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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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Ask families what the child is interested in, and invite them to contribute objects related to the child’s interests to the learning environment
  • Include different kinds of building materials in the learning environment:
    • Blocks
    • Cylinders
    • Tunnels
    • Ramps
    • Recycled materials
  • Build obstacle courses for the child to climb on and crawl through
  • Provide opportunities for the child to observe live animals
B

Initiative

Child pursues their own goals.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Build opportunities throughout the day for the child to make simple choices
  • Slow down to the child’s pace, showing interest in what they are doing
C

Persistence and Attentiveness

Child focuses on tasks and perseveres in accomplishing them.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Ensure that the child’s caregiving needs are met so that they can focus on the task at hand
  • Join the child in paying attention to an object or experience of interest
  • Talk with the child about their activities using open-ended questions, such as “How did you do that? Tell me more.”
  • Notice the child’s verbal and non-verbal expressions of determination, such as “Me do.” Provide time for the child to attempt the task independently and acknowledge their effort
D

Creativity and Inventiveness

Child uses their imagination to create and invent.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Include open-ended materials in the learning environment
    • Various wooden blocks
    • Cardboard blocks
    • Textural fabrics
    • Various kinds of paper
    • Clay
    • Egg cartons
    • Play dough
    • Interlocking toys
    • Crayons
    • Paints
  • Be creative and inventive with language; engage in wordplay by making up silly words that rhyme with one another
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Create outdoor spaces that are safe for young toddlers to freely explore
  • I nclude large motor furniture in the indoor learning environment
    • Small slide
    • Steps with platform
    • Rocker boat/ bridge
    • Tunnel
    • Large blocks made of wood or cardboard
B

Small Motor Skills

Child controls the small muscles in their hands and wrists.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Acknowledge the child’s efforts at mastery of their fine motor skills and share authentic praise of their accomplishments
  • Sings songs in which the child can observe your hand movements, such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Little Fish, Little Fish, Swimming through the Water”
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • As educators cook, they may offer the child cornstarch or flour to feel
  • Talk about smells with children, such as the aroma of cooking or the scent of natural items such as flowers and grass
  • Provide time for children to spend in nature
  • Invite children to participate in meaningful jobs that require lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying objects of various sizes and weights
D

Self-Care

Child cares for their physical well-being.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Model, mirror, and reflect both actions and reactions (“Thank you. You are doing such a great job of taking care of yourself by getting your coat.”)
  • Tell the child that it is time for a caregiving activity, such as diaper changing, and then pause to give the child the opportunity to decide to participate (e.g., getting a new diaper and going to the changing area)
  • Narrate your actions as you change the baby’s diaper (“Now I am going to use a wipe to clean off your penis. It is going to feel cold for a minute. It’s all clean now.”)
  • When children express their growing autonomy by resisting a caregiving activity, reflect their feelings and gently carry on with the activity (“You don’t want to have your diaper changed right now. You are so mad. We will be done soon. Would you like to hold the clean diaper?”)
  • Use picture labels on toy containers and corresponding shelves so that children may clean up independently
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Explore books about the body and appropriate physical touch by reading
    • Whose Toes Are Those? by Jabari Asim
    • More, More, More, Said the Baby , by Vera B. Williams
    • C is for Consent , by Eleanor Morrison
    • Baby Says , by John Steptoe
    • Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes , by Mem Fox
    • Loving Me , by Debby Slier
    • Kiss by Kiss , by Richard Van Camp
    • Full, Full, Full of Love , by Trish Cooke
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Openly share observations and information with families at drop-off and pick-up
  • Nurture child with kind words and positive engagement (e.g., hug, cuddle, sing, read, dance, play, etc.)
  • Make reading an intimate experience (e.g., hold child in lap while reading, and pause to talk to them about the pages they are interested in)
  • Use a positive approach with children, telling them what they can do versus what they can’t (e.g., “In the classroom we use walking feet, and you can run or jump when we go outside.”)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Participate in cultural events in the community
  • Invite families to make family books or share photo albums of people who are important to the child; keep these in a place that is accessible to the child
  • Ensure that the materials in the learning environment incorporate home cultures and introduce diversity through books, posters, and puzzles
  • Allow objects that are important to the child and representative of their family, community, and culture to be brought into the learning environment
  • Encourage children of all genders to play with a wide variety of toys (dolls, puzzles, dress-up, trucks, etc.)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Practice cultural humility
    • Take time to critically reflect on your own values, beliefs, experiences, and culture
    • Address power dynamics in your relationships with families
  • When culturally appropriate, allow the child opportunity to complete a task on their own before offering help
  • Take pleasure in the child’s attempts and successes by verbally expressing delight (“You did it!”)
  • Model positive self-talk (“Wow! Look at my strong legs! They help me run so fast!”)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Acknowledge acts of kindness (“You helped Frannie find her shoes.” “Thank you! That hug really helped to make Josie feel better.”)
  • Model empathy (“Bill was tired. I could tell because he was crying, so with your help, we went and got his blanket that he sleeps with. This made him feel better, and he has stopped crying.”)
E

Cooperation and Negotiation

Child navigates friendships with peers through cooperation and negotiation.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Provide simple tasks and toddler-sized materials so that the children may cooperate in caring for their learning environment; for example, offer children small sponges to help clean off the table
  • Support children’s curiosity about other children; when a child reaches for another child, model what “gentle touches” mean and practice gentle touches on a stuffed animal
F

Emotional Self-Regulation

Child expresses and manages their feelings and impulses.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Set clear and consistent limits in a loving way
  • Include soft items in the caregiving environment that the child can snuggle with
  • Allow the child to freely experience and feel their emotions in safe ways; label all feelings, especially intense ones, so that the child starts to connect the feeling with the word
  • Name your own genuine feelings as they arise (“I feel so happy to be with you today.”)
  • Create a balance between quiet and louder activities in the learning environment and throughout the day
G

Rhythms, Rules, and Routines

Child follows the rhythms, rules, and routines of the learning environment.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Provide appropriate alternatives and substitutes (e.g., “I see you want the baby doll. Can you hold the puppy while you’re waiting?” or “Chairs are for sitting. You can climb on the climber.”)
  • Use familiar cues such as dimming of lights, playing music, singing a song, or displaying a picture to indicate a transition
  • When giving a child directions
    • First gain the child’s attention
    • Use simple language
    • Give one direction at a time
    • Use positive language (e.g., “Gentle hands,” rather than “Don’t hit.”)
    • Give time for children to respond to direction
    • Follow through with positive acknowledgement
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Include books in the learning environment that represent the home languages or language variations and cultures of the children
  • Bend down to the child’s level when they are talking to you
  • Use children’s names when you talk to them
  • Create a language-rich environment with many opportunities for back-and-forth interactions
  • Keep sentences short and to the point (“I see that you are playing with the ball. Oh look, Carl is also playing with the ball!”)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Talk to families about the importance of talking with and reading to their children in their home language
  • Include pictures or movements when introducing words to help children understand new vocabulary
  • Point to colors and shapes in the real world (“I see a red balloon.”)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Learn greetings and social phrases in the child’s home language
  • Play games that encourage back and forth interactions
    • Catch and release
    • Hide-and-seek
    • Peek-a-boo
    • Open and shut them
    • Run away and jump into my arms
  • Ask questions when the child points to something, and wait for the response of the child before proceeding
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Create a classroom library including
    • Baskets of books
    • Bookshelves
    • Cookbooks
    • Coloring books
    • Books with photographs
    • Family albums
    • Plastic books
    • Textured books
    • Pop-up and lift-the-flap books
  • Draw the baby’s attention to print-related activities
    • Read the subway map
    • Cook from recipes
    • Look at catalogues
    • Look at menus
    • Narrate actions as you write a grocery list
    • Discuss the mail
    • Point out and identify store signs
  • Read the child’s favorite books many, many times, because repetition is comforting and promotes enjoyment
  • Use movements that correspond with the songs and stories that are being read
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Repeat books and stories over and over with enthusiastic rhythmic intonations (e.g., Please Baby Please, by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee)
  • Talk about animal sounds and sounds in the environment by using descriptive words (“The bus made a very loud sound when it stopped!”)
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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Set up an overhead projector, and allow children to experiment with making shadows against the wall
  • See children’s manipulation of objects as holding meaning and or significance for them even if temporary
  • Acknowledge the marks children intentionally or accidentally make with crayons or markers
G

Creating and Interpreting Multimedia Texts

Child views, creates, and makes meaning of visual communication and multimedia documentation, which includes drawings, collections, photographs, videos and displays.

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

Ways educators might support the child's development
  • Take time to look at documentation of children’s development with children, families, and colleagues
  • Document the development of a child’s interest or skill over time
  • Look at the evidence of their curiosity and learning with them
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

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

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

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

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

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

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
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
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
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
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

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