Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.
What educators might observe
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Hides own eyes but leaves parts of their body exposed while playing hide-andseek
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Uses phrases to initiate and identify make-believe play with others (“Let’s pretend…” or “I was just pretending!”)
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Asks about the permanency of their gender and racial identity (e.g., “Will I always be a boy/girl? Will I always have my skin color?)
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Offers magical explanations for change (e.g., says that a fairy puts the moon in the sky every night)
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Uses language about death, without necessarily thinking it is a permanent state
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Ask follow-up questions to children’s magical explanations of how things change (e.g., ”Tell me more about that.” “What makes you think that?”)
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Encourage child to draw or paint a picture to express their thoughts or feelings about change
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Gently clarify when children suggest that a dead person or animal will come alive again; use simple language
Child uses symbolic thought to represent.
What educators might observe
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Assigns peers, adults, or objects roles as characters in play
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Plans with other children what they are going to pretend before starting to play (e.g, “Let’s play doggies!”)
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Uses objects to make arrangements and represent a storyline; may repeat the story over and over again (e.g., uses blocks to make a house, then uses a toy fire truck to put out a fire in the house)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Ask child what would help further their play, such as what other materials they could use to represent something
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Read familiar stories such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff many times and encourage the child to act it out
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Reflect with children about their dramatic play, and talk about the different roles in a family, while being mindful of different kinds of families and cultural differences; what does it mean to the child to act like a mommy, daddy, aunt, grandma, or other family member?
Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.
What educators might observe
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Uses time-related words and concepts (e.g., first/last, morning/night, yesterday/today), though not always accurately
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Although the child’s birthday was a month ago, they may describe looking forward to their birthday, which they tell an educator “is coming soon.”
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Uses phrases that suggest awareness of the past (e.g., “When I was a baby…”)
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Identifies changes in themselves over time (“I’m bigger now. I don’t wear diapers anymore.”)
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Retells a simple story or event in roughly sequential order (“Gabby took my soccer ball. I took it back. That’s why she’s crying.”)
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In dramatic play, reenacts everyday experiences and events from books, television, or observations
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Invite families to share photographs of the child when they were younger, or of past family events; use these photographs to have conversations with the child about their memories
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When recounting events, use visual representation
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Artifacts, such as a ticket
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Art made by the child
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Photographs related to the experience
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Natural objects, such as shells or leaves
Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.
What educators might observe
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Experiments with mixing different materials together (e.g., sand and water)
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Asks many “why” questions (e.g., “Why do we have to put our jackets on?”)
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Makes simple predictions (e.g., says they think the water in the sprinklers will be cold today)
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Observes and wonders (e.g., watches a turtle and asks, “Why is it hiding inside? When is it coming out?”)
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Applies their knowledge to understand observations (e.g., watches a snail and asks, “Which part are the eyes?”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Add natural materials, such as smooth stones or pieces of wood, to different centers
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Conduct simple baking experiments with small groups, such as making muffins or quesadillas
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Ask prediction questions (”What will happen to the flour when the milk is poured in?”)
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Provide access to a sand and water table on a daily basis, and encourage children to mix the substances together
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Use eye droppers to drop different colored oil into water to see what happens
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Acknowledge that when children are asking “why” questions they are not questioning your authority, but needing additional information and trusting you to give it
Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.
What educators might observe
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Asks “why” questions to show effort at understanding causation
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Explains the effects that simple actions have on objects (“It will be dark when you turn out the light.”)
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Sees themselves at the center of causation (“I have my own moon. I bring it with me wherever I go.”)
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Offers magical explanations of causes (“The frost fairy came in the night and turned the grass white.”)
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Assigns human characteristics to inanimate objects (“The leaves fell off the tree because the wind told them to.”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Encourage children to explain their thinking about magical causes without correcting them
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Engage families in observing and recording their children’s poetic descriptions of causes
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Offer simple experiments that develop children’s understanding of cause and effect
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Color mixing
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Ramp play
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Objec ts frozen in ice
Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.
What educators might observe
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Adjusts plans based on prior experience (e.g., when rolling cars down a ramp, tries a smaller car when bigger ones keep falling off)
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Imitates accepted solutions to problems with materials (e.g., moves hands on laces as if to tie shoes, although they are unable to successfully do so)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Have everyday materials accessible for building and creating
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Pipe cleaners
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Paper towel rolls
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Different kinds of tape
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Shoe boxes
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Paper bags
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Wheels from broken toy trucks
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Clay
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Recyclables
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String
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Glue
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Experiment with the effect of natural forces on materials. For example, create a wind tunnel by blowing through a tube or float scarves, pompoms, and other objects through the tube
Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.
What educators might observe
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Shows understanding of the words “same” and “different”
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Remarks on physical differences that they notice among members of the community
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Recognizes and labels aspects of an experience (tall, long, fun)
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Identifies categories of objects, for example, knows that dogs, cats, and cows are all animals
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Openly discuss differences children remark on in their community (“Yes, Mr. Brown has no legs. He uses his electric wheelchair to move around.”)
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Extend this learning about differences (“In what other ways do people move around?”)
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Play simple sorting games with children; for example, dress a paper doll for different kinds of weather
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Read books, such as those by Ann Morris, that show types of shoes, hats, bread, or transportation around the world
Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.
What educators might observe
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Recognizes and names some numerals when pointing to them
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Recognizes that numerals can be written and pretends or attempts to write some
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Verbally counts to 10 with some correspondence, but skips some objects and counts others twice
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Produces sets of three (e.g., “Bring me three paint brushes from the art center”)
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When asked for five of something, counts out three and says, “One, two, five.”
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Changes word order or gives up on one-to-one correspondence to make the answer the one they had predicted or their favorite number (e.g., “one, two, three, four, 100!”)
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Matches small sets (one to four) of different items and shows they are the same quantity
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Use numbers and counting throughout the day, such as counting how many children are at the sand table
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Present sets of one to four objects and ask “How many?” questions; encourage children to name the sets before counting (“How many blocks do I have? That’s right I have two blocks.”)
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Point out quantities of items that the child possesses, such as two shoes, one hat, one jacket, or three stuffed animals; count each item out loud to correspond the number with the quantity of the items
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Model placing the objects that the child wants to count in a line
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Give child simple tasks that involve counting (“Give every child one cracker”)
Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.
What educators might observe
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Recognizes patterns in their environment (e.g., looks at a striped scarf and says, “It’s a pattern.”)
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Plays with patterns in language (e.g., sings, “La di dee, la dee da, la dee di.”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Create simple patterns with music; play the drums and dance with children
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Encourage children to point out patterns in the environment
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Engage children in patterns of movement
Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.
What educators might observe
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Uses words to indicate direction and position, but not always accurately
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Builds vertical and horizontal components within a block building
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Identifies and names circles and squares
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Calls two shapes the same, if they have similar parts but are not identical (e.g., when both shapes have pointy parts)
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Plays with combining shapes and pulling them apart
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Set up simple obstacle courses with children such as hopscotch, hopping over a hoop, jumping up and down, or twirling with a ribbon, use positional words such as “over,” “under” and “through” as children move through the obstacle course
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Tape shapes on the ground, and ask children to do movements as they go around them
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Name and identify shapes children make while drawing and writing
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Invite children to reach into “feely boxes” and pull out a shape that matches the one the educator is holding
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Identify shapes and angles in everyday life, such as a circles on the tops of cup, rectangular pieces of paper, the angle made when the scissors open, or the angle at the edge of the table
