V

Cognitive Development

A

Understanding Stability and Change

Child recognizes and develops the ability to explain how material objects change and how they remain stable.

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

What educators might observe

• Hides own eyes but leaves parts of their body exposed while playing hide-andseek
• Uses phrases to initiate and identify make-believe play with others (“Let’s pretend…” or “I was just pretending!”)
• Asks about the permanency of their gender and racial identity (e.g., “Will I always be a boy/girl? Will I always have my skin color?)
• Offers magical explanations for change (e.g., says that a fairy puts the moon in the sky every night)
• Uses language about death, without necessarily thinking it is a permanent state

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Ask follow-up questions to children’s magical explanations of how things change (e.g., ”Tell me more about that.” “What makes you think that?”)
• Encourage child to draw or paint a picture to express their thoughts or feelings about change
• Gently clarify when children suggest that a dead person or animal will come alive again; use simple language

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

What educators might observe

• Plays hide-and-seek, fully hiding body, but laughing or otherwise staying in touch with playmates through sound
• Plays with their shadow, trying to step on it or get away from it
• Has difficulty imagining that their adult family members were once children
• Investigates the permanence of death through observation of insects and animals and in dramatic play; will ask questions about where the insect or animal may go

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide concrete examples of changes that occur
  • Document the growth of a caterpillar into a butterfly
  • Collect different colored leaves (green, red, and brown)
  • Watch a pumpkin decompose
  • Trace their shadows at different times of the day
  • Observe patterns of change in weather conditions, daily and seasonally
• Allow the children to have a ceremony when a classroom pet has died; answer their questions about death factually

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

What educators might observe

• Begins to understand death as a biological event
• Begins to understand how the body functions to sustain life

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include non-fiction books about life cycles in the learning environment
• Include simple biological information in discussion of death (“Their heart has stopped beating. They are not coming back.”)

B

Representing

Child uses symbolic thought to represent.

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

What educators might observe

• Assigns peers, adults, or objects roles as characters in play
• Plans with other children what they are going to pretend before starting to play (e.g, “Let’s play doggies!”)
• Uses objects to make arrangements and represent a storyline; may repeat the story over and over again (e.g., uses blocks to make a house, then uses a toy fire truck to put out a fire in the house)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Ask child what would help further their play, such as what other materials they could use to represent something
• Read familiar stories such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff many times and encourage the child to act it out
• Reflect with children about their dramatic play, and talk about the different roles in a family, while being mindful of different kinds of families and cultural differences; what does it mean to the child to act like a mommy, daddy, aunt, grandma, or other family member?

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

What educators might observe

• Constructs and experiments with longer, complicated storylines in dramatic play
• Invents storyline and initiates play with a peer (e.g., “Are you coming to my restaurant? Can I take your order?”)
• Negotiates roles with peers (e.g, “I’ll be the papa and you are baby bear.” “NOOO. I’m the sister bear. And you are my brother.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Invite families to visit the class to share a folktale or family story
• Encourage the child to add details; for example, build a fort to represent an animal’s home, and then discuss what would be needed in the fort to make it more cozy
• Support the development of children’s understanding of gender roles in representation (“What does it mean to look like a girl? Does a girl have to look like that?”)

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

What educators might observe

• Adds details from a scene to its visual representation (e.g., the landscape or the weather)
• Differentiates fantasy from reality

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Observe and reflect on children’s dramatic play; consider what background knowledge they are drawing on
• Offer large pieces of materials to be used in different ways, as well as costumes that suggest a role: worker’s hats (hard hat, bus drivers’ hat), vest and suit jackets, dresses, a doctor’s kit
• Ask the child, “What story are you telling?” in their drawing or construction
• Write or help children write a story based on what they drew, acted out, or built

C

Memory and History

Child develops the ability to store, retrieve, and share information about past experiences.

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

What educators might observe

• Uses time-related words and concepts (e.g., first/last, morning/night, yesterday/today), though not always accurately
• Although the child’s birthday was a month ago, they may describe looking forward to their birthday, which they tell an educator “is coming soon.”
• Uses phrases that suggest awareness of the past (e.g., “When I was a baby…”)
• Identifies changes in themselves over time (“I’m bigger now. I don’t wear diapers anymore.”)
• Retells a simple story or event in roughly sequential order (“Gabby took my soccer ball. I took it back. That’s why she’s crying.”)
• In dramatic play, reenacts everyday experiences and events from books, television, or observations

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Invite families to share photographs of the child when they were younger, or of past family events; use these photographs to have conversations with the child about their memories
• When recounting events, use visual representation
  • Artifacts, such as a ticket
  • Art made by the child
  • Photographs related to the experience
  • Natural objects, such as shells or leaves

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

What educators might observe

• Reenacts multiple sequential scenes from personal experience, books, and media
• Includes specific details of events when recreating them (e.g., pretending to add turmeric and paprika when cooking in the sand box)
• Knows significant events from their family history (e.g., “Abuelito came from the Dominican Republic.”)
• Describes significant changes in their own lives over time (e.g., “I used to live with my Auntie. Now I live in Mommy’s house in Buffalo.”)
• Understands that things were different a very long time ago, but is unsure how long ago this was (e.g., “When grandma was little, were dinosaurs alive?”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Observe and reflect on children’s dramatic play; what personal histories are they are re-enacting?
• Invite children to use drawing and dictation to tell about recent experiences
• Create a schedule of the day and support discussion about what comes first and what comes next during the day, as well as what usually happens on what days of the week

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

What educators might observe

• Retells an important life event in sequential order (e.g., draws a picture about something they did during summer vacation)
• Believes that they can remember much more than they really can
• Describes how memory works (e.g., says, “It’s easier to remember something that happened yesterday than something that happened last month.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Support the child in making a timeline of their life
• Write a book, About my Life , with pages of stories about what happened when they were a baby, a toddler, and more recently
• Draw a picture of what life was like at a different time, such as before a sibling was born or before they moved

D

Investigating and Exploring

Child becomes a scientific thinker by manipulating objects, asking questions, making observations and predictions, and developing generalizations.

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

What educators might observe

• Experiments with mixing different materials together (e.g., sand and water)
• Asks many “why” questions (e.g., “Why do we have to put our jackets on?”)
• Makes simple predictions (e.g., says they think the water in the sprinklers will be cold today)
• Observes and wonders (e.g., watches a turtle and asks, “Why is it hiding inside? When is it coming out?”)
• Applies their knowledge to understand observations (e.g., watches a snail and asks, “Which part are the eyes?”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Add natural materials, such as smooth stones or pieces of wood, to different centers
• Conduct simple baking experiments with small groups, such as making muffins or quesadillas
• Ask prediction questions (”What will happen to the flour when the milk is poured in?”)
• Provide access to a sand and water table on a daily basis, and encourage children to mix the substances together
• Use eye droppers to drop different colored oil into water to see what happens
• Acknowledge that when children are asking “why” questions they are not questioning your authority, but needing additional information and trusting you to give it

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

What educators might observe

• Uses feelings and imagination to understand the results of a science experiment (e.g., “Maybe the caterpillar just felt like becoming a butterfly.”)
• Uses sources other than the adult to gather information, such as books and peers
• Brainstorms solutions based on background knowledge (e.g., “Be quiet so the birds will come!”)
• Asks a series of questions about their observations (e.g., when observing a worm on the sidewalk the child asks, “Where did it come from? Why doesn’t it have eyes? How will it find its way home to its family?”)
• Asks “why?” but then rejects answers not to their liking

Ways educators might support the child's development

• When a child asks a question, encourage the group to hypothesize what the answer may be; chart their responses and invite them to explain their thinking
• Show children how to look for the answer to a question in a book or online
• Provide opportunities for children to use polls (“Do you think it will rain today?’ “Which item will weigh more-a book, a leaf or a pencil?”)
• Make big graphs to capture this “data” so that children can see and interpret it
• Provide tools to explore the environment (magnets, magnifying glasses, light table)

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

What educators might observe

• Asks “how” things were made (e.g., “How does a pigeon build a nest?”)
• Generates ideas about how to find the answers to their questions (e.g., when wanting to learn more about trucks, the child decides to ask a family member who drives a truck)
• Lists materials needed for an experiment
• Records information from an experience (e.g., drawing, writing, storytelling, photographing)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Model the use of scientific vocabulary
• Ask children to record observations of particular objects and outside scenes such as a cityscape, a tree, a garden
• View wrong answers or explanations as theories in development
• Ask for predictions about observable phenomena (“How do the apples get soft when we make apple sauce?”)
• Provide unique pictures, such as X-rays or close ups of butterfly wings and snowflakes

E

Understanding Cause and Effect

Child understands and explores the causes and effects of actions and events.

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

What educators might observe

• Asks “why” questions to show effort at understanding causation
• Explains the effects that simple actions have on objects (“It will be dark when you turn out the light.”)
• Sees themselves at the center of causation (“I have my own moon. I bring it with me wherever I go.”)
• Offers magical explanations of causes (“The frost fairy came in the night and turned the grass white.”)
• Assigns human characteristics to inanimate objects (“The leaves fell off the tree because the wind told them to.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage children to explain their thinking about magical causes without correcting them
• Engage families in observing and recording their children’s poetic descriptions of causes
• Offer simple experiments that develop children’s understanding of cause and effect
  • Color mixing
  • Ramp play
  • Objec ts frozen in ice

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

What educators might observe

• Uses clues and background knowledge to find causes (“She’s wearing a coat so it must be cold outside.”)
• Identifies objects or conditions that affect other objects (“The food coloring makes the water blue” or “The cold turned the water to ice.”)
• Makes predictions, sometimes using unrelated information (“I think the gold car will win. Gold is for winners.”)
• Uses the word “because” to show relationship between past and future events
• Distinguishes between some magical and scientific causes, but still believes in magical causes

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Engage children in extended back-andforth conversations about the reasons for things
• Use phrases such as
  • What do you think will happen when…?
  • What happened last time?
  • What made that happen?
  • Why do you think that?
• Observe and record children’s hypotheses about causes, and revisit predictions with children to reflect on how their thinking has changed over time

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

What educators might observe

• Predicts an outcome based on previous effects they have observed (“If we leave the seeds on the top of the dirt, the birds will come eat them.”)
• Seeks but does not readily accept scientific causes for things

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide materials and opportunities to observe cause and effect
  • Blocks
  • Marble runs
  • Gears
  • Paints
  • Planting
  • Powders for mixing
• Ask children “what if” questions
  • What if we took the bottom block out first?
  • What if we add more water to the corn starch mixture?
  • What if we add more red to the purple color paint you mixed?

F

Engineering: Problem-solving with Materials

Child plans and uses hands, tools, and technology to solve problems with materials.

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

What educators might observe

• Adjusts plans based on prior experience (e.g., when rolling cars down a ramp, tries a smaller car when bigger ones keep falling off)
• Imitates accepted solutions to problems with materials (e.g., moves hands on laces as if to tie shoes, although they are unable to successfully do so)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Have everyday materials accessible for building and creating
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Paper towel rolls
  • Different kinds of tape
  • Shoe boxes
  • Paper bags
  • Wheels from broken toy trucks
  • Clay
  • Recyclables
  • String
  • Glue
• Experiment with the effect of natural forces on materials. For example, create a wind tunnel by blowing through a tube or float scarves, pompoms, and other objects through the tube

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

What educators might observe

• Uses blocks or boxes to build bridges
• When using materials, compares results to initial predictions and tries again (e.g., after discovering that the slime breaks if stretched quickly, stretches it more slowly)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Support children in thinking of themselves as engineers by asking questions such as
  • “How can you use these materials to make..?”
  • “What do you think would happen if…?”
  • “Why do you think that happened?”
• Help children see that mistakes teach us important things

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

What educators might observe

• Uses blocks to build stairs
• Sticks with a problem-solving strategy that has been successful before, without considering other alternatives
• Plans how to make a functional object from materials (e.g., a spinning top from Lego pieces)
• Replicates engineering solutions from life in play (e.g., creating a door with a latch for a cardboard house)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Use fairytales to encourage building; for instance, read The Three Little Pigs , and ask groups of children to create houses that would withstand a wolf’s huffing and puffing
• Challenge children with prompts such as
  • Make something with a window in it
  • Make something that floats
• Ask the child about work they have done
  • “Tell me about your construction.”
  • “How do these parts work?”
  • “What is their function?”
  • “What’s another strategy that you could use?”

G

Math

1. Comparing and Categorizing

Child recognizes some similarities and differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, or experiences.

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

What educators might observe

• Shows understanding of the words “same” and “different”
• Remarks on physical differences that they notice among members of the community
• Recognizes and labels aspects of an experience (tall, long, fun)
• Identifies categories of objects, for example, knows that dogs, cats, and cows are all animals

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Openly discuss differences children remark on in their community (“Yes, Mr. Brown has no legs. He uses his electric wheelchair to move around.”)
• Extend this learning about differences (“In what other ways do people move around?”)
• Play simple sorting games with children; for example, dress a paper doll for different kinds of weather
• Read books, such as those by Ann Morris, that show types of shoes, hats, bread, or transportation around the world

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

What educators might observe

• Sorts by a given attribute, forming categories
• Uses comparative words (e.g., faster, slower, louder)
• Identifies the measurable attributes of objects such as length or weight and describes them using the appropriate vocabulary (e.g., small, big, short, tall, empty, full, heavy, light)
• Lines up objects in order to determine which is longer
• Fills large containers with cups of water and counts how many cups fit in each container

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Make a simple Bingo game with 9 squares of colors, shapes, or animals; the cards from this game can also be used for a simple matching game
• If children are comparing objects, offer them a standard or non-standard tool for measurement
• Play “duck, duck, goose” using different categories, such as “train, train, car”

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

What educators might observe

• Sorts by a single attribute and reclassifies according to another attribute (e.g., sorts writing implements by type and then re-sorts them by color)
• Arranges 5–10 objects shortest to longest, biggest to smallest, or heaviest to lightest
• Compares number of objects by counting, even when one of the objects is bigger, up to 10

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Compare characters in a story or subjects in a non-fiction text
• Create class charts and surveys with student information such as siblings, caretakers, or ways of getting to school; use these to compare aspects of the class
• Compare classroom materials, sorting different sizes or shapes of blocks, for example, and discussing how to use them

2. Number Sense and Quantity

Child understands and explores numbers and quantity.

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

What educators might observe

• Recognizes and names some numerals when pointing to them
• Recognizes that numerals can be written and pretends or attempts to write some
• Verbally counts to 10 with some correspondence, but skips some objects and counts others twice
• Produces sets of three (e.g., “Bring me three paint brushes from the art center”)
• When asked for five of something, counts out three and says, “One, two, five.”
• Changes word order or gives up on one-to-one correspondence to make the answer the one they had predicted or their favorite number (e.g., “one, two, three, four, 100!”)
• Matches small sets (one to four) of different items and shows they are the same quantity

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Use numbers and counting throughout the day, such as counting how many children are at the sand table
• Present sets of one to four objects and ask “How many?” questions; encourage children to name the sets before counting (“How many blocks do I have? That’s right I have two blocks.”)
• Point out quantities of items that the child possesses, such as two shoes, one hat, one jacket, or three stuffed animals; count each item out loud to correspond the number with the quantity of the items
• Model placing the objects that the child wants to count in a line
• Give child simple tasks that involve counting (“Give every child one cracker”)

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

What educators might observe

• Attempts to count to 20 by ones
• Recognizes the number of objects in groups of four without counting
• Accurately counts five to 10 objects in a line and answers the “how many” question with the last number counted
• Can match a number of objects with a written numeral 0 to 5 (0 representing a count of no objects)
• When asked for five of something, counts out five objects
• Compares groups of one to six objects by matching (e.g., gives each child a bagel and says that there are the same number of bagels as children)
• Counts the number of objects in a group so they can compare and say which has more, up to five objects; however, if the objects in one group are larger, may say that group has more (e.g., says three large trucks are more than five small cars

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Observe children’s use of counting, oneto-one correspondence, estimating, and simple arithmetic in their play; connect to and extend this learning
• Offer games that ask children to match a numeral to a number of things
  • String six beads on a pipe cleaner
  • P ick a card and fill the basket with that number of objects
  • Roll a dice and do a movement that many times
  • Jump, clap, or stomp one to five times and ask the children to hold up the number of fingers that matches the number of movements
• Include books related to number and quantity in the learning environment
  • The Doorbell Rang , by Pat Hutchins
  • Anno’s Counting Book , by Mitsumasa Ann
  • Ten Black Dots , by Donald Crews
  • City by Numbers , by Stephen Johnson
  • Fish Eyes , by Lois Ehlert

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

What educators might observe

• Quickly names the number of objects in groups of five without counting
• Tells what number comes after any number between one and 20
• Explains that numbers tell “how many” of something
• Recognizes and writes numerals 1 through 10
• Divides up to 20 objects between four or five people by dealing out an object to each person
• Uses the words “first,” “second,” “third,” up to and including “tenth” (e.g., says, “I came in fourth” when describing a race with classmates
• Counts on their fingers
• Keeps track of objects that have and have not been counted (e.g., slides objects they have already counted to the side)
• Counts backward from 10 by taking away objects

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide bags of objects to count (10 acorns, 14 keys, 19 cubes) and ask children to count and draw the objects in them
• Allow children to freely play with math manipulatives before using them to solve problems
• S et up the dramatic play area as a store, and invite children to use number cards to “purchase” objects
• Analyze the mathematical thinking in children’s errors
• Provide games with dice and dominoes so that children can practice recognizing the number of items in a small set without counting
• Find math in the body, and play finger math; for example, hold up three fingers on one hand and ask children how many fingers are folded down

3. Patterning

Child develops the ability to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns.

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

What educators might observe

• Recognizes patterns in their environment (e.g., looks at a striped scarf and says, “It’s a pattern.”)
• Plays with patterns in language (e.g., sings, “La di dee, la dee da, la dee di.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Create simple patterns with music; play the drums and dance with children
• Encourage children to point out patterns in the environment
• Engage children in patterns of movement

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

What educators might observe

• Describes simple AB patterns (e.g., when the teacher claps then stomps, child names whether to clap or stomp next)
• Extends visual patterns; continues building a line of blocks that an older child has begun (e.g., triangle, triangle, square, triangle, triangle, square)
• Identifies repeating patterns in numbers ( “10, 20, and 30 all end in 0.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Invite children to join you in creating a pattern of music using simple instruments such as a tambourine and a triangle
• Ask children to notice patterns in the world, such as in seasons or daily schedules
• Provide materials such as pattern blocks and color tiles that suggest creating AB patterns
• Use songs and games to teach patterns:
  • Red Light, Green Light
  • Duck, Duck, Goose
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

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

What educators might observe

• Creates and identifies simple repeating patterns (e.g., draws a pattern of hearts and stars around the edge of their picture)
• Creates and extends simple growing patterns (e.g., stacks one, then two, then three blocks to make a staircase)
• Explains growing patterns such as the pattern of “plus one” in addition (“If I add one, I get the next number.”)
• Describes a “jump, jump, clap” movement as two of something then one of something
• Pays attention to the linguistic patterns in the names of numbers, “Four, forty, and four hundred all sound like four!”

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide materials such as wooden cubes to build a staircase to model a “plus one” pattern
• Create ABC patterns together using clapping, tapping, and patting on the body; ask children to follow your pattern and then allow them to lead, with you following their pattern
• Sing songs with patterns, such as “Everyone Comes from a Different Place”

4. Spatial Sense and Geometry

Child understands how objects, points, lines, and shapes fit in space.

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

What educators might observe

• Uses words to indicate direction and position, but not always accurately
• Builds vertical and horizontal components within a block building
• Identifies and names circles and squares
• Calls two shapes the same, if they have similar parts but are not identical (e.g., when both shapes have pointy parts)
• Plays with combining shapes and pulling them apart

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Set up simple obstacle courses with children such as hopscotch, hopping over a hoop, jumping up and down, or twirling with a ribbon, use positional words such as “over,” “under” and “through” as children move through the obstacle course
• Tape shapes on the ground, and ask children to do movements as they go around them
• Name and identify shapes children make while drawing and writing
• Invite children to reach into “feely boxes” and pull out a shape that matches the one the educator is holding
• Identify shapes and angles in everyday life, such as a circles on the tops of cup, rectangular pieces of paper, the angle made when the scissors open, or the angle at the edge of the table

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

What educators might observe

• Uses blocks to build in multiple directions, with multiple points of contact between components
• Builds arches, enclosures, corners, and crosses
• Follows a model to create simple shapes out of lines (e.g., organizes sticks to make a triangle or rectangle)
• Slides and turns pieces to make them fit in a simple puzzle
• Calls a shape a rectangle because it “looks like a door,” rather than naming sides and angles
• Calls a variety of open or closed pointy shapes “triangles”
• Experiments with combining shapes to make a new shape (e.g., in the block area, accidently puts two triangles together to make a square, and then repeats this action intentionally)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include materials in the classroom environment that develop geometric concepts
  • Blocks
  • Jigsaw puzzles
  • Magnetic shapes
  • Shape puzzles
  • Pattern blocks
  • Unit blocks
  • Legos
• Go on community walks along different routes and discuss which route was longer or shorter and why
• Describe the location of objects the child is trying to find, rather than pointing to them (e.g., “The tape is beside the construction paper.”)
• Present many examples of squares and rectangles, varying orientation and size; include squares as examples of rectangles (If children say, “That’s a square,” reply, “It is a square, which is a special type of rectangle.”

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

What educators might observe

• Correctly uses position words such as “beside,” “under,” and “inside” to describe objects
• Slides, flips and turns pieces to make them fit in a puzzle, but does not always move them in the right direction at first
• Recognizes that there are other shapes that are not common (e.g., rhombus and hexagon)
• Spontaneously creates symmetrical buildings in the block area
• Builds complex bridges with multiple arches, ramps, and stairs at the ends
• Intentionally puts pattern block shapes together to make another shape for a picture

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Invite children to draw maps of routes, illustrating what landmarks will be passed or seen on different routes
• Draw maps of the playground and use them to go on a scavenger hunt
• Challenge the child to cover hexagon pattern blocks with other pattern blocks and see what works
• Introduce vocabulary such as “sides,” “angles,” and “parallel lines”
• Identify and describe the symmetry children spontaneously create in their art work
• Hunt for shapes outside and around the school; take photographs of them and print them out as shape books for the classroom