0–9 months – See this age across all domains Infants

What educators might observe

• Responds to sounds in the environment (e.g., startles or cries when there is a siren or an unexpected sound)
• Leans intentionality towards a familiar person’s voice
• Makes frequent eye contact while listening, and gestures in response
• Turns and looks toward familiar sounds and/or words (e.g., when name is called)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Talk to the baby
  • Use the baby’s home language if possible
  • Use rich descriptive vocabulary
  • Narrate your actions throughout the day
  • Name familiar people
  • Pair known words with unfamiliar words (“Bye-bye, fire truck. Bye-bye ambulance.”)
• Sing to the baby
  • Use songs with movements
  • Sing during transitions to and from sleep
  • Sing songs in the baby’s home language
  • Do simple, gentle exercises with the baby, singing as you go; for example, holding the baby’s hands, gently lift up, then out, then down, singing “Up, Out, Down”
• Read to the baby
  • Read starting a birth
  • Tell a story in the home language based on the pictures
  • Describe the baby’s actions with the book (“Turn the page, and let’s see what’s on the next page.”)

8–16 months – See this age across all domains Infants

What educators might observe

• Responds to “yes” and “no”
• Responds to requests such as “wave bye-bye”
• Looks toward door when doorbell rings and educator asks, “Who is it?”
• Responds to simple requests or statements accompanied by gestures, such as when the caregiver asks for a specific toy while pointing at it
• Shows understanding of the names of most familiar objects and people by looking toward them when they are mentioned

Ways educators might support the child's development

• When sounds are heard, point them out to the child (“Hear the car? Beep Beep. Hear the train? Choo Choo.”)
• Read books multiple times
• Read books with rhymes and rhythm
• Read books with few words
• Use books that engage the child’s responsiveness and participation
• Play hello and goodbye games; put baby doll or stuffed bear to sleep, saying, “Night night, baby” or “Night night, bear”

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Points to familiar people when asked where they are
• Shows joint attention with adults (e.g., looks at and points to elephant with daddy at the zoo)
• Shows understanding of pronouns such as “my” and “your” (e.g., points to their belly button when asked, “Where is your belly button?”)
• Identifies people, objects, and actions when asked

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Talk to families about the importance of talking with and reading to their children in their home language
• Include pictures or movements when introducing words to help children understand new vocabulary
• Point to colors and shapes in the real world (“I see a red balloon.”)

24–36 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Answers/asks simple questions (Note: child’s answer may not be a response to what was asked, but may instead involve what they want to talk about in the moment)
• Demonstrates understanding of simple directions in familiar context by responding appropriately (e.g., “Give daddy the cup, please.”)
• Responds to directions that include verbs (e.g., run, jump, reach, open)
• Understands statements with descriptive words for time (e.g., “After we clean up, we’ll go to the bathroom.”)
• Understands words and phrases associated with family life in their home language

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Encourage families to limit screen time and be active viewers with the child by talking about what they are seeing on the screen
• Give specific descriptions of objects, events, and activities in the child’s world (“We are going to school with the blue door tomorrow, and you will see your friends and Miss Tatia.”)
• Read to the child and have them turn the page and answer simple questions (“Where’d doggy go? Oh, there he is, under the bed.”)

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

What educators might observe

• Answers questions that show knowledge of events
• Asks questions that show attention to activities (e.g., “Why did the boy run away?”)
• Follows two-step directions (e.g., “Please put the blocks away, then sit on the rug.”)
• Begins to understand opposites (e.g., hot and cold, stop and go, up and down)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Bring the child to places where you can introduce new vocabulary
  • Neighborhood walk
  • Garden
  • Farm
  • Grocery store
  • Zoo
  • Museum
  • Post office
  • Laundromat
• Give clear and simple directions with tasks that you know that the child can accomplish on their own, for example, “Please get the cup from the bottom shelf and place it onto the table.”
• Incorporate opposites into everyday interactions; for example, point out hot and cold objects or cars stopping and going
• Use increasingly complex words, in context, and explain their meaning when talking with child

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

What educators might observe

• Answers open-ended questions
• Follows directions that involve a twoor three-step sequence of actions, which may not be related (e.g., “Please pick up your toys, and then get your shoes.”)
• Extends/expands the thought or idea expressed by another
• Engages in conversation that develops a thought or idea (e.g., talks about a past event)
• Listens to others in a group discussion for a short period; gains information through listening

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Engage in back-and-forth informal conversations about topics that are relevant and important to children’s own lives
• Encourage children to engage in dramatic play in their home language
• Create opportunities for informal extended exchanges between peers throughout the day
• Use wait-time; after asking children a question, pause for at least 3 extra seconds to allow children time to think and respond

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

What educators might observe

• Responds to multi-step directions or requests (e.g., “First, wash your hands. Then bring me the green towel, and then we will have snack.”)
• Observes and interprets details about environment, events, or speakers
• Understands words for time, like “yesterday,” “today,” and “tomorrow”
• Role plays familiar events described by others, such as a friend’s story
• Understands forms of social speech from their family, culture and community

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Take dictation of a story, and then have children act the story out as the educator reads it, turning text into action
• Invite children to discuss a topic of study in whole group, small groups and pairs
• Offer children instructions with sequential words (“First do this and then this.”); observe how they follow through
• Encourage emergent multilingual learners to translate vocabulary into their home language and to make connections between topics of study and their own lives

6-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Remembers a story that a friend told yesterday
• Responds and can follow a sequence of twoor three-step directions in a row
• Listens to a peer’s idea and participates in a conversation with a partner
• Compares or uses specific traits to describe characters in a story that the educator has told

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Listen and provide feedback to clarify and extend understanding; for instance, restate in another way or use an image or a gesture to clarify
• Engage peers in a variety of activities in a range of different topics that foster sustained interactions
• Use translanguaging between English and home languages to encourage participation and keep children in the conversational loop
• Make comparisons with familiar characters and plots to sustain interactions

7-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Understands positional and directional words (e.g., here, there, over, next to, in front, under, or between)
• Becomes logical in their comprehension of vocabulary (e.g., figures out the meaning of words based on their root)
• Demonstrates knowledge of sequence of events and understands cue words and phrases (e.g., before, yesterday, later that day, after, next year)
• Uses clues in story they have heard to make inferences

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Reinforce key vocabulary and content words in activities; for example, play games such as Simon Says to strengthen understanding of prepositions or classification games to deepen understandings of meanings
• Use role plays with partners or small groups to establish understanding of characters and relationships
• Model body language as an active listener to extend conversation
• Draw on home languages or actively encourage partners to speak it to reinforce and ensure understanding

8-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Listens to peers and attends to conversational turns in a small group
• Attends during a presentation by a guest speaker who shares about a topic for a sustained period
• Shows refined understanding of social contexts and uses gestures or nonverbal behavior to respond to situations

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Model strategies for self-monitoring, understanding, and using questions to clarify
• Ask peers to elaborate or role play the ways in which partners can request more information to increase understanding
• Structure activities that include speaking with partners and using specific words or parts of speech; for example, interviewing about something in the past that requires understanding of verbs in past tense
• Use think-aloud or sentence starters to model the thinking process and encourage understanding of one’s own or a character’s feelings, changes, motivations, and inner thoughts