NevadaPre-KindergartenStandardsRevised2023forWebsite.pdf

Nevada Pre-Kindergarten

Standards, Revised 2023

Building a Foundation for School Readiness and Success in

PreK-12 and Beyond

State of Nevada Department of Education Governor, Joe Lombardo Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jhone M. Ebert Student Achievement Division, Deputy Superintendent, Ann Marie Dickson Office of Early Learning and Development, Education Programs Director, Patti Oya

Nevada Department of Education Office of Early Learning and Development 700 East Fifth Street, Suite 113 Carson City, NV 89701-5096

(775) 687-9171 Fax (775) 687-9250

Acknowledgements The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) would like to thank the more than 100 stakeholders who provided feedback during the 2023 revision of the Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards for their hard work and contribution to this document. The revised standards have been designed as a tool to help teachers with planning and implementing the standards into their curriculum. NDE supports the continued alignment of early learning standards and other initiatives to improve children’s transition from early learning settings to kindergarten. We would like to give special thanks to the Pre-Kindergarten Technology Standards Writing Workgroup: Kelly Carr, Ali Cooper, Jennifer Dowlen, Emilia Gonzales, Yvonne Jacob, Samantha Richardson, Bonnie Toth, and Jacqueline McCune.

Primary Authors:

Tina Schennum Springmeyer Rachel Stepina

SRI Education:

Mary Lee Porterfield Catherine Scott-Little Sally Shepherd Mandy Reeve

Table of Contents Introduction to the Standards

The Standards Domains A Note on Early Childhood STEAM

What Is High-Quality Early Childhood Education?

Guiding Principles Developmentally Appropriate Practice Diversity and Culture Home Language Equity Inclusion

Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards Format Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards at a Glance How to Use the Standards Key to the Standards Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards Format

The Standards Approaches to Learning Social Studies Health, Safety, and Physical Development Language and Early Literacy Science Technology Creative Expression Mathematics

History of Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards Nevada Early Childhood Education System Nevada Professional Development System Glossary References

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Introduction to the Standards Welcome to the Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards, Revised 2023 (henceforward referred to as the Standards). The Standards provide a framework for play-based classroom environments, curriculum, and instruction in all early childhood classrooms and programs serving pre-kindergarten children across the state, including child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start, preschools, school district pre-kindergarten programs, and more. This document is supported by the Nevada Department of Education.

The Standards build on the 2010 and 2004 pre-kindergarten standards, which established that early learning and development are the foundation for kindergarten readiness and for success throughout school and life. This revision incorporates the latest evidence and professional knowledge on the critical concepts, skills, and abilities for children to master by the end of the pre-kindergarten year. In alignment with Nevada’s Birth to 3rd Grade Approach (Severens et al., 2022), this revision also includes supportive practices to guide teachers and other adults in setting up environments, providing materials, and implementing practices to support children’s progress in each domain.

The Standards are vertically aligned with Nevada’s K-12 Academic Content Standards (Nevada Department of Education, n.d.) for kindergarten as well as with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (Office of Head Start, n.d.). In anticipation of future updates and revisions to these standards, and with a commitment to consistently provide Nevada’s early educators with the most up-to-date information, the alignment charts you may be familiar with have been moved out of this document. You can find Nevada early learning standards alignment charts online at https://doe.nv.gov/.

The Standards are organized in eight* domains and include indicators of children’s early learning and development, examples of how children might demonstrate each indicator, and supportive practices for teachers and practitioners. The Standards incorporate two new domains: Approaches to Learning and Technology. These domains have been added to lay foundations for critical skills as young children develop their own approaches to learning, and in acknowledgement of the central role that technology plays in modern life, information-gathering, problem-solving, and communication skills.

The Standards Domains

1. Approaches to Learning

2. Social Studies

3. Health, Safety, and Physical Development

4. Language and Early Literacy

5. Science

6. Technology

7. Creative Expression

8. Mathematics

*The Nevada Social Emotional Learning Standards are currently being developed by a statewide stakeholder workgroup facilitated by the Nevada Department of Education to align this domain from the early years through grade 12. Visit https://doe.nv.gov for updates.

Social emotional development is essential for children to become healthy, competent adults.

https://doe.nv.gov/

A Note on Early Childhood STEAM Research has shown that providing meaningful hands-on exploration through the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) encourages creative thinking and engaged learning, especially when coupled with cross-curricular learning activities in other domains such as social studies or literacy. The Standards are organized to bring together the Science, Technology, Creative Expression, and Mathematics domains to provide a focus on STEAM learning. While early childhood engineering is not a separate pre-kindergarten domain at this time, many indicators, examples, and supportive practices across the STEAM disciplines include foundational concepts for engineering such as children’s drawing or creating models for a planned investigation.

These STEAM practices and standards align with the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) seminal guidance, A Framework for K–12 Science Education (2012), which also informed Nevada’s K–12 Academic Content Standards.

Early childhood STEAM experiences emphasize children “doing,” as they engage in inquiry while building oral language, communication, and critical-thinking skills. Purposefully integrating STEAM experiences across learning domains and disciplines is critical for preschoolers and includes many benefits such as executive-functioning skills.

What Is High-Quality Early Childhood Education?

A high-quality early childhood program is an inclusive environment that offers services at the highest possible levels for all children and families (Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council, 2019). These programs provide a safe environment, while promoting the physical, social emotional, and cognitive development of all children. High-quality environments celebrate and explore the culture, backgrounds and individuality of their children and families. The indicators of quality include, but are not limited to policies, procedures, and administrative practices that are best practices for the workforce, families, and children. This would include ample age-appropriate materials, appropriate group size and ratios for each classroom, and use of appropriate assessments to assess children’s learning and development. Teaching approaches are individualized for each child and are active, stimulating, and engaging. Thoughtful standards about health and safety are considered at the licensing level and beyond. Families and community partners are included as valued partners and are invited into all aspects of care and education. All the indicators of quality combine to create an environment that leads to the highest outcomes and lifelong success for the youngest learners in our state.

Guiding Principles The revised Standards are built on the foundations laid by guiding principles of child development and learning, which are based on developmentally appropriate practices (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2022). These guiding principles align with the Nevada’s B–3rd Approach and inform educator instruction and classroom environments.

• Children’s learning and development are interrelated and affected by their genetic characteristics and experiences. Development and learning are dynamic processes that reflect the complex interplay between a child’s biological characteristics and the environment, each shaping the other as well as future patterns of growth.

• Each domain is important, and all are interrelated. All domains of child development—physical development, cognitive development, social emotional development, and linguistic development (including bilingual or multilingual development), as well as approaches to learning—are important; each domain both supports and is supported by the others.

• Play is essential for children’s learning and development. Play-based learning is defined by hands-on, inquiry-driven exploration and choice that is child-centered. Play-based approaches promote joyful learning that foster self-regulation, language, cognitive, and social competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all children, birth through age 8.

• Children’s development progresses in generally predictable patterns. Although general progressions of development and learning can be identified, variations due to cultural contexts, experiences, and individual differences must also be considered.

• Children are active learners. Children are active learners from birth, constantly taking in and organizing information to create meaning through their relationships, their interactions with their environment, and their overall experiences.

• Children’s home and community cultures greatly impact how they learn and develop. Partnering with families strengthens children’s learning and development. Children’s motivation to learn is increased when their learning environment fosters their sense of belonging, purpose, and agency. Curricula and teaching methods build on each child’s assets by connecting their experiences in the school or learning environment to their home and community settings.

• Children’s learning and development can be clarified, enriched, and extended. Children learn in an integrated fashion that cuts across academic disciplines or subject areas. Because the foundations of subject area knowledge are established in early childhood, educators need subject-area knowledge, an understanding of the learning progressions within each subject area, and pedagogical knowledge about teaching each subject area content effectively.

• Each child is an individual learner. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond their current mastery and when they have many opportunities to reflect on and practice newly acquired skills.

• Technology can support high-quality learning experiences for preschool children. Used responsibly and intentionally, technology and interactive media can be valuable tools for supporting children’s development and learning.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice Developmentally appropriate practices, (DAP: NAEYC, 2022), promote each child’s optimal development and learning through a strengths-based, play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning.

Early childhood educators implement DAP in preschool settings by:

1) recognizing the multiple assets all young children bring to the early learning setting as unique individuals and as members of families and communities, and

2) building on each child’s strengths

Educators design and implement equitable early learning environments to help all children achieve their full potential across all content areas and all domains of development, including physical, cognitive, health, social and emotional, and approaches to learning. To be developmentally appropriate, educator practices must also be culturally, linguistically, and ability appropriate for each child (Nevada Department of Education, 2022).

Diversity and Culture Embracing diversity in early childhood is critical as we value the lived experiences of children and their families. Diversity in early childhood education includes children, parents, families, and colleagues exploring and learning about their backgrounds and backgrounds of people different from themselves, challenging and destroying stereotypes, seeing themselves reflected in the classroom, enjoying and appreciating differences as well as seeking them out, learning tolerance and empathy, and discovering the many ways a problem can be solved or a question can be answered (Wardle, 2011). Diversity includes but is not limited to language, culture, race, ability, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, and so on. Difference does not mean deficit; rather, difference is an asset to be celebrated.

Young children need safe spaces to explore their thoughts as they develop their individual identities and a sense of belonging.

Furthermore, they need to see themselves reflected in the eyes of their teachers. Early childhood teachers can introduce diversity and challenge mainstream stereotypical thinking in the classroom or in the home through intentional and thoughtful inclusion of diverse materials, toys, and books. Diversity is not a curriculum or lesson plan, cannot be narrowed to entire history months, and is not temporarily adopting cultural symbols through custom or food. Modeling respect for each other, tolerance, and acceptance of different points of view helps young children to understand and promote a true anti-bias classroom. Understanding and respecting others will also help to develop a compassionate attitude.

Home Language The Standards reflect an expansive view of language where multilingual children are able to demonstrate their capabilities, knowledge, and skills in their home language and/or in English. Multilingual skill-building is an essential component of preschoolers’ learning and play.

Whether early childhood teachers are proficient in children’s home languages or not, every effort should be made to reflect children’s languages and language varieties during both instruction and play. This facilitates connections between home and school languages and also lays the foundation for cross-linguistic awareness that supports children’s multilingual development and language acquisition.

Multilingual children communicate across languages, otherwise known as translanguaging, as they access all of their linguistic resources to purposefully and authentically select features from their language identity for communication (National Council of Teachers of English, 2016). Furthermore, research suggests that teachers’ translanguaging practices in early childhood classrooms foster both academic and social development in young children. Equitable learning contexts should reflect, honor, and leverage “the linguistic diversity in the classroom as a resource for simultaneously learning English and preserving students’ language histories” (National Council of Teachers of English, 2016, p. 3). When children can demonstrate their knowledge in their home languages and/ or in English, teachers can gain a more complete sense of children’s full understanding. The Standards target specific ways to include multilingual approaches during these early years. No specific language is called out as mainstream within the standards and indicators themselves. Teachers should be aware that children may demonstrate mastery toward standards in any of their languages.

High-quality pre-kindergarten programs model acceptance and respect of a child’s home language by supporting the use of that home language in the classroom. This approach sends the message that their culture is important while exposing them to an enriched multilingual environment (López & Páez, 2021). Providing a classroom rich in language and embracing the cultures of its children and families is key to helping children develop a positive cultural identity and to their success in school and in life (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2020). Young children begin to develop a greater understanding of themselves, their families, and their communities in classrooms that foster this approach. Providing children with opportunities to learn about other cultures gives them experiences where they can learn about the similarities and differences among them.

Equity Early childhood educators understand the purpose and importance of teaching children about equity and that all children have the right to have access to learning opportunities to reach their full potential. Young children understand fairness; often, their concerns are related to everyone receiving equal parts or making sure that their peers have the same portion or object as the rest of the group. Teaching children about equity builds empathy and compassion for others. Teaching young children to embrace differences will help them withstand bias and become inclusive adults as they develop. Modeling equitable practices in the classroom helps children become less egocentric and more supportive of others. Encouraging children to be respectful and kind to their peers while supporting a community of learners requires teachers to be intentional in their approach to guidance and curricula. Teachers who establish a positive climate in the classroom and reflect and model fundamental principles of fairness and justice can accomplish the goals of anti-bias education (NAEYC, 2019).

Inclusion Inclusive practices encourage pre-kindergarten teachers to integrate, adapt, and make accommodations in their daily routines to create a quality inclusive environment, which benefits both children with disabilities and typically developing children in their classroom. Children should be given the opportunity to attend school with their peers in general education classrooms. Inclusion teaches young children about differences and acceptance of others. Early childhood programs that include children identified with special needs are considered to be an example of best practice (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2020). Research has shown that young children with disabilities and their families gain substantial benefits from participating in general education early learning and development programs, as do their peers without disabilities (Division for Early Childhood & NAEYC, 2009).

The Child Find program provides assessment and evaluations for children who may have a disability. A team of professionally certified staff will conduct a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation. The staff will review the results of the evaluation with parents and, as a team, determine if the child meets eligibility requirements for services. If eligibility is determined, an Individual Education Program (IEP) will be developed to determine the specific services the child will need. Parents engage in each step of the process, including placement. Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services are provided for all children ages 3 to 5 with disabilities. School districts are required by law to provide a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment for eligible students by their third birthday.

Teachers individualize their instruction for all young learners in their programs and incorporate adaptations into their classrooms. If a child has an IEP, teachers will consult with the parents and the ECSE teacher who is the designated Case Manager. The ECSE teacher will implement specially designed instruction to meet the child’s IEP goals and provide the accommodations, adaptations, and modifications to meet the individual needs of the child.

Federal law, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires children with disabilities be educated with children who are not disabled:

To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public and private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. (20 USC, Section 612 (a) (5))

Inclusion provides children with the access and opportunity to thrive with their peers. When children are included in programs that reflect the similarities and differences of people in the real world, they learn to appreciate diversity. Respect and understanding of others increase when children of differing abilities and cultures play and learn together.

Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards Format Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards at a Glance

Approaches to Learning

• Standard 1: Demonstrate curiosity and initiative.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate willingness to take risks and use flexibility in thinking and actions.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate the ability to focus attention and persist in an activity.

• Standard 4: Demonstrate imagination and engage in different types of play.

Social Studies

• Standard 1: Demonstrate a basic awareness of self as an individual, within the context of a group and community.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate a basic understanding of roles, rights, and responsibilities in their classroom and home.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between people and places.

• Standard 4: Demonstrate the ability to differentiate between the concepts of past, present, and future, and recognize that people and things change over time.

• Standard 5: Demonstrate an awareness of basic economic concepts.

Health, Safety, and Physical Development

• Standard 1: Demonstrate knowledge and skills that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate knowledge of personal safety practices.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate large motor skills and different types of movement.

• Standard 4: Demonstrate strength and coordination of small motor skills to use tools and complete tasks.

Language and Early Literacy

• Standard 1: Demonstrate the ability to attend to and understand communication from others.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate the ability to express themselves verbally or nonverbally.

• Standard 3: Use a variety of vocabulary words during play and other activities.

• Standard 4: Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabet and how letters are used in the reading process.

• Standard 5: Demonstrate knowledge of how print and books are read.

• Standard 6: Demonstrate knowledge gained from stories, books, and other early literacy activities.

• Standard 7: Demonstrate the use of written letters and symbols to communicate.

• Standard 8: Demonstrate knowledge of sounds within spoken language.

Science

• Standard 1: Demonstrate the ability to use senses and tools to explore, make observations, and make predictions.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate the ability to use information gathered in different ways to conduct investigations.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate the ability to describe, analyze, and draw conclusions about the outcome of an investigation.

• Standard 4: Demonstrate the ability to communicate about observations, investigations, and outcomes.

Technology

• Standard 1: Demonstrate knowledge that different types of technology tools have different uses, including digital, nondigital, and assistive technology.

• Standard 2: Use technology for communication and to gather and share information.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate safe and responsible use of technology and resources.

Creative Expression

• Standard 1: Demonstrate appreciation for and knowledge of different types of artistic expression, creation, and experiences.

• Standard 2: Choose to participate and express themselves through a variety of creative and artistic experiences.

• Standard 3: Use creative arts as part of other learning activities.

Mathematics

• Standard 1: Demonstrate knowledge of numbers, numerals, and quantity.

• Standard 2: Demonstrate the ability to analyze and create patterns and early mathematical problem-solving skills.

• Standard 3: Demonstrate the ability to measure and compare by size and volume.

• Standard 4: Analyze and compare common shapes and use knowledge of position in space.

How to Use the Standards The standards serve as the “big ideas,” and the indicators serve as the specific skills and knowledge to look for as children make progress in their learning and development. Combined, the standards and Indicators generally describe what children know and are able to do by the end of the pre-kindergarten year. The standards are not a curriculum or a checklist used to assess children’s development and learning. Children typically reach developmental milestones within a range of months, and some will exceed the Indicators by the end of the pre-kindergarten year. Use the Indicators to think about a child’s strengths and the next steps in their development—the areas where the child can use additional learning experiences and support. Consider the opportunities throughout the day for children to work toward their individual developmental needs. What activities might you plan? What materials could you add to the environment?

Key to the Standards The Nevada Pre-Kindergarten Standards are formatted to make them user friendly. Each standard within a domain appears in a horizontal bar extending across three columns. The first column includes the indicators for that standard, which are the skills, behaviors, and characteristics you would expect to see children demonstrate as they make progress on the standard. The second or middle column provides examples of observable skills that children might demonstrate related to the indicator. The third column provides suggestions for strategies that teachers, practitioners, and families might use to support children’s progress on the skills described in the indicators and toward mastery of the standard.

The domains are color-coded, and the color for each domain is included at the right-hand edge of the page for ease of navigating through the document. Science, Technology, Creative Expression, and Mathematics are in the same color family to underscore that the skills and knowledge children gain in these domains go together to support a STEAM approach. The key to the color coding is included below, followed by an example from one domain with each component labeled.

Domain Domain Color Approaches to Learning Red Social Studies Orange Health, Safety, and Physical Development Light Blue Language and Early Literacy Purple Science Dark Green Technology Green Creative Expression Light Green Mathematics Lighter Green

Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards Format

Social Studies

Social Studies Standard 1:

Demonstrate a basic awareness of self as an individual, within the context of a group and community.

Individual Development and Cultural Identity Indicators (SS.ID.)

Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

SS.ID.PK1. Identify and describe characteristics of self that are unique from others.

Repeat their full name and age.

Discuss their own likes/dislikes.

Recognize and name the language(s) they speak.

• Encourage children to describe themselves based on various characteristics (e.g., physical features, age, classroom group).*

• Use books/literature to lead discussions on differences between people, different family traditions, celebrations, and rituals, and illustrate different cultures.*

• Provide opportunities for children to discuss likes and dislikes.*

• Make multicultural dolls/books/materials available and use them during various lessons. Materials should represent differing languages, ethnicities, cultures, ages, abilities, and genders.*

• Make connections between children’s home language(s) and English with multilingual learners.*

• Use books/literature to lead discussions on families and different family structures, including cross-cultural living arrangements and shared housing.*

• Provide opportunities for children to share information about their family.*

• Invite families to talk about their cultures and traditions.

• Provide opportunities and planned activities for children to share events, routines, traditions, and rituals.

• Discuss and share their own routines and weekend plans/events with children.

• Include props or artifacts that reflect the customs of children in the group within dramatic play areas so that children can incorporate their own family’s traditions into their dramatic play.*

• Join children’s dramatic play and encourage them to talk about or act out how their family does simple routines (e.g., caring for a baby, shopping, or cleaning their house).*

SS.ID.PK2. Identify self as a member of a family.

Describe their own family structure (e.g., who is part of their family and how they are related).

Draw pictures of their family or label family members when looking at a photo, including self.

Describe their own role and the role of others in their own family.

SS.ID.PK3. Share information about their family practices, customs, and culture.

Show how their own family typically does routines (e.g., greeting each other, eating together).

Describe their own family’s holiday traditions/ celebrations and food.

Bring items from home (e.g., clothing, pictures, props) to share with their group as they explain customs from their family.

SS.ID.PK4. Identify and describe family traditions and daily rituals that are important to their family.

Describe morning, after school, and weekend routines.

Describe places their family goes together and what they do (e.g., homes of extended family members, stores, places of worship).

* This symbol indicates this practice can be used across other (or cross-curricular) domains.

Standards: What children should know and be able to do within each domain.

Indicators: What children should know and be able to do within each standard.

The asterisk symbol (*) indicates that the supportive practice is related to children’s learning and development in another domain.

Examples: The ways that children might demonstrate progress on the indicators.

Supportive Practices: The ways teachers can support children’s progress on the indicators.

Domain name and main color

Approaches to Learning

The Standards

The standards within the Approaches to Learning domain lay the foundation for early learning and development. They do not address specific content knowledge, but instead describe children’s attitudes and dispositions toward learning as they interact with the world around them. Skills included in this domain help facilitate a child’s knowledge acquisition in all other content areas. Gronlund and Rendon (2017) point out that child-directed and open-ended play have a critical role in children’s development of executive functions as preschoolers develop their approaches to learning.

Children learn by exploring the environment and interacting with their peers and significant adults in the context of play. To support children’s natural curiosity and other positive approaches to learning, they need a wide range of materials and time for exploration and play. The process of exploration rather than the end product is most important because children experience and learn new skills through play. Depending on their culture, previous experiences, individual dispositions, age or developmental level, and unique interests, children may approach new and familiar materials, activities, and tasks differently. Young children like to explore and create, and they have a natural sense of creativity, curiosity, and persistence.

The Approaches to Learning Standards encourage play and opportunities for children to express their natural curiosity. Teachers can facilitate children’s positive approaches to learning by using their knowledge of individual child interests and dispositions to inform interactions and activities, and by providing a learning-rich environment with a variety of materials for child-directed exploration.

Children gain positive approaches to learning when teachers provide opportunities and time for children to explore. Marilou Hyson’s book Enthusiastic and Engaged Learners (2008) provides more information on how children develop positive approaches to learning and important classroom strategies to support young children’s development and learning. Many of the practices that teachers use to support children in this domain also support children’s progress in other domains. These cross-curricular supportive practices are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the charts below.

The Approaches to Learning Standards include:

• Approaches to Learning Standard 1:

Demonstrate curiosity and initiative.

• Approaches to Learning Standards 2:

Demonstrate willingness to take risks and use flexibility in thinking and actions.

• Approaches to Learning Standard 3:

Demonstrate the ability to focus attention and persist in an activity.

• Approaches to Learning Standard 4:

Demonstrate imagination and engage in different types of play.

Ap pr oa ch es to

L ea rn in g

Approaches to Learning Standard 1:

Demonstrate curiosity and initiative .

Curiosity and Initiative Indicators (A .CI) Examples: Children will/may … Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.CI.PK1. Ask questions and seek new information related to a variety of topics, ideas, and activities.

Ask repetitive questions even when provided with the same response and ask “Why?” when given answers.

Explore and consider the answers others give to their questions.

Ask adults to read a book about a topic they are interested in (e.g., dinosaurs, trucks, butterflies).

• Provide honest, developmentally appropriate answers to questions and, as appropriate, encourage children to find their own answers.

• Model aloud how to think about and find answers to questions (e.g., use books, ask different experts, use the computer).

• Provide new activities and materials throughout all play areas in the classroom on a regular basis.

• Introduce unfamiliar objects and activities through books/ literature, songs, and pictures.*

• Use books and literature to lead discussions on new and familiar topics, especially interests expressed by the children in the group.*

• Use vocabulary words specifically to encourage initiative (e.g., suggest I statements, I see how you …, You decided to …, You chose …, You planned to play …).*

• Provide opportunities and activities that encourage choice and decision-making. Support discussions about choices children make.

A.CI.PK2. Seek out and explore unfamiliar objects and activities.

Observe a peer play with something they have not seen before and then ask to play with it.

Engage with new materials placed in learning centers.

Become interested with a topic and incorporate things and ideas related to the topic into activities over the course of time (e.g., become fascinated with magnets and talk about them, carry them around, and try them out with different objects across the course of a day or two).

A.CI.PK3. Initiate activities or tasks.

Ask peers to play with them.

Choose a center area to play in during free time.

Start a daily routine (e.g., clean up, washing hands) without being asked.

A.CI.PK4. Make choices and communicate their choice to adults and other children.

When asked where they would like to play, indicate their choice by looking at, pointing to, or naming the play area.

Ask a classmate for materials or toys they decide that they would like to use.

* This symbol indicates this practice can be used across other (or cross-curricular) domains.

Approaches to Learning Standard 2:

Demonstrate willingness to take risks and use flexibility in thinking and actions.

Responding to Challenges Indicators (A .RC) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.RC.PK1. Try or join in new activities and experiences, even if they are perceived as challenging.

Become interested in building, drawing, or creating an intricate structure with materials they have not used before.

Be willing to try a new experience (e.g., taste a new food, try to walk across a low balance beam the teacher set up outside).

• Develop and introduce new projects or activities based on children’s interests. Encourage children to try engaging in them.

• Set up new activities with varying degrees of difficulty for children to explore.

• Support and provide individualized accommodations so children can access the learning environment and engage with their peers.

• Model how to explore new activities, talking about how it feels to try something new and demonstrating how to start with a small way of trying the activity and progress to more actively engaging in the new activity.

• Talk through and model problem-solving activities.

• Ask children how to solve problems and discuss recommended strategies.

• Use books and literature to lead discussions in solving problems and conflict.*

• Model mistakes and allow children to help resolve the mistakes.

• Encourage children to recognize and correct their own mistakes.

• Post rules in the classroom and review them with the class periodically.*

• Discuss rules that may be different in different areas and explain why.*

• Use books/literature and social stories to encourage delayed gratification.*

• Model delayed gratification and support children’s frustrations, verbally explaining when, why, and how to wait for something they want.

A.RC.PK2. Use a variety of approaches and strategies to complete tasks and solve problems.

Use tools to get something out of reach (e.g., using tongs to grasp something off of a tall shelf, a broom handle to remove something under a shelf, or a stool to reach an object).

Try different ways to solve problems in a variety of learning centers.

Ask adults or peers for help in solving problems.

A.RC.PK3. Try different strategies to resolve conflict or other problems in working with other children.

Ask peers and adults for help solving disagreements between peers.

Accept suggestions from peers and adults when trying to solve a conflict.

Negotiate with peers to achieve their goal.

A.RC.PK4. Recognize and attempt to correct mistakes.

Ask for a new piece pf paper because their writing or drawing does not look how they wanted it to look.

Realize that an object is too large to be used the way they intend and find a smaller object to use.

A.RC.PK5. Use rules from one situation as a guide for behavior in a different situation.

Explain a rule they have at home to peers.

With guidance, take turns using materials in learning centers and then tell a peer their teacher says they need to take turns when they are playing on the playground.

oa ch es to

L ea rn in g

Approaches to Learning Standard 2:

Demonstrate willingness to take risks and use flexibility in thinking and actions.

Responding to Challenges Indicators (A .RC) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.RC.PK6. Delay gratification to complete a larger task.

Help set the tables for meals or snack before sitting down to eat.

When working on an art project, in block area, or in dramatic play, wait for a desired material rather than one that is readily available.

• Use books/literature and social stories to prepare children for transitions between activities.*

• Develop and use a picture schedule for the daily classroom routine. Plan and review the classroom/school schedule.*

• Give children advanced warning that it is almost time for a transition from one activity to another and use a consistent signal to encourage them to begin their transition to a different activity.A.RC.PK7. Manage transition between activities without getting frustrated.

Willingly help clean up play areas when it is time to go home or at mealtime.

On the playground, line up with classmates when it is time to go inside.

Approaches to Learning Standard 3:

Demonstrate the ability to focus attention and persist in an activity.

Engagement in Learning Indicators (A .EL) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.EL.PK1. Maintain focus on activities for developmentally appropriate periods of time.

Continue with chosen activities for increasingly longer periods of time or until it is complete.

Participate in brief whole-group activities.

• Provide opportunities for children to revisit and continue working with materials over time.

• Model how and encourage children to return to tasks after interruptions.

• Encourage children to express satisfaction in effort and accomplishments (e.g., make I statements “I see you working hard on building that tower” or “It took a long time to finish your sculpture”).

• Provide space throughout the classroom to display children’s work.

A.EL.PK2. Persist in tasks and re-engage in an activity after an interruption.

Continue with chosen activities even when asked to postpone engagement.

Pause work/play to talk to a peer and then go back to the activity.

Rebuild a block structure after it was knocked down.

Approaches to Learning Standard 3:

Demonstrate the ability to focus attention and persist in an activity.

Engagement in Learning Indicators (A .EL) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.EL.PK3. Express satisfaction when accomplishing a task and achieving a goal.

Draw attention to themselves verbally or through actions (e.g., smile, clap, laugh, give a “high five”) after finishing a task.

Seek out friends and teachers to show the work that they have done.

• Encourage children to continue trying instead of solving the problem for them (e.g., say things like “How can you fix that?” or “That’s a skill that takes practice”).

• Label feelings and help child learn how to manage them (e.g., say “I see that you are frustrated,” then model calming techniques and help the child use them).*

• Support children completing a difficult task together and celebrate when it is completed.A.EL.PK4. Continue with a task or activity even when it is challenging or frustrating.

For a short time, keep trying to finish a task that they are having difficulty with (e.g., building a block structure when the blocks keep falling off, carrying something heavy).

Ask peers or adults for help to complete a task they are having difficulty with.

Approaches to Learning Standard 4:

Demonstrate imagination and engage in different types of play.

Play and Imagination Indicators (A .PL) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.PL.PK1. Use imagination in social and pretend play.

Take on pretend roles when playing alone and with others.

Add details when engaged in social or pretend play.

• Provide multiple types of props in all center areas.

• Use books/literature (in all learning areas) to discuss and provide examples of using imagination.*

• Participate in pretend play with children, allow them to lead the play.*

• Encourage children to talk to and have conversations with peers while they are playing together.*

• Discuss children’s play and ask questions about the background knowledge they are using in their play.*

A.PL.PK2. Give and follow directions from peers during social play.

Negotiate roles (e.g., who each person will be) during pretend play with peers.

Talk about how something will be done during pretend play (e.g., how the play space will be set up, who will use specific props).

Wait for their turn while playing with others.

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L ea rn in g

Approaches to Learning Standard 4:

Demonstrate imagination and engage in different types of play.

Play and Imagination Indicators (A .PL) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.PL.PK3. Communicate in a variety of ways when playing with others.

Play beside peers and ask to share their toys.

Share ideas regarding the construct of play and use their imagination to enhance the game.

Use different strategies to ask peers to play (e.g., verbally, using sign language, leading them to an area, or handing them a toy).

• Allow children to move materials so they can use them in different learning centers.

• Read books about different subjects and then put objects related to the subjects in play centers (e.g., read a book about how to measure the length of objects and then put a measuring tape in the block center).*

• Discuss children’s life experiences and point out when they are actual experiences vs. something that is pretend.*

• Help children write a story based on an experience they had.*

• Discuss real and pretend using concrete examples.

• Engage in dramatic play with children. Discuss topics that come up during conversations, including fears and concerns they have.

Point out differences between reality and fantasy.

A.PL.PK4. Use what was learned in other disciplines in pretend play.

Pretend to be an author, scientist, artist, builder, etc. and use the tools and vocabulary associated with those careers.

Read or write while playing in learning centers (e.g., pretending to read a menu or write down an order while playing restaurant, looking at a map during block play).

A.PL.PK5. Act out or create a new role based on life experiences, including collaboration with peers in related roles.

Pretend to be the daddy and negotiate with peers to be other members of the family.

Play store, restaurant, office, school, etc. and take on various roles related to each scenario/ workplace.

A.PL.PK6. Use materials or objects to represent something else during play or when acting out stories.

Pretend that playground equipment are vehicles or familiar and unfamiliar places (e.g., sandbox is an archeological dig and they are digging for dinosaurs).

Use props and costumes when acting out a familiar story.

Approaches to Learning Standard 4:

Demonstrate imagination and engage in different types of play.

Play and Imagination Indicators (A .PL) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

A.PL.PK7. Differentiate between pretend and real.

Share details about an actual experience and then say, “That really happened!”

When asked about an object being used during pretend play, indicate that they are using it to pretend but it is not really that object (e.g., when using a block as a telephone to call someone, say “It’s not really a phone!”).

Talk about a favorite TV program or movie and explain that it is pretend.

So ci al S tu di es

Social Studies highlights the knowledge children gain about the people and places in their world through their experiences. Young children begin learning about social studies content as they learn about their family and their community, and also as they learn about themselves and their roles within the community. As they gain knowledge of the people, places, and roles within their community, they develop awareness of similarities and differences between people they meet, laying the foundation for their understanding of and appreciation for cultural differences within their community. Children also have the opportunity to notice how persons from different groups speak different languages, a key feature of the cultures that they learn about through their direct experiences—through their interactions with their own family, classroom, and places they go regularly.

Children begin to learn about how their communities work through classroom experiences as they learn about roles, rights, and responsibilities. For example, they learn clean-up routines and their responsibility to put away their toys. Gradually they expand their knowledge of the world and come to understand important concepts included in the Social Studies Standards. The National Council for the Social Studies (2019) position statement Early Childhood in the Social Studies Context provides an overview of how teachers can create learning experiences and classroom environments to support the integration of social studies themes into play-based learning for children. The Social Studies Standards use play-based instruction to integrate all other content areas into how children learn about the people, places, and roles that are important in their world. Many of the practices that teachers use to support children in this domain also support children’s progress in other domains. These cross-curricular supportive practices are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the charts below.

The Social Studies Standards include:

• Social Studies Standard 1:

Demonstrate a basic awareness of self as an individual, within the context of a group and community.

• Social Studies Standard 2:

Demonstrate a basic understanding of roles, rights, and responsibilities in their classroom and home.

• Social Studies Standard 3:

Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between people and places.

• Social Studies Standard 4:

Demonstrate the ability to differentiate between the concepts of past, present, and future, and recognize that people and things change over time.

• Social Studies Standard 5:

Demonstrate an awareness of basic economic concepts.

Social Studies

Social Studies Standard 1:

Demonstrate a basic awareness of self as an individual, within the context of a group and community.

Individual Development and Cultural Identity

Indicators (SS .ID) Examples: Children will/may… Supportive Practices: Teachers/Practitioners will…

SS.ID.PK1. Identify and describe characteristics of self that are unique from others.

Repeat their full name and age.

Discuss their own likes/dislikes.

Recognize and name the language(s) they speak.

• Encourage children to describe themselves based on various characteristics (e.g., physical features, age, classroom group).*

• Use books/literature to lead discussions on differences between people, different family traditions, celebrations, and rituals, and illustrate different cultures.*

• Provide opportunities for children to discuss likes and dislikes.*

• Make multicultural dolls/books/materials available and use them during various lessons. Materials should represent differing languages, ethnicities, cultures, ages, abilities, and genders.*

• Make connections between children’s home language(s) and English with multilingual…