Background: This article argues that the emergence of scientific reasoning in the preschool years could be augmented by caregivers and preschool teachers through nurturing ‘Habits of Mind’ (HOM) and ‘Habits of Body’ (HOB) of young children. This type of mind–material– body integration is proposed from an epistemological position that comprises a Hybrid (morphinuum) of theories about early learning and human development. Aim: The aim of this article is to present an exemplar of the capacity of one preschooler to show emergence and integration of two HOM, namely conjecturing and reasoning with invariance, in tandem with the Habit of Body (HOB), namely hand-eye coordination that can lay the foundation for scientific reasoning in the early years. Setting: The study referred to in this article is an exemplar (case study) taken from a larger, 18-month educational design research intervention, the ‘Little African Scientists Project’. That study investigated the emergent scientific HOM and HOB through a multimodal material approach to pedagogy at preschool level (Grade RR to R). Methods: A three-layered digital video analysis was utilised to interpret the data pertaining to a specific interaction of one child, who was manipulating magnets during one of the many free-play activities that formed part of the larger project. Results: Several specific HOM and HOB were evident in the one child who was engaged in an activity in which he was moving magnets. Two HOM that emerged were those of making and testing conjectures and reasoning with invariance, while the HOB that emerged was a close alignment of hand movement and eye coordination. Conclusion: This type of close observation and micro-analysis could be utilised for studies of more children in similar settings.

中文翻译：

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学龄前儿童科学推理的发展：心智-物质-身体整合的微观分析

背景：本文认为，通过养育幼儿的“思维习惯”（HOM）和“身体习惯”（HOB），看护者和学前班教师可以促进学前教育中科学推理的出现。这种思想－物质－身体的融合是从认识论的立场提出的，这种认识论包括关于早期学习和人类发展的理论的混合（形态）。目的：本文的目的是展示一个学龄前儿童展示两个HOM的出现和整合的能力的典范，即具有不变性的推测和推理，以及身体习惯（HOB），即手眼协调这可以为早期的科学推理奠定基础。地点：本文提及的研究是从较大的样本中选取的一个示例（案例研究），为期18个月的教育设计研究干预活动，“小非洲科学家计划”。该研究通过多模式材料方法对学前教育（RR至R级）进行了调查，研究了新兴的科学HOM和HOB。方法：利用三层数字视频分析来解释与一个孩子的特定互动有关的数据，该孩子在构成较大项目的许多免费活动之一中正在操纵磁铁。结果：在一个从事磁铁活动的孩子中，有几种特定的HOM和HOB很明显。出现的两个HOM是进行和检验猜想以及具有不变性的推理的HOM，而出现的HOB是手的运动和眼睛协调的紧密结合。结论：