70 choosing and learning a language
Children develop their thinking when:
• they see or hear people
using words or signs to
exchange information.
• they use language to
describe what they see,
hear, and touch.
• they use language to
express what they
experience.
• they use language to make
connections between things.
The work will go quickly if
we do it together.
Mayra develops her
thinking skills by
hearing people use
language to express
thoughts and ideas.
We got milk
from that
cow today!
Children develop thinking skills step-by-step
Please give me
the big ball.
small ball,
big ball
A young child first learns
simple thinking skills by
playing. For example, she
learns the words ‘small’ and
‘big’. Then she uses those
words to understand that
there is a ‘small’ ball, and a
‘big’ ball.
Then, when a child understands
how to compare ‘small’ and
‘big’, she can begin to think
about other things that are small
or big. She learns the
idea of ‘size’.
The bigger
shirt must be
Papa’s.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)