If you're looking for ways to support your child's learning before he or she even enters a classroom, new research from FIU offers an answer that's backed by science and surprisingly simple: puzzles, blocks and spatial words.
Spatial reasoning —the ability to visualize how shapes and objects move or fit together — is one of the strongest predictors of later success in math, science, engineering and even reading. And the earlier it develops, the better the foundation for future STEM learning.
This is at the center of the new findings from researchers at the Center for Children and Families, published in Infant and Child Development. They discovered that children as young as 3 years old use the same mental strategies as adults to solve spatial puzzles. In other words, preschoolers aren't just guessing or copying. They're mentally rotating whole objects in their minds with surprising speed and accuracy.
"We now know young kids don't just get the right answer—they're often using the same mental tools as adults," said Karinna A. Rodriguez, lead author and FIU doctoral student. "That tells us we can start supporting these skills much earlier than we thought—through toys, play and everyday conversations."
Researchers used eye-tracking technology to observe how children ages 3 to 7 approached a mental rotation task, something used in past studies with adults. The majority of kids used what's called a "holistic strategy," mentally rotating the object as a whole rather than breaking it down into parts. Those who used this strategy solved problems twice as fast as those who used a slower, piecemeal approach.
