Skip to main content
Early Learning Guidelines

Across all five domains

15–24 months

Stage Infants Toddlers Preschool Early elementary
Age 0–9 months 8–16 months 15–24 months 24–36 months 3-year-olds 4-year-olds 5-year-olds 6-year-olds 7-year-olds 8-year-olds
Domain All domains I. Approaches to Learning II. Physical Well-Being, Health and Motor Development III. Social and Emotional Development IV. Communication, Language, and Literacy V. Cognitive Development
Show Both What educators might observe Ways educators might support the child's development
I

Approaches to Learning

A

Curiosity and Interest

Child approaches the world with curiosity and develops knowledge about specific topics.

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

What educators might observe
  • Points to objects, vocalizes, and looks to educator to identify the object
  • Brings objects they are curious about to an educator
  • Takes things apart
  • When walking outside, stops to examine objects, such as a leaf
  • Will play with one object again and again (e.g., asks to hear the same book, and books on the same topic, again and again)
B

Initiative

Child pursues their own goals.

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

What educators might observe
  • Vocalizes to express desire for an object or curiosity about it, with such phrases as “Dis?”
  • Tries activities that their educator suggests they engage in (e.g., goes down the slide after their caregiver suggests it)
  • Is inspired by the activities of their peers (e.g., after seeing another child push a doll stroller, tries to take the doll stroller and push it themselves)
  • Looks or points at activities that they are interested in participating in
C

Persistence and Attentiveness

Child focuses on tasks and perseveres in accomplishing them.

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

What educators might observe
  • Tries many ways of getting to an object that is out of reach
  • Wants to do favorite activities and practice developing skills over and over again (e.g., repeatedly jumps off low step)
  • Continues to try a difficult task when a caregiver sits close to them
D

Creativity and Inventiveness

Child uses their imagination to create and invent.

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

What educators might observe
  • Invents new uses for everyday materials ( e.g., bangs on pots and pans)
  • Tries different combinations of objects (e.g., tries to fit small blocks into a peg sorter)
  • Imitates adult’s idea (e.g., following educator’s example to makes themselves a necklace by stringing large beads or tubes together)
II

Physical Well-Being, Health and Motor Development

A

Large Motor Skills

Child uses and coordinates their large muscle groups.

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

What educators might observe
  • Runs
  • Kicks a ball
  • Climbs onto an adult-sized couch
  • Walks up and down stairs while holding onto an educator’s hand
  • Walks up and down stairs or climbing equipment by stepping with both feet on each step
B

Small Motor Skills

Child controls the small muscles in their hands and wrists.

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

What educators might observe
  • Holds a truck in one hand and uses the other hand to explore the wheels
  • Pulls toys by tugging on a string
  • Holds on to two blocks while trying to reach for another block
  • Uses large brush to stand and paint at the easel
  • Holds board book upright and turns the pages
  • Holds a crayon between fingers and thumb and scribbles with big arm movements
  • Uses wrist to rotate knob puzzle pieces to fit them in puzzle board
C

Sensory Integration

The child uses sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, proprioception (deep pressure), and vestibular function (balance) to perceive and respond to the world around them.

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

What educators might observe
  • Starts to move body to fit into different spaces (e.g., fits their body into boxes, shelves, or laundry baskets)
  • Pats, pushes, mounds, and squeezes modeling compound
  • Enjoys (or shows a dislike for) messy activities
D

Self-Care

Child cares for their physical well-being.

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

What educators might observe
  • Crawls or toddles toward or away from changing table when educator suggests a diaper change
  • Holds out hands or pulls them away when educator brings them to the sink for hand washing
  • Opens mouth for educator to brush their gums and teeth, or, if they would not like their gums to be brushed, closes mouth firmly
  • Participates in sleeping routines in culturally appropriate ways (e.g., lying down with grandma, gathering blanket and pacifier, or crawling to a rocking chair)
  • Drinks from an open cup
  • Undresses themselves completely
E

Healthy Sexuality

Child develops a healthy relationship to their body, pleasure, and others. This healthy sense of self is supported and demonstrated through respectful, caring, and loving relationships with families, educators, and other children.

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

What educators might observe
  • Touches or rubs their genitals themselves for pleasure (Note: Children this age are not masturbating to orgasm.)
  • Says “no” or walks away when another child tries touch, hit, or kiss them
III

Social and Emotional Development

A

Trusting Relationships with Adults

Child develops trusting relationships with nurturing adults.

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

What educators might observe
  • Indicates need for assistance from a trusted adult (e.g., looks to adult and points to ball to indicate they need help when a ball rolls under shelves)
  • Periodically checks with caregiver for help or reassurance when playing alone or with peers (e.g., moves body to caregiver to get a hug then goes back to playing)
  • Initiates interactions and plays with adults (e.g., brings book for adult to read)
  • Responds to adults’ verbal greetings either verbally or nonverbally by, for example, waving or blowing a kiss
B

Sense of Belonging

Child experiences a sense of belonging in environments that link, extend, and affirm the child’s family and community. Child expresses comfort and joy with human diversity.

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

What educators might observe
  • Displays ease and comfort in a variety of places when with familiar adults
  • Follows familiar routines (e.g., knows what chair is theirs when meal time occurs)
C

Sense of Self

Child develops a sense of self through noticing and developing their own interests, preferences, and abilities. Child increasingly develops self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.

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

What educators might observe
  • Expresses thoughts and feelings by saying “no!”
  • Uses name or other family label (e.g., nickname or birth order such as “little sister”) when referring to self
  • Shows pride in accomplishments/achievements (e.g., smiles after making hand print)
  • Expresses comfort with and preference for foods and songs that are culturally familiar
  • Recognizes and calls attention to self, by pointing, when looking in the mirror or at photographs
D

Empathy

Child forms deep, caring, human connections by imagining what someone else may be thinking or feeling and responding with care. Child recognizes unfairness and understands that unfairness hurts.

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

What educators might observe
  • Uses known strategies to try to help other children who are upset or sad (e.g., brings a crying friend to the educator)
  • Notices and disapproves of unfair (unequal) distribution of desired objects
  • Attempts to help with a perceived need, (e.g., opens a cabinet for someone whose hands are full)
  • Wants to see good actions rewarded and bad actions punished
E

Cooperation and Negotiation

Child navigates friendships with peers through cooperation and negotiation.

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

What educators might observe
  • Physically removes toys from another child’s grasp that they would like to play with
  • Refuses to give peer a turn
  • Accepts adult help to negotiate disputes over toys
  • Expresses interest in playing with a certain child
F

Emotional Self-Regulation

Child expresses and manages their feelings and impulses.

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

What educators might observe
  • Uses a variety of strategies to manage their feelings, such as withdrawing from the group, seeking a hug from the educator, or holding on to a special object
  • Tells educator “I’m ok!” after they fall down
  • Says phrases like “Mommy bye-bye” and points to the door to communicate that they miss their family
IV

Communication, Language, and Literacy

A

Speaking

Child will develop the ability to speak and/ or sign in increasingly complete, complex, precise, and varied ways.

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

What educators might observe
  • Points to items that they want or want the caregiver to give attention to
  • Uses two words together to express wants, needs, or ideas, such as “Papi, go.”
  • Shakes head “no” in response to questions
  • Uses made-up words to refer to familiar objects and experiences that family members and educators understand
  • Uses some words to refer to more than one thing (e.g., “wowa” may mean both sitting in the stroller and going outside)
  • Adds new words to their vocabulary every day
  • Socializes and interacts with peers using nonverbal (gestural) means, along with words or phrases (e.g., making a motion to push another child away and saying, “Go Away.”)
B

Listening and Understanding

Child will develop their ability to listen and understand complete, complex, precise, and varied language.

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

What educators might observe
  • Points to familiar people when asked where they are
  • Shows joint attention with adults (e.g., looks at and points to elephant with daddy at the zoo)
  • Shows understanding of pronouns such as “my” and “your” (e.g., points to their belly button when asked, “Where is your belly button?”)
  • Identifies people, objects, and actions when asked
C

Social Communication

Child uses language to relate to others according to the social expectations of their family, community, and culture.

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

What educators might observe
  • Starts to shake head “Yes” or “No” in answer to simple questions
  • Makes requests by pointing and vocalizing
  • Repeats themselves if the educator does not respond or understand them
  • Talks into pretend phone and then pauses, as if to listen to the other person
  • Makes related comments (e.g., when adult says, “Here is your water,” child says, “cup,” “ agua ,” or “water cup.”
D

Engaging with Stories and Books

Child enjoys, attends to, understands, and makes meanings from spoken and written language of storytelling and books.

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

What educators might observe
  • Points to and names familiar people and objects in photos or books
  • Points to pictures related to the text the educator is reading
  • Holds board books upright and turns pages
  • Imitates gestures that go with rhymes or simple songs, such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Pin Pon”
  • Listens to a story or looks at books for a short period of time
  • Responds to storytelling and texts with short questions, comments, or movements (e.g., flapping their arms when a bird appears in a book)
E

Phonological Awareness

Child develops the ability to recognize and manipulate the different sounds in spoken language(s).

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

What educators might observe
  • Speech shows their ability to use a variety of sounds and syllables from their home language
  • Imitates sounds of adult speech to quickly learn new words
  • Attends to, repeats, and uses a few words from culturally and linguistically familiar rhymes, phrases, or refrains from stories or songs
  • Laughs when adult makes up rhymes containing nonsense words
F

Composing

Child uses materials and/ or language to make meaning for themselves and/or an audience.

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

What educators might observe
  • Makes decisions about how to manipulate and order objects in the environment (e.g., drops crayons into a paper towel tube)
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

Search

Find pages, resources, and information across our site.

Recent searches

Found for ""

No results found

Try different keywords or check spelling.

↑↓ Nav Enter Go Esc Exit