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

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Play with a Jack-in-the-Box alongside the child (Note: sometimes children do not readily accept this toy.)
• Give the child a box large enough for them to climb in and out of so that they can be “Jack.”
• Play a simplified version of hide-and-seek using sounds to help the baby find you; repeat the game by having the baby hide

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.’)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Talk with families about the way they use storytelling, song, theater, and art in their home and community
• Make play dough with the child and use household objects such as wooden spoons or cookie cutters
• Use music to enhance the telling of stories

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”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• At pick-up, talk to families about the child’s activities with the child present so that the family may extend the conversation after school
• Observe the child’s dramatic play and help them make connections (“You are pretending to feed your baby just like mommy does with your sister.”)
• Use songs, chants, and verbal cues to help children learn what comes next in caregiving routines

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

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Bring in natural items, such as bird nests, feathers, and different types of soil
• Provide time for children to investigate objects and experiences during community walks
• Value repetition of experiences as a form of scientific inquiry

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

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Help the toddler understand the effects of their actions on others (“The baby is smiling because you are talking to her.”)
• Provide cause and effect toys and experiences, such as water and sand, toys that sink and float, ramps and toys with wheels
• Provide materials that encourage children to explore cause and effect
  • A ramp to roll objects down
  • Cardboard rolls to push objects through
  • Push and pull toys
  • Pinwheels
  • “Busy boxes” that have various buttons and latches on each side

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)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include “busy boxes” in the learning environment so children can practice manipulating a variety of latches, laces, hooks, hinges, and locks
• Allow child to solve simple self-help challenges such as maneuvering a cup off an out-of-reach shelf
• Provide various materials that encourage problem-solving skills, such as ramps, tunnels, stools, big blocks, and train or car tracks

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

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide intentional collections of toys
  • An animal family with a male, a female, and a young animal
  • A variety of trucks, trains, and cars
  • A doll with a bottle, a brush, and clothes
  • A toy broom, mop, and dustpan
  • A collection of objects that are all the same color
  • A collection of heavy objects
  • A collection of pieces of fabric such as velvet and burlap
• Store and display collections of items in separate, accessible, attractively presented bins

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.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage counting out loud in multiple languages
• Read books about numbers that reinforce concepts of one-to-one correspondence, numerical order, and mathematical concepts of more, less, too many, and all gone
• Use number and quantity vocabulary during mealtimes (“two crackers, one apple, and one cup of milk), and count as you pour each cup of water (“one, two, three, and stop”)
• Name groups of two objects, and identify groups that do not include two items (“That’s not two, that’s three!”)

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)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Read books that involve a simple sequence of events encompassing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or morning, noon and night, such as The Big Red Barn , by Margaret Wise Brown
• Sing repetitive songs, read repetitive stories, and recite nursery rhymes with child
  • I Went Walking , by Sue Williams
  • “The Wheels on the Bus”
  • “Where is Thumbkin?”
  • “Los Pollitos Dicen”

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

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage whole body movement
  • Roll in the grass or on the rug
  • Crawling, walking, and running over distance
  • Kicking, throwing, and rolling balls
  • Crawling through tunnels
• Name shapes in the environment
• Take children on community walks along different routes and discuss the landmarks you see; ask children to point to different landmarks at various points along the path
• Provide various size and shaped containers that children can fill with water, sand, or play dough