1. Thinking Doesn't Mean Knowing
Just because kids are thinking something, it doesn't mean they know it, and that's okay! Kindergartners are lucky; when they think about thinking, they have little awareness of making mistakes and, therefore, little reason to feel hard on themselves. Children at this age are not self-conscious at all. and they are free to link one imaginative thought to the next. This adaptability when expressing their own thoughts and ideas assists them when they are connecting new information to former knowledge and accounts for all those interesting "facts" your kindergartner presents to you.
2. Encourage Children to Think About Thinking
Plenty of useful strategies give children countless opportunities to practice their metacognitive skills. Encourage them to think about what they already know and to identify gaps in their own understanding of a complex topic. If you can model this practice for them, the youngsters can learn to talk about thinking. Another helpful strategy is to encourage children to make plans and to follow them; this enables the child to take their thinking processes to the higher level of application.
3. Pretend Play Develops Metacognitive Skills
While children engage in pretend play, they also display their understanding of their own and others' thoughts and beliefs. Pretend play gives kindergartners a chance to see the idea of cause and effect in action and gives them opportunities to make independent choices. All of these skills provide a foundation for academic skills that involve use of symbols (reading and math) and comprehension skills that can be used in later academic settings.
4. Importance of Pretend Play Rules
Thinking about rules to pretend play games can lead to higher achievement as a student. When kids play their own invented games and enforce their own rules, it reflects a kind of thinking and understanding of certain social structures. They are making decisions very deliberately and practicing their decision-making skills at the same time. This process, if practiced often enough, can lead to higher student achievement.
5. Surround Children With Language
Surround kindergartners with language, and the thinking skills will come. Writing and other language skills are closely linked with metacognition, and these skills improve when kindergartners are surrounded by books and other print materials that involve language. Even when your kids are just learning how to read and write, you should encourage discussion and explanation of what it means to write and what a writing style is as strategies to further growth in this skill set.
