Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.
What educators might observe
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Uses a variety of strategies to find missing people or objects, including looking in multiple locations for things that have been missing for some time
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Waits or watches at window for the return of a family member
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Thinks that they may go down the toilet or bathtub drain
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Play with a Jack-in-the-Box alongside the child (Note: sometimes children do not readily accept this toy.)
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Give the child a box large enough for them to climb in and out of so that they can be “Jack.”
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Play a simplified version of hide-and-seek using sounds to help the baby find you; repeat the game by having the baby hide
What educators might observe
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Is curious about physical objects that appear to be stable but whose properties change, such as ice and sand
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Reacts to puppets and adults in costume as if they were real
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Set up activities such as mixing color stations or watercolors over ice cubes to show how things change properties
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Plant bean or grass seeds and watch them grow
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Notice and respect children’s feelings about puppets and costumes
Child uses symbolic thought to represent.
What educators might observe
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Substitutes similar objects in dramatic play (e.g., uses a block as a phone)
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Imitates a few steps of adult behavior in dramatic play (e.g., puts doll in bed and says, ‘night-night.’)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Talk with families about the way they use storytelling, song, theater, and art in their home and community
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Make play dough with the child and use household objects such as wooden spoons or cookie cutters
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Use music to enhance the telling of stories
What educators might observe
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Uses objects flexibly for symbolic play (e.g., a stick becomes a spoon then a wand; a box is a boat then a house)
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Animates and interacts with objects (puppets, toys, sticks, or dolls) as characters who speak aloud and have feelings
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Talks to self during dramatic play even when no playmates are around
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Completes a series of actions related to a theme in dramatic play, such as listening to a doll’s heart, then giving the doll a shot and a bandage
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-Makes marks on paper and says they represent something (”I drew Mommy.”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Provide fabrics and props for the child to use in dramatic play so they can create scenarios
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Encourage child to talk about or point to specific parts of their drawings, paintings, and sculptures by saying, ”Tell me about your…” or “Oh, you are pointing at a red tree!”
Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.
What educators might observe
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Knows where familiar objects are stored (e.g., looks at the shoe bin when educator says, “We’re going for a walk, where are your shoes?”)
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Gives another child an object that belongs to them
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Acts out caregiving sequences within dramatic and pretend play (e.g., breastfeeding a doll and then pretending to burp it)
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Anticipates, acknowledges, and participates in the steps of caregiving routines (e.g., after eating says, “All Done. Wash Hands”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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At pick-up, talk to families about the child’s activities with the child present so that the family may extend the conversation after school
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Observe the child’s dramatic play and help them make connections (“You are pretending to feed your baby just like mommy does with your sister.”)
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Use songs, chants, and verbal cues to help children learn what comes next in caregiving routines
What educators might observe
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Recreates experiences in dramatic play (e.g., after going to the grocery store, pretends to put food in a cart and check out)
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Tells about a significant event they remember from the past, such as a time they jumped in a big puddle
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Shares information about recent experiences with trusted adults (e.g., telling a family member about the bee at the school playground)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Provide the child with photographs or objects to bring home to inspire family conversations about what the child did at school
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Discuss previous events if the child brings them up, such as a trip to the grocery store or a bus ride to school
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Provide props so that the child may reenact their experiences
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If multiple children are remembering a past experience, acknowledge each story, but also point out details such as the time of day, or who they were with
Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.
What educators might observe
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Investigates new phenomena (e.g., when walking past a pile of leaves, stops and feels them with their hands)
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Is curious about items that appear in nature, such as worms, moss, and puddles
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Repeats experiences
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Points to objects and signals to ask what they are
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Bring in natural items, such as bird nests, feathers, and different types of soil
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Provide time for children to investigate objects and experiences during community walks
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Value repetition of experiences as a form of scientific inquiry
What educators might observe
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Makes guesses about what might happen next based on previous experiences (e.g., pushes doorbell and waits for someone to come to the door)
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Asks simple questions about the natural world (e.g., asks “Where did the rainbow go?” or “Why is it wet outside?”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Engage in multi-sensory activities that invite investigation
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Cooking in the classroom
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Mixing and stirring natural materials in buckets
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Walks in the neighborhood, woods, or park
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Floating scarves in the wind
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Freezing objects in ice and watching them thaw
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Digging holes
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Ask “wh” questions, such as “What is that?” “Who is that?” “What if...?” “What do you think?” and “What happened?”
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Listen to children’s questions and provide descriptive answers
Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.
What educators might observe
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Examines toy if it is not producing the desired effect, or tries new ways to manipulate toy
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Knows that playing with certain forbidden objects will get adult’s attention
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When radio is turned on, says, “Dance, Mama.”
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Builds a tower of big cardboard blocks and then knocks it down to watch it fall
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Help the toddler understand the effects of their actions on others (“The baby is smiling because you are talking to her.”)
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Provide cause and effect toys and experiences, such as water and sand, toys that sink and float, ramps and toys with wheels
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Provide materials that encourage children to explore cause and effect
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A ramp to roll objects down
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Cardboard rolls to push objects through
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Push and pull toys
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Pinwheels
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“Busy boxes” that have various buttons and latches on each side
What educators might observe
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Says, “She needs her blanket,” when a peer becomes upset
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Says “shhh” and tiptoes when a child is still sleeping
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When a child has a Band-Aid, other child points at it and asks what happened
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Narrate what may be happening during an event that the child is curious about
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Use the phrases, “I wonder...” and “Let’s see what happens if…”
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Allow child plenty of time and repetition to explore an event or item; add materials to extend learning such as different size balls to roll down a ramp
Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.
What educators might observe
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Uses adult as a resource to solve problems with materials (e.g., child hands a toy car to an educator after it stops moving, and the child cannot figure out how to make it move again)
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Uses trial and error to solve problems with materials (e.g., tries different orientations of a three-piece knob puzzle before fitting the pieces in place)
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Imitates a problem-solving method they have previously observed an adult use (e.g., going to the door and turning the knob to try to open it)
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Uses an object to reach another object (e.g., uses the handle of a broom to get an object stuck under the couch)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Include “busy boxes” in the learning environment so children can practice manipulating a variety of latches, laces, hooks, hinges, and locks
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Allow child to solve simple self-help challenges such as maneuvering a cup off an out-of-reach shelf
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Provide various materials that encourage problem-solving skills, such as ramps, tunnels, stools, big blocks, and train or car tracks
What educators might observe
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Intentionally selects objects to use as tools in play (e.g., chooses a thick stick over a thin one to use as a “spoon” to stir mud in make-believe soup)
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Puts a circular piece into a puzzle without having to try the other areas
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Verbally and physically asks for help from an adult or peer by saying “Help,” grabbing their hand, and leading them over to the problem
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Allow child time to figure out problem for themselves, instead of intervening immediately; for example, build time into the schedule for child to try and get their shoes on before going outside
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Encourage child to try doing a task, or suggest ways that they may be successful, such as getting a stool to reach the sink
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Ask if the child needs help and acknowledge and respect the response
Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.
What educators might observe
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Helps clean up environment by putting materials in their places; puts books in basket, for example, or blanket in cubby
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Arranges objects in lines (e.g., makes a row of blocks)
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Points to a duck in a book when the educator asks, “Which one says, ‘quack?’”
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Identifies two identical toys by putting them together (or in response to the question, “Can you find one like this?”)
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Calls all the four-legged animals on a farm “cows,” although some are sheep and some are horses
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Connects objects and ideas, such as using a broom for sweeping or a shovel or cup to scoop sand or water
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Provide intentional collections of toys
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An animal family with a male, a female, and a young animal
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A variety of trucks, trains, and cars
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A doll with a bottle, a brush, and clothes
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A toy broom, mop, and dustpan
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A collection of objects that are all the same color
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A collection of heavy objects
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A collection of pieces of fabric such as velvet and burlap
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Store and display collections of items in separate, accessible, attractively presented bins
What educators might observe
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Collects a single type of object (e.g., picks up pinecones on a walk in the park)
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Calls a big animal “Papi” (“Daddy”) and a small animal “Bebe” (“Baby”)
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Begins to sort similar items into categories such as color or shape (e.g., retrieves blue ball when asked, “Could you please get the blue one?”)
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Identifies small, medium, and big objects when arranged in a series
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Uses one-to-one correspondence with objects(e.g., puts one straw in each cup.) objects (e.g., puts one straw in each cup)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Provide puzzles and toys that encourage matching, such as shape sorters
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Incorporate categorization into games with children; for example, make up a story together in the block area about a family of goats and a family of sheep
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Label the same objects in a group in different ways (“mommy, child, baby” and then “big, small, tiny.”)
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Encourage child to group toys and compare similarities and differences between them (e.g., “Let’s find all the toys with wheels.”)
Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.
What educators might observe
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Puts three animals in a row when playing
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Understands and communicates the concepts of “more” and “all done” through words or gestures
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Identifies which group has “more” with collections in which one has much more than the other
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Names groups of one or two (e.g., when shown a pair of shoes, says “two shoes.”)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Encourage counting out loud in multiple languages
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Read books about numbers that reinforce concepts of one-to-one correspondence, numerical order, and mathematical concepts of more, less, too many, and all gone
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Use number and quantity vocabulary during mealtimes (“two crackers, one apple, and one cup of milk), and count as you pour each cup of water (“one, two, three, and stop”)
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Name groups of two objects, and identify groups that do not include two items (“That’s not two, that’s three!”)
What educators might observe
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Starts counting with “one”
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Says all the number words they know when counting objects, even when the quantity of objects is small
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Reuses the number words they know if the quantity of objects is greater than the number words they know
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Uses “a little” and “a lot” to describe quantity
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When told, “Give me one,” hands educator just one object
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When educator says, “Just take two,” takes only two slices of apple from the bowl
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Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence with objects (e.g., puts one block in each muffin tin)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Encourage children to set the table for snack or lunch with one cup, one plate, and one napkin at each chair
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Use language to describe quantity throughout the day (“We have a lot of apples for snack! We have many more apples than we can eat.”)
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Incorporate counting into representational play with children (“There are three bears in the house. One, two, three.”)
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Provide egg cartons, ice cube trays, and muffin tins with small blocks so children can practice one-to-one correspondence
Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.
What educators might observe
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Anticipates and follows familiar sequences of events (e.g., washes hands, sits at the lunch table)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Read books that involve a simple sequence of events encompassing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or morning, noon and night, such as The Big Red Barn , by Margaret Wise Brown
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Sing repetitive songs, read repetitive stories, and recite nursery rhymes with child
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I Went Walking , by Sue Williams
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“The Wheels on the Bus”
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“Where is Thumbkin?”
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“Los Pollitos Dicen”
What educators might observe
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Calls a striped shirt with no repeating unit a “pattern”
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Copies simple repeating patterns (e.g., if the educator squats then stands repeatedly, the child continues this motion)
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Look for patterns in the natural and built environment with the child
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Encourage the child to help set the table at mealtimes
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Engage children in cooking activities where patterns are reinforced (e.g., when taking turns mixing, chant, “Stir, stir, stir, pass! Stir, stir, stir, pass!)
Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.
What educators might observe
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Rolls ball back and forth with educator
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Puts together a knob puzzle with two or three separate pieces
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Uses trial and error to place a group of nesting objects, such as boxes of different sizes, inside one another
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Makes a line of blocks next to one another
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Turns a book right side up after looking at the pictures and realizing it is upside down
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Encourage whole body movement
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Roll in the grass or on the rug
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Crawling, walking, and running over distance
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Kicking, throwing, and rolling balls
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Crawling through tunnels
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Name shapes in the environment
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Take children on community walks along different routes and discuss the landmarks you see; ask children to point to different landmarks at various points along the path
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Provide various size and shaped containers that children can fill with water, sand, or play dough
What educators might observe
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Matches shapes with similar sizes and orientations
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Completes three or four piece puzzles
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Stacks rings on a post with the biggest on the bottom and the smallest on the top
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Understands words related to position (e.g., “Please put the basket on the table” or “Please get under the covers.”)
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Understands the words “longer,” “shorter,” “big,” and “little”
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Places blocks on one another to make a stack, lining up the edges
Ways educators might support the child's development
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Outline shapes on the floor using string or tape, and encourage the children to go inside
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Provide different sized boxes, wagons, and wheelbarrows that the children can climb in and out of and can use to move objects or other children
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Talk about the shapes of blocks with children; compare the blocks with one another
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Emphasize words describing where objects are in relation to one another (“beside” and “between”)
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Help the child to find themselves in space (“Where is your pinky finger? Where is your elbow?”)
