I

Approaches to Learning

A

Curiosity and Interest

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

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

What educators might observe

• Often asks “why?”
• Makes up stories about objects around them (e.g., observes fish tank and tells a story about the fish’s family)
• Notices the interests of their peers (e.g., observes their play and then imitates it)
• Investigates the details of caregiving (e.g., asks to help cook)
• Compares experiences in one setting and another (e.g., after reading a book about pets, the child says, “I have a dog too.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• When a child asks a “why” question:
  • Restate their question
  • Acknowledge their curiosity (“That’s an interesting question!”)
  • Ask what they think the answer might be
  • Talk together about how you might find the answer
  • Go together to consult an expert, look for a relevant book, or visit a website
• Welcome the child to contribute to caregiving routines
• Join the child in making up stories

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

What educators might observe

• Learns details about a topic of interest, (e.g., after reading a book about sharks, reads more books about sharks and learns the names of many sharks)
• Collects objects that they are interested in, for example, sticks
• Tries to reproduce things they are interested in (e.g., looks at a book about a castle and then tries to build a castle in the block area)
• Asks for explanations of how things work (e.g., asks where the water in the faucet comes from)
• Makes connection between their experiences at home and in school (e.g., says, “I have paints at home too!”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Ask families what the child has expressed interest in at home
• Make those interests present in the learning environment
• Respect children’s efforts, and make special places to hold their collections
• Go to the library and check out several books related to a child’s interest
• Organize outings and field trips related to the children’s interests

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.

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

What educators might observe

• Engages in solitary play with a preferred toy
• Asks educator to read them their favorite book
• Watches what another child is doing and then begins to do it alongside them
• Chases another child and then turns so that they may have a turn being chased

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include duplicates of toys in the learning environment so that multiple children can play next to each other simultaneously
• Help children to initiate play by giving verbal cues (e.g., “Your turn! Now it’s Chelsea’s turn, which means that you run and try to catch her!”)
• Involve the child in small group activities where they can contribute, participate, take turns, and anticipate as well as initiate turn-taking

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

What educators might observe

• Gathers the materials that they need for a simple project, such as making imaginary soup
• Finds their own clothing in their cubby and puts it on
• Makes a plan for what they want to create (e.g., plans to draw a house)
• Makes a choice about which area of the classroom they want to play in
• Makes a new friend by playing alongside or with them and engaging in conversations

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Discuss with families ways in which children’s initiative is a value in their family, community, and culture. Acknowledge different perspectives.
• Recognize that a child may not demonstrate and express initiative in the same way in all settings (e.g., may take initiative with peers but not in the presence of elders)
• Use vocabulary related to initiative:
  • “You decided to…”
  • “You made a choice…”
  • “You were planning to play…”

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.

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

What educators might observe

• Focuses on the character and plot when engaged in pretend play (e.g., pretends to be the mother and stays in this role as the doll babies are fed and put to bed)
• Listens to a short story from start to finish with a small group of children
• Tries several times to put on their own shoes before asking for help
• Chooses the same puzzle every day until they can do it with ease

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Follow the child’s lead in play; this may mean that the child assigns a role to the educator, often with the educator being a child, and the child assuming an adult role
• Though materials in the learning environment should be rotated, allow for previously used materials to reappear at the child’s request, and keep materials that the children are actively engaged with available to them
• Allow for ample time for the child to practice tasks such as dressing themselves and to develop self-help skills

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

What educators might observe

• Makes a bead necklace of their name and sorts through all the letters until they find those needed
• Puts blocks away in their designated places until every block has been put away
• Listens to a storybook read to the whole group from start to finish
• Asks for help from a caregiver to complete a task

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Offer the child genuine opportunities to care for the learning environment, indicating how important and meaningful it is to be mindful of such tasks as watering plants, putting materials away, or stacking objects
• Notice children’s accomplishments, patience, and persistence and describe why their efforts are important
• Provide opportunities for children to revisit experiences and materials again and again so they are able to deepen their understanding
• Encourage the child in their work, rather than solving the problem for them. Ask:
  • “How can you figure that out?”
  • “How can you fix that?”

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.

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

What educators might observe

• Asks adult for assistance with their creations (e.g., child asks educator to make a tent by putting a sheet over a table)
• Embodies a pretend play character day after day
• Experiments with materials (e.g., dips paint into water and sees what color the water turns)
• Invents words in play (e.g., says the specks of dirt in the sunlight are “bittle”)
• Sings made up songs to themselves
• May have an imaginary friend

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide access in the learning environment to open-ended materials children can use in a variety of ways
  • Blank paper of different sizes, textures, and colors
  • Watercolor and tempera paints
  • Pencils, colored pencils, crayons, and markers
  • Collage materials such as origami paper, pom-poms, and buttons
  • S culpture materials, such as pipe cleaners and cardboard
  • Pieces of cloth in a pretend area
  • Boxes
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape and glue
• Guide the child’s use of materials, noticing and commenting on their actions

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

What educators might observe

• Engages in detailed pretend play with peers
• Makes objects that they need for pretend play (e.g., makes a boat out of a cardboard box)
• Tries several ways to create the object they have in mind (e.g., child experiments with different foundations until they have found the one that will hold up a block bridge)
• Develops techniques for painting and drawing (e.g., makes fast and slow strokes, or thick and thin lines)
• Hears peers speaking a different language and makes up nonsense words and says they are speaking that language

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Allow children to save artwork and return to it. Have a place to keep projects if the child needs to transition to another activity and wants to continue to work on the project at another time.
• Display children’s art, at child’s level, around the room and in the hallway. Document and share the process in which the art is being created with children, through written descriptions and photographs.
• Provide child with access to artists and artwork from own and other cultures (e.g., pictures of famous artworks, sculptures, and artifacts)
• Include time in the day for children to experiment with musical instruments, song, and dance

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