Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Provide concrete examples of changes that occur
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Document the growth of a caterpillar into a butterfly
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Collect different colored leaves (green, red, and brown)
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Watch a pumpkin decompose
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Trace their shadows at different times of the day
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Observe patterns of change in weather conditions, daily and seasonally
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Allow the children to have a ceremony when a classroom pet has died; answer their questions about death factually
Child uses symbolic thought to represent.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Invite families to visit the class to share a folktale or family story
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Encourage the child to add details; for example, build a fort to represent an animal’s home, and then discuss what would be needed in the fort to make it more cozy
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Support the development of children’s understanding of gender roles in representation (“What does it mean to look like a girl? Does a girl have to look like that?”)
Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Observe and reflect on children’s dramatic play; what personal histories are they are re-enacting?
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Invite children to use drawing and dictation to tell about recent experiences
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Create a schedule of the day and support discussion about what comes first and what comes next during the day, as well as what usually happens on what days of the week
Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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When a child asks a question, encourage the group to hypothesize what the answer may be; chart their responses and invite them to explain their thinking
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Show children how to look for the answer to a question in a book or online
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Provide opportunities for children to use polls (“Do you think it will rain today?’ “Which item will weigh more-a book, a leaf or a pencil?”)
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Make big graphs to capture this “data” so that children can see and interpret it
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Provide tools to explore the environment (magnets, magnifying glasses, light table)
Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Engage children in extended back-andforth conversations about the reasons for things
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Use phrases such as
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What do you think will happen when…?
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What happened last time?
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What made that happen?
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Why do you think that?
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Observe and record children’s hypotheses about causes, and revisit predictions with children to reflect on how their thinking has changed over time
Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Support children in thinking of themselves as engineers by asking questions such as
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“How can you use these materials to make..?”
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“What do you think would happen if…?”
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“Why do you think that happened?”
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Help children see that mistakes teach us important things
Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Make a simple Bingo game with 9 squares of colors, shapes, or animals; the cards from this game can also be used for a simple matching game
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If children are comparing objects, offer them a standard or non-standard tool for measurement
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Play “duck, duck, goose” using different categories, such as “train, train, car”
Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Observe children’s use of counting, oneto-one correspondence, estimating, and simple arithmetic in their play; connect to and extend this learning
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Offer games that ask children to match a numeral to a number of things
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String six beads on a pipe cleaner
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P ick a card and fill the basket with that number of objects
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Roll a dice and do a movement that many times
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Jump, clap, or stomp one to five times and ask the children to hold up the number of fingers that matches the number of movements
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Include books related to number and quantity in the learning environment
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The Doorbell Rang , by Pat Hutchins
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Anno’s Counting Book , by Mitsumasa Ann
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Ten Black Dots , by Donald Crews
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City by Numbers , by Stephen Johnson
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Fish Eyes , by Lois Ehlert
Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Invite children to join you in creating a pattern of music using simple instruments such as a tambourine and a triangle
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Ask children to notice patterns in the world, such as in seasons or daily schedules
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Provide materials such as pattern blocks and color tiles that suggest creating AB patterns
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Use songs and games to teach patterns:
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Red Light, Green Light
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Duck, Duck, Goose
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Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Include materials in the classroom environment that develop geometric concepts
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Blocks
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Jigsaw puzzles
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Magnetic shapes
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Shape puzzles
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Pattern blocks
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Unit blocks
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Legos
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Go on community walks along different routes and discuss which route was longer or shorter and why
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Describe the location of objects the child is trying to find, rather than pointing to them (e.g., “The tape is beside the construction paper.”)
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Present many examples of squares and rectangles, varying orientation and size; include squares as examples of rectangles (If children say, “That’s a square,” reply, “It is a square, which is a special type of rectangle.”
