Child uses and coordinates their large muscle groups.
What educators might observe
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Shows good form in basic movement even when participating in fast-moving games
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Dribbles ball forward
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Runs forward while tossing a ball back and forth with a peer
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Mirrors partner’s movements in a dance
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Tosses a ball to themselves and hits it with a bat
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Talk to families about the importance of gross motor play during out-of-school time
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Connect families to local opportunities to participate in sports (e.g., soccer leagues, local playgrounds, public swimming pools)
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Create opportunities for children to learn and practice dances from their families’ communities and cultures
Child controls the small muscles in their hands and wrists.
What educators might observe
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Folds paper into simple origami shapes
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Cuts out complex shapes
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Print has a consistent shape and size
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Learns cursive
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Invite a calligrapher to visit the class to demonstrate the beauty of writing
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Encourage children to pay attention to handwriting in the final revision of their writing projects
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Continue to provide time for activities designed to strengthen the muscles in children’s hands
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Provide keyboards for children whose fine motor skills interfere with their ability to express themselves in writing
The child uses sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, proprioception (deep pressure), and vestibular function (balance) to perceive and respond to the world around them.
The guidelines don’t define behaviours for this area at this age.
Child cares for their physical well-being.
What educators might observe
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Asks questions about laws and regulations that make the community safe
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Intervenes when they see a child breaking a safety rule (e.g., attempts to stop a child who is about to ride a bicycle without a helmet)
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Is aware that different educators and families have different rules, and they should follow the rules of the adults who they are with
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Talk with families about chores that children are expected to do in their family and community
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Invite children to help plan a snack menu and to prepare the snacks
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Invite children to talk about dangers they have on the news or through social media
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Engage children in thinking about the ways laws keep us safe and how laws could be changed to keep us more safe (e.g., gun control legislation)
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Begin a conversation about helping one another stay safe
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
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Some children’s bodies are changing (e.g., they may grow breast buds and/ or pubic hair)
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Knows that many (but not all) grownups fall in love with (and sometimes marry) people of a different gender; understands that it’s not accurate to assume that all families have a mother and father and begins to explore many different family structures
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Monitor the comments you make about your own and other people’s bodies and appearance
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Engage children in ongoing critical literacy activities that support them in developing the skills to analyze literature and media for sexism, sizism, and homophobia
