An Equal Opportunity Program


This domain focuses on how children learn. It refers to skills and behaviors that children use to learn. Interest in how things work and wanting to know more (curiosity), sticking with an activity (persistence), paying attention, and the ability to control feelings and behavior so they can be a member of a group of learners (self-regulation).

Things you may see your child learn and do:

  • Show curiosity, want to learn new things, ask questions
  • Start an activity, stay interested, and finish the activity
  • Look for another way to accomplish a task when he/she runs into a problem
  • Use a variety of art materials like crayons, markers, glue, paint, pencils, play dough, small scissors, and brushes
  • Participate in activities like singing, listening and moving to different kinds of music, and exploring musical instruments

What you can do at home:

  • Allow time for your child to explore and investigate things that interest him/her. Ask questions like, “What would happen if…” or statements like, “I wonder how…”
  • Arrange for your child to experience a variety of musical and other creative experiences like plays and concerts.
  • Allow your child to use crayons, markers, glue, paint, pencils, play dough, small scissors, and brushes.
  • Provide space for your child to create and display work. Let your child tell you about what he/she creates. Offer encouragement NOTES: and ask questions

Cognitive development is using reasoning and other thinking skills. Infants and toddlers develop cognitive skills by exploring and experimenting. In preschoolers cognitive development moves into mathematics (shapes, numbers, measuring, sorting etc.) and scientific reasoning (making observations, talking about them, trying different things, watching what happens).

Things you may see your child learn and do:

  • Sort items and put objects in order from biggest to smallest
  • Recognize and show interest in numbers, counting, shapes, and patterns
  • Learn about different families, homes and people
  • Understand reasons for rules at home and school
  • Practice caring for the environment
  • Using their senses and tools for investigation such as scales, magnifying glasses, binoculars, magnets, tweezers, etc.

What you can do at Home:

  • Practice math in activities like sorting laundry, setting the table, counting toys, or finding shapes in the everyday world.
  • Notice how groups of things are alike or different.
  • Help children make sense of the world by talking about what you notice. Gather collections of things from nature and compare.
  • Do things together like mixing a cake, planting seeds, water the garden, or wrap a package. Notice and talk about changes.
  • Talk about your family using pictures, stories and memories. Use words to explain connections like aunt, cousin, grandparents.
  • Take children to a variety of places and events.

NOTES:

Social development is being able to form relationships with adults and other children.

Emotional development is being able to recognize, express, and manage your own feelings and recognize feelings in others.

It’s about building confidence in yourself and the having the skills needed to get along with others.

Things you may see your child do and learn:

  • Identify and name his/ her likes and dislikes
  • Begin to recognize and name feelings of self and others
  • Interact easily with other children and begin to play or work cooperatively, share, take turns, or help a friend
  • Participate and follow routines, directions, and simple rules in group activities
  • Resolve conflicts with other or seeks adult help when needed
  • Move easily from one activity to another
  • Adapt to new places and people
  • Use appropriate behavior rather than negative behaviors

What you can do at home:

  • Encourage and praise your child as he/she learns to take care of personal needs like getting dressed or finding things.
  • Provide chances to interact with other children in a variety of places.
  • Encourage your child to be independent and responsible.
  • Be a good example in how you talk to others, solve problems, and talk about your feelings.

NOTES:

Children, especially infants and toddlers, use touch, taste, hearing, sight, and smell to learn about and understand their world. Large muscle (gross motor) refer to moving the whole body or large muscles in arms and legs. Small muscle (fine motor) refers to muscles in parts of the body, especially hands and feet. Health, safety and nutrition are in this domain and refer to a child’s ability to keep himself/ herself safe and healthy. Telling an adult when he/she is hungry or sick, tooth brushing, making healthy food choices, knowing how to cross a street safely are examples.

Things you may see your child do and learn:

  • Infant/toddlers learn to roll over, sit up, and walk.
  • Infants grasp small objects
  • Develop hand strength and eye hand coordination by using toys which exercise fine motor skills like shape sorters, Legos, puzzles, small cubes, blocks and tools to write, trace and cut
  • Perform tasks such as walking, running, galloping, jumping, hopping, climbing and ball skills which help develop control of large muscles and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle
  • Pedal a tricycle
  • Learn good health and dental care practices, like washing hands, brushing teeth, which promote health and learning to take care of one’s self
  • Discover how to choose healthy, nutritious foods for well-being
  • Understand that physical movement and rest are good for your body.
  • Learn the basics of poison prevention, fire, street and water safety for use at home and school

What you can do at home:

  • Spend time playing indoors and outdoors with your child. Give them many opportunities to learn a variety of skills.
  • Make movement fun – dance, active games, think of different ways you can move your body
  • Make well-child care and follow-up appointments for physical examinations, dental check-ups, immunizations and lead screenings.
  • Use car seats and seat belts properly. Keep children away from second-hand smoke. Prepare healthy food and model good eating habits.
  • Practice fire and tornado drills.

Notes:

Being able to communicate is important for everyone. Language and literacy are

essential for children to be able

to learn. Language development is about listening and understanding others (receptive language) and using language so you can be understood. (expressive language). Literacy is knowledge and skills necessary in reading and writing: knowing that sounds make words, sounds are associated with alphabet letters, words can be written, and by writing words you share your thoughts with others.

Things you may see your child do and learn:

  • Listen and understand directions and conversations
  • Speak clearly enough to be understood and use language to express wants and needs and to communicate with others
  • Use and understand an increasing number of words
  • Engage in back and forth conversation with others
  • Know how books work – front to back, one page at a time, have a title and an author
  • Notice and play with sounds in words – beginning and ending sounds, break words into syllables
  • Begin to recognize and name some letters of the alphabet-usually those in his/her name
  • Start to notice and use rhyming words
  • Show interest and listens to books being read to them, guesses what will happen next in a story, and retells stories
  • Understand that print has meaning
  • Use scribbles, shapes, and letters to write name, words and

ideas

What you can do at home:

  • Read and reread stories every day that your child likes.
  • Point out letters and simple words in books, on signs, and around your home.
  • Read books, sing songs, and play games with rhyming words.
  • Provide opportunities for children to draw and print using markers, crayons, and pencils.
  • Be a literacy model. Let your child see you reading magazines, newspapers, making lists checking your calendar.
  • Talk about what you are doing. Connect language to actions.

NOTES: