TExES Early Childhood: PK-3 (292)

This section moves from theory to practice. Chapters 1.1 through 1.4 build the knowledge base: the major theories and program models, typical milestones from birth to age eight, exceptionalities and health conditions, and the needs of emergent bilingual children. Chapters 1.5 and 1.6 explain how young children learn through play and relationships and how stress and trauma affect development. Chapter 1.7 closes with family engagement, which the exam treats as a reciprocal partnership rather than a one-way flow of information from school to home.

This chapter covers Competency 001, Foundations of Child Development. It reviews the theorists and program models named in the competency, explains the key terms each one contributed, and shows how those ideas turn into classroom decisions. It closes with the research base for developmentally appropriate practice for children from birth through age eight.

Theory gives a teacher a lens for interpreting behavior. When a four-year-old insists that a tall, thin glass holds more juice than a short, wide one, a teacher who knows Piaget recognizes typical preoperational thinking rather than a lack of intelligence. When a first grader solves a puzzle only after a peer offers a hint, a teacher who knows Vygotsky sees a child working in the zone of proximal development. Exam items usually describe the behavior and expect you to supply the lens.

Piaget viewed children as active builders of knowledge who construct understanding by interacting with objects and people. This view is called constructivism. Key processes include the following:

Piaget described four stages. The ages are approximate, and children move through the stages in order but at individual rates.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Most PK–3 children are preoperational or moving into concrete operations. Preoperational thinkers focus on one feature at a time (centration), so they judge quantity by height or length. They have difficulty taking another person's perspective (egocentrism) and may give life to objects (animism), as when a child says the moon is following the car. Conservation, the understanding that quantity stays the same when appearance changes, typically appears for number around ages six to seven and for liquid and mass a little later.

Exam Tip: When an item describes a child who believes a spread-out row of counters has "more" than a tightly packed row with the same number, the best interpretation is a lack of number conservation, typical of the preoperational stage. The best response is hands-on experience (matching the counters one to one) rather than telling the child the correct answer.

Vygotsky emphasized that learning happens first between people and then inside the child. Culture, language and social interaction shape thinking. Key terms:

Bruner described three modes of representation: enactive (learning through action), iconic (learning through images) and symbolic (learning through words and numbers). This progression underlies the concrete-representational-abstract approach in mathematics. Bruner also proposed the spiral curriculum, in which key ideas are revisited at increasing depth, and promoted discovery learning, in which children uncover principles through guided exploration.

Erikson described stages in which a child resolves a central social and emotional conflict. Four stages fall within birth to about age twelve.

Erikson's Early Psychosocial Stages

Prekindergarten and kindergarten children are working on initiative; first through third graders are working on industry. A teacher who lets four-year-olds plan their own center projects supports initiative. A teacher who gives second graders achievable challenges and specific feedback on progress supports industry.

Bronfenbrenner placed the child at the center of nested systems that influence development:

Skinner's operant conditioning explains how consequences shape behavior. Reinforcement increases a behavior; punishment decreases it. Positive means something is added, and negative means something is removed. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but it increases behavior by removing something unpleasant (a child finishes a task so that a nagging reminder stops). Extinction occurs when reinforcement for a behavior stops and the behavior fades, often after a temporary burst. Shaping reinforces successive approximations of a target skill.

Bandura's social learning theory (later called social cognitive theory) adds that children learn by observing models. Observational learning involves attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. Bandura also introduced self-efficacy, a person's belief in his or her ability to succeed at a task, and reciprocal determinism, the idea that the person, the behavior and the environment influence one another. In the classroom, teachers model kind words, problem solving and persistence, and children who see a peer acknowledged for a behavior are more likely to imitate it (vicarious reinforcement).

Gesell viewed development as the unfolding of a biologically determined sequence. He observed many children and established norms, or typical ages, for behaviors. His work underlies milestone charts. A purely maturational view suggests waiting until a child is "ready," which modern practice balances with the understanding that experiences and instruction also drive development.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs holds that basic needs must be met before higher needs can be pursued: physiological needs (food, sleep), safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. A child who arrives hungry or frightened cannot focus on a phonics lesson, which is why breakfast programs, predictable routines and warm relationships are instructional supports, not extras.

Gardner proposed multiple intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. On the exam, Gardner's theory supports offering varied ways to learn and show learning. It does not justify labeling a child as one "type" of learner and teaching only in that mode.

Major Early Childhood Program Models

Maria Montessori designed materials that isolate one concept and contain a control of error, such as cylinder blocks that fit only in the correct holes, so children can correct themselves without adult judgment. Reggio Emilia, developed in Italy, treats documentation as a way to make learning visible to children, families and teachers, and it views children as capable researchers. HighScope research, including long-term follow-up of children who attended its preschool program, is often cited as evidence for the lasting benefits of high-quality early education.

Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is the framework described by the National Association for the Education of Young Children for children from birth through age eight. It asks teachers to base decisions on three core considerations:

DAP is not "anything goes," and it is not a ban on teaching skills. It means intentional teaching that is challenging and achievable for each child. A DAP kindergarten may include explicit, brief lessons as well as extended play. What DAP rejects are practices that ignore how young children learn, such as long periods of sitting, worksheet-heavy instruction, or withholding recess as punishment.

Common Trap: Distractors often present a practice that is appropriate for older students, such as a 40-minute lecture or a timed paper test, as if it were rigorous. On this exam, rigor for young children looks like active, hands-on, socially rich learning with intentional teacher support.

Skinner and Bandura explain how consequences and models shape behavior; Gesell, Maslow and Gardner explain maturation, basic needs and varied abilities.

DAP rests on commonality, individuality and context and favors intentional, active learning.