Michigan 4-H Youth Development - 5- to 8-Year-Olds - What We Know About How Children Learn


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4-H Youth Development Michigan State University 160 Agriculture Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1039 USA Phone: 517-432-7575 Fax: 517-355-6748 Email: msue4h@msu.edu Disclaimer & Indicia

5- to 8-Year-Old Programs

What We Know About How Children Learn

Youth Development Programs for School-Aged Children

5- to 8-Year-Olds

Learning and having fun are important elements of any effective 4-H activity in clubs or groups, after school or in the classroom. Although we often think of learning as a cognitive skill, it really involves the whole child. As you work with a group, think about how they learn and what to consider as you plan and carry out activities. This will help ensure a high level of enjoyable learning for your group:

Children are active learners.
This means they are both active in seeking out experiences as well as physically active. They learn from hands-on experiences that involve all their senses. The 5- to 8-year-old activities are designed around an experiential learning model that encourages active learning.
Children's learning is influenced by development and maturation.
Children enjoy activities that are within their ability to master. Try to simplify, maintain or expand your activities in response to the level of understanding the children demonstrate.
Children's learning is affected by the environment.
The environment can either enhance or detract from a child's ability to learn. Children learn best when they feel safe and secure. You create this feeling when you treat them with warmth, respect and caring.
Children learn through physical experience, social interaction and reflection.
From their direct experiences (seeing, listening, smelling, tasting and touching), children find out what things are like, how they work and how they relate to one another. They combine these observations with more complex thinking like seeing patterns, interpreting and drawing conclusions about what happens. These conclusions either add to children's existing ideas or cause them to adjust their thinking.

Children are also influenced by the people in their lives — especially the adults who are important to them, such as parents, other relatives, teachers and 4-H volunteers. As children interact with other people in their lives, they make decisions about themselves and their actions based on the reactions they receive. They decide if their thinking and actions are "right" or "wrong" and adjust their actions accordingly.

It is also important for children (and adults, too!) to "think about their thinking" — to reflect on what they know and how they figure it out. You can guide children to make connections between what they know now and where they want to go. This helps them to make connections between ideas and gives them clues for doing similar things in the future. As a result, you can play an important role for each child in your group. You can help the children form ideas and develop life skills.

Children's learning styles differ.
Everyone has a preferred way of taking in and processing information. Some of our senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic or tactile) may dominate the others. In his book, Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner has expanded this idea through the theory of multiple intelligences. He believes that everyone possesses at least seven intelligences, and the blend of these makes us unique. The seven intelligences are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Volunteers and teachers should offer experiences related to these different intelligences by developing children's thinking skills, providing opportunities to gain self-knowledge and working in groups to develop social interaction skills. These methods need to be combined with other active learning strategies.
Children learn through play.
Play is so important it has been described as children's work. All areas of development are enhanced through children's play activities. Play is the primary way that children gather and process new information, learn new skills and practice old ones. It's important to offer time for recreation and play when your group meets.
Children's learning is influenced by early attitudes and perceptions.
When children are learning new information and skills, they are also developing attitudes toward learning. Attitudes are the ways of reacting that people develop toward various situations in their lives. You can play an important role in helping children develop positive attitudes toward learning, the value of work, the importance of teamwork and the contributions that all workers make to society.
Children's learning proceeds in predictable directions.
Simple ----------> Complex
Known ---------> Unknown
Self -------------> Other
Whole ----------> Part
Concrete -------> Abstract
Exploratory -----> Goal Directed
Inaccurate ------> More accurate
Impulsive -------> Self-controlled

Source: Written by Theresa Ferrari, when she was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University.

More Things to Consider When Working With Five- to Eight-Year-Olds

Learning Materials

More information on learning materials available to support these activities can be found in the Michigan Guide to 4-H or through the MSU Bulletin Office.

Training & Events

For upcoming training and events in this area, check the 4-H Volunteer Workshops web site, the MSU Extension Calendar and the 4-H Exploration Days web site.

Contact Information

For more information on how to get involved as a youth or volunteer, contact your county MSU Extension office or:

Sheila Urban Smith, Associate Program Leader
4-H Youth Development
Michigan State University
160 Agriculture Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1039
USA

Phone: 517-432-7575
Fax: 517-355-6748
Email: smiths20@msu.edu

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