teacher or an older person to separate the two fights. Finally, analysis is the ability to evaluate something carefully, whether an issue or a message. Most importantly, this higher-order intelligence is important as it lets kids realize the rationale behind their choices. It also aids young kids with teamwork and critical thinking to attain the objectives they should meet.

Reasoning Strategy

The goal of this activity is for kids to use critical thinking to place and guess fruits they can see or identify. It is an activity for preschoolers and children ages three to five. The activity is for kids to remember how many fruits they can see. Regarding direction, the teacher is to discuss fruits on a picture or those used at home, have a small picture or container, and ask the learners how many fruits they see. Once the kids say the number of fruits, the teacher should summarize them with the learners to determine their number. After counting to find the exact number, the teacher is to provide the learners with samples of fruits and let them sort them into groups depending on the samples delivered. Materials include pictures of fruits, labels with different fruits, and a Book about fruits. The reasoning or rationale behind the activity is for learners to understand the connection between differences and similarities and then understand how to solve problems early enough as they grow. Besides, Farrar & Montgomery (2015) state that children should be educated on classifying and sorting before they can transition to activities that entail numbers because they are supposed to first understand counting.

Decision-Making

Decision-making is selecting by collecting information, pinpointing a decision, and assessing alternate solutions. Decision-making skills permit one to think and decide between one or more things that interest them. People, including children, make decisions based on what is best for the scenario and what they are provided. Nonetheless, it takes a lot of time to learn and acquire the skills for logical and correct decision-making because such abilities are impacted by the values and opportunities kids accept from the people they interact with. Children can attain such skills by observing people around them, hearing about them, discussing values, and having chances to make their own choices and experience their outcomes (CASEL, 2018). Above all, this higher-order thinking remains vital for child growth, enabling younger kids to be more responsible and independent with their choices.

Decision-Making Strategy

The objective of this activity is for learners to create any building/structure with legos and blocks. This activity is for children aged three to five years, especially preschoolers. The activity is to build a tower or castle. Concerning the directions, the tutor will introduce to the learners what buildings/structures are and some materials used in building or creating different structures or buildings. Once the teacher concludes the lesson, learners are designated partners or placed in groups. Groups will be provided with blocks of multiple shapes and legos and asked to build a structure of their choice, either a tower or a castle. Materials are a bin of Legos and blocks and a book on Structures.

The rationale for the building activity is for learners to comprehend or realize the materials used in construction and some of the skills that constructors use while working at the construction site, like teamwork. For instance, as they learn to build a tower, one will hold the already-made tower, the other will make one, and the other will collect blocks from the ground, all showing teamwork. Dodge (2019) affirms that one way to teach differentiation is by giving learners choices to complete assignments. Giving learners selections permits them to take authority and control of their education and make a product that looks so realistic to themselves. This activity will help children develop construction and teamwork skills with the materials provided.

Conclusion

Children need higher-order thinking, reasoning, and decision-making skills to be successful in the future. Such skills enable learners to learn to engage in respectful and mature reasoning with their peers and adults. Reasoning and decision-making skills are vital for children as they help learners be independent and responsible for their choices. Most importantly, higher-order intelligence strengthens and develops with time, permitting growth and maturity in kids.

References

Dodge, A. (2019 26, November) Why We Need More Decision Making in the Classroom www.https://ozobot.com/blog/why-we-need-more-decision-making-in-the-classroom.

Farrar, M. J., & Montgomery, D. E. (2015). Cognitive development of children: Research and application. Bridgepoint Education.

Muratori, P., Lochman, J. E., Bertacchi, I., Giuli, C., Guarguagli, E., Pisano, S., & Mammarella, I. C. (2019). Universal Coping Power for preschoolers: Effects on children’s behavioral difficulties and pre-academic skills. School Psychology International, 40(2), 128-144. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0143034318814587.

Raney, B., (2015), Basic Math Skills in Child Care: Matching, Classifying, and Measuring. Retrieved from http://www.extension.org/pages/25593/basic-math-skills-in-child-care:- matching-classifying-and-measuring#.VgjVXrQdKFJ

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Reasoning and decision-making are high-level cognitive skills. Decision-making skills allow children to solve conflicts and problems in the Classroom and in daily life. Logical thinking and reasoning support decision-making, so although we explore them as distinct concepts here, remember how they influence each other.
In your summative assignment, you will create activities that support the development of various cognitive skills for a chosen age group. The work you do in your assignment this week will also help you when you get to your Supporting the Cognitive Development: Activities and Experiences final project.

Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning and Decision-Making Skills

Prepare:
• Read Chapter 4: Language, Reasoning, and Decision Making.
• Read Decision-making: Early Childhood (https://beyou.edu.au/-/media/resources/fact-
sheets/pdfs/social-and-emotional-learning.pdf)
• Read the webpage, Why We Need More Decision-Making Lessons in the Classroom (https://ozobot.com/blog/why-we-need-more-decision-making-lessons-in-the-classroom).
• Read the webpage, Ages & Stages: Helping Children Develop Logic & Reasoning Skills (https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/ages-stages-helping-children-develop-
logic-reasoning-skills/).

Please use the 4 Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning and Decision-Making (https://ashford.instructure.com/courses/106822/files/18450881//download?
download_frd=1) template to complete this assignment.
Write:
In your paper,
• Summarize the development of reasoning and why this higher-order thinking function is important to child development.
• Identify one activity to support the development of reasoning in children.
• Describe the activity’s goal (or learning outcome) and intended age group.
• Explain all directions needed to complete the activity and a list of any materials required.
• Describe your rationale for the activity, using the text or a credible outside source to support your thinking. The explanation must explain your logic behind choosing the activity, which should be based on the child development theories and content you are learning in this course.
• Summarize the development of decision-making skills and why this higher-order thinking function is important to child development.
• Identify one activity to support the development of decision-making skills in children.
• Describe the activity’s goal (or learning outcome) and intended age group.
• Explain all directions to complete the activity and a list of materials needed. • Describe your rationale for the activity, using the text or a credible outside source to support your thinking. The rationale must explain your logic behind choosing the activity, which should be based on the child development theories and content you are learning in this course.