Good Start, Grow Smart Early Learning Standards - SC Department ...

Introduction To Approaches To Learning
The way a child approaches learning will influence both his/her attitude toward learning and success in all educational
endeavors. This domain recognizes that children approach learning in different ways, emphasizes the development of
a positive attitude and desire to acquire new skills and knowledge. It is inclusive of the child’s curiosity about the world
and openness to different experiences, tasks, and challenges. Because of these affective factors, it is the domain which
contains the most individual variation.
The preschool years are also a time of considerable growth in cognitive skills. As children’s attention spans lengthen
throughout this period, they begin to build the skills of initiating, engaging in, and completing self-chosen tasks. Children
also make considerable progress in the skills of remembering and applying prior learning to new situations, reasoning,
problem-solving, and predicting possible results of their actions.
Early childhood theorists and practitioners agree that factors beyond the classroom greatly affect the child’s ability to
learn. If the child is fearful, angry, hungry, anxious, sad, depressed, in poor health, lonely, or feeling incompetent, learn-
ing will not occur -- at least not to the level of his/her potential. It is the teacher’s responsibility to work with parents to
ensure the nurture of their child and to prepare a developmentally appropriate environment where children can use their
imaginations, make choices, and direct much of their own learning. Where this kind of support and challenge is available,
all children, regardless of innate abilities or the presence of disabilities, can learn and be successful.
13