I

Approaches to Learning

A

Curiosity and Interest

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

5-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Recognizes their peers’ knowledge and asks them about things that they are experts in
• Asks scientific questions (e.g., what happens to the caterpillar when it is in the chrysalis)
• Believes that there is one objective truth about a subject and thinks that if others have a different interpretation, they do not know the truth

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Support children’s ability to learn from one another:
  • Allow time for sharing work
  • Welcome questions and comments from other classmates about one another’s work
• Provide resources related to children’s interests (e.g., if you hear children talking about dinosaurs, add dinosaur books, figures of dinosaurs to the learning centers)

B

Initiative

Child pursues their own goals.

5-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Takes care of classroom chores without being asked (e.g., throws out napkin after snack)
• Develops a play idea day after day (e.g., child returns to block area to continue a construction and play scenario that has been developed throughout the week)
• Advocates for their plot ideas when engaged in dramatic play with peers (e.g., when playing hospital in the dramatic play area, child asserts that the patient should be cured, while peer thinks they should die)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Notice children’s attempts to initiate play ideas with peers, and advocate for those children whose ideas are not acknowledged
• Use children’s suggestions to set up a helper or job chart, with children volunteering for helper roles on a weekly basis

C

Persistence and Attentiveness

Child focuses on tasks and perseveres in accomplishing them.

5-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Attends to open-ended tasks that they are interested in for a minimum of 20- 30 minutes
• Pauses work to get up to talk to their peers
• Rebuilds their elaborate block structure after it has been knocked down
• Tries several different ways of solving a problem (e.g., tries making a bridge with blocks to drive a car over, and when it falls, tries a new foundation so that it will support the cars)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Choose a book to read aloud to the class over several days; each day ask children to recall details from the previous readings and predict what will happen next
• Offer children a variety of materials for open-ended work, encouraging them to stay with work they do not finish in one working period
• Take time to reflect on the process together, asking:
  • “How did you do that?”
  • “Where did your idea come from?”

D

Creativity and Inventiveness

Child uses their imagination to create and invent.

5-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Adds detail to creations (e.g., makes a clay bird with wings and a beak)
• Asks more experienced people for advice about their creations (e.g., discusses ways to build stairs with an educator and then uses their advice)
• Uses writing to add detail to their projects (e.g., includes a stop sign in their block construction)
• Makes detailed and elaborate costumes for pretend play

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include books in the learning environment about inventive and creative characters
  • Frederick by Leo Lioni
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
  • Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beatty
  • Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beatty
  • The Dot by Peter Reynolds
  • B eautiful Oops by Barnie Saltzberg
• Teach vocabulary related to art-making (“One color of paper could overlap, or go on top of another color, in your collage”)
• Provide opportunities for learning in which there is no right or wrong way to accomplish the goal, and encourage children to try different strategies or solutions