Child uses and coordinates their large muscle groups.
What educators might observe
-
Runs up and down stairs with alternating feet
-
Runs to catch moving ball
-
Turns cartwheels
-
Swims
-
Learns a series of dance steps
-
Swings bat and hits ball
Ways educators might support the child's development
-
View recess as a right, not a privilege
-
Teach playground ball games such as kickball, foursquare, and tetherball
-
Create opportunities for children to choreograph sequences of movements
-
Organize competitive games with children and model sportsmanship
Child controls the small muscles in their hands and wrists.
What educators might observe
-
Uses saws and hammers to build a construction
-
Peels carrots and potatoes efficiently with a peeler
-
Writes using letters that are the same size; stays on line when writing
-
Knits a scarf
-
Uses appropriate pressure when writing
Ways educators might support the child's development
-
Provide opportunities for children to use their fine motor skills for meaningful work such as
-
Using a knife to spread cream cheese or nut butter on crackers or celery
-
Cutting and coring apples with an apple corer
-
Peeling carrots and potatoes for soup
-
Tying shoelaces
-
Using a screwdriver to fix a desk
-
Knitting a scarf
-
Making their own books and comics
The child uses sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, proprioception (deep pressure), and vestibular function (balance) to perceive and respond to the world around them.
What educators might observe
-
Children’s senses are well-integrated
Ways educators might support the child's development
-
Provide activities that challenge children
-
Bike riding
-
Cooking
-
Obstacle courses
-
Hiking
Child cares for their physical well-being.
What educators might observe
-
Differentiates between conflict and bullying
-
In play with peers, establishes and follows own safety rules (e.g., says, “Let’s play tag, but no pushing hard, just tagging.”)
-
Checks in with educator before assuming new levels of risk, for example, says, ‘We are going to go down to play by the woods, ok?
Ways educators might support the child's development
-
Visit a farmer’s market or grocery store and notice the things you see at different times of the year
-
Talk about safe and unsafe levels of risk-taking
-
Talk about consent with children. Invite them to role play scenarios in which they can practice saying, “This does not feel good to me” and “I don’t like that.”
-
Engage in group conversations about conflict and bullying
-
Invite police officer or fire fighter to visit the class and speak to the children
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.
What educators might observe
-
Looks to peers, media, and other sources for information about sex and sexuality; knows that not everything they hear from peers or see on T.V. or the internet is true
-
Children have questions about sex, crushes, dating, and relationships
-
May express internalized patriarchy and homophobia through teasing, using sexually explicit language (or slurs), and/or talking about girls’ bodies
-
Expresses their wants and needs with respect to their body (e.g., “Can I have some space?”) and respects the wants and needs of others (e.g., will stop roughhousing with a peer when told to)
Ways educators might support the child's development
-
Talk to families about their cultural norms and expectations for children’s gender and sexuality development
-
Learn from families about their children’s knowledge of sex and sexuality
-
Communicate with families about conversations related to gender and sexuality that arise in the classroom
-
Use books to support direct conversations about questions related to sex when they arise
-
What Makes a Baby , by Cory Silverberg
-
Sex is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and You , by Cory Silverberg
