V

Cognitive Development

A

Understanding Stability and Change

Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Uses a variety of strategies to find missing people or objects, including looking in multiple locations for things that have been missing for some time
• Waits or watches at window for the return of a family member
• Thinks that they may go down the toilet or bathtub drain

B

Representing

Child uses symbolic thought to represent.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Substitutes similar objects in dramatic play (e.g., uses a block as a phone)
• Imitates a few steps of adult behavior in dramatic play (e.g., puts doll in bed and says, ‘night-night.’)

C

Memory and History

Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Knows where familiar objects are stored (e.g., looks at the shoe bin when educator says, “We’re going for a walk, where are your shoes?”)
• Gives another child an object that belongs to them
• Acts out caregiving sequences within dramatic and pretend play (e.g., breastfeeding a doll and then pretending to burp it)
• Anticipates, acknowledges, and participates in the steps of caregiving routines (e.g., after eating says, “All Done. Wash Hands”)

D

Investigating and Exploring

Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Investigates new phenomena (e.g., when walking past a pile of leaves, stops and feels them with their hands)
• Is curious about items that appear in nature, such as worms, moss, and puddles
• Repeats experiences
• Points to objects and signals to ask what they are

E

Understanding Cause and Effect

Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Examines toy if it is not producing the desired effect, or tries new ways to manipulate toy
• Knows that playing with certain forbidden objects will get adult’s attention
• When radio is turned on, says, “Dance, Mama.”
• Builds a tower of big cardboard blocks and then knocks it down to watch it fall

F

Engineering: Problem-solving with Materials

Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Uses adult as a resource to solve problems with materials (e.g., child hands a toy car to an educator after it stops moving, and the child cannot figure out how to make it move again)
• Uses trial and error to solve problems with materials (e.g., tries different orientations of a three-piece knob puzzle before fitting the pieces in place)
• Imitates a problem-solving method they have previously observed an adult use (e.g., going to the door and turning the knob to try to open it)
• Uses an object to reach another object (e.g., uses the handle of a broom to get an object stuck under the couch)

G

Math

1. Comparing and Categorizing

Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Helps clean up environment by putting materials in their places; puts books in basket, for example, or blanket in cubby
• Arranges objects in lines (e.g., makes a row of blocks)
• Points to a duck in a book when the educator asks, “Which one says, ‘quack?’”
• Identifies two identical toys by putting them together (or in response to the question, “Can you find one like this?”)
• Calls all the four-legged animals on a farm “cows,” although some are sheep and some are horses
• Connects objects and ideas, such as using a broom for sweeping or a shovel or cup to scoop sand or water

2. Number Sense and Quantity

Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Puts three animals in a row when playing
• Understands and communicates the concepts of “more” and “all done” through words or gestures
• Identifies which group has “more” with collections in which one has much more than the other
• Names groups of one or two (e.g., when shown a pair of shoes, says “two shoes.”)

3. Patterning

Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Anticipates and follows familiar sequences of events (e.g., washes hands, sits at the lunch table)

4. Spatial Sense and Geometry

Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Rolls ball back and forth with educator
• Puts together a knob puzzle with two or three separate pieces
• Uses trial and error to place a group of nesting objects, such as boxes of different sizes, inside one another
• Makes a line of blocks next to one another
• Turns a book right side up after looking at the pictures and realizing it is upside down