Birth – 4 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Feelings about self and others
- Express comfort and discomfort, enjoyment and unhappiness in her environment
- Cry, smile, wiggle, gurgle and use facial expressions to let people know how she feels
- Enjoy soothing, tactile stimulation
- Show interest in familiar adults
- Fuss, cry, or coo to initiate interactions with adults
- Turn to voices of familiar adults
- Smile when seeing or hearing them
- Develop a sense of trust
- Demonstrate attachment to individuals
- Turn her head toward a familiar caregiver
- Look in the direction of your voice
- Imitate your smile
- Begin to track your movements
- Show awareness of other children
- Begin to show recognition of familiar children with facial expressions, noises or body language
- See and enjoy older children
- Calm herself
- Learn to close eyes, suck on fist, or turn head away from distractions
- Begin to follow regular patterns of eating and sleeping
- Quiet when you intervene with rocking, talking, singing or dimming lights
- Indicate when she needs rest by closing her eyes or turning away from distractions
Birth – 4 Months Language Development Indicators
Understanding and Communicating, Pre-Reading and Pre-Writing
- Listen and express herself
- React to noise
- Use sounds, body and facial expressions to express feelings
- Cry to communicate hunger or discomfort
- Copy some facial expressions
- Appear to “listen”
- Recognize and react to the sounds of language
- React to a nursery rhyme by kicking legs, smiling or sucking on a pacifier
- Repeat sounds, enjoy and experiment with making different sounds (e.g., cooing, gurgling)
- Coo in response to caregiver’s conversation with her
- Begin to build a receptive vocabulary
- Show momentary attention to board books with bright colors and simple shapes, especially faces
- React to colors and shapes by cooing or moving her hands
Birth – 4 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Discovering and Learning
- Begin to understand that she can make things happen
- Play with her hands
- Explore toys with her hands and her mouth
- Turn her head to follow objects
- Turn his head in the direction of a noise
- Repeat enjoyable or noisy actions
Birth – 4 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Movements
- Use many repetitions to move various body parts
- Bring hands together to grasp and shake toys
- Grasp and release things that she touches accidentally
- Reach for objects and swipe at dangling objects
- Raise her head, arch her body and flex her legs
- Begin to try to roll over and sometimes kick herself over
- Push up by hands or forearms when on her stomach
- Bring her hands to her mouth
- Push down on her legs when placed on a firm surface
4 – 8 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Feelings about self and others
- Express comfort and discomfort, enjoyment and unhappiness
- Show displeasure by crying or whimpering
- Show pleasure by cooing, smiling, or making other noise
- Enjoy social play
- Laugh in response to a noise or an action
- Smile at a smiling face
- Show interest in familiar adults
- Reach, smile, laugh, babble and coo to get the attention of a familiar person
- Gaze intently at the face of the familiar person talking to him
- Catch the eye of someone nearby, and smile
- Imitate sounds or noises
- Enjoy looking at photos of parents or family members
- Demonstrate attachment to individuals
- Reach out to you when approached by an unfamiliar adult
- Hold tightly to, or hide his face in your shoulder when an unfamiliar adult tries to talk to him
- Turn her head toward you
- Look in the direction of your voice
- Imitate your smile
- Begin to track your movements
- Show awareness of other children
- Make noises or wave arms and legs to get the attention of other children
- Watch the play of other children
- Laugh at other children
- Explore the face, hair and hands of another child with his hands
- Show concern about another child crying
- Calm himself
- Suck thumb, fingers, or pacifier
- Rock himself
- Coo or babble
4 – 8 Months Language Development Indicators
Understanding and Communicating
Pre-literacy
- Use various sounds and movements to communicate
- Use his voice to express feelings
- Babble using strings of consonant sounds
- Actively imitate the sounds of speech
- Stop crying when you talk to her
- Recognize and react to the sounds of language
- Make sounds when he hears sounds
- Attend to the sounds and repetitive or rhyming words
- Imitate the sounds he hears around him
- Respond to sounds and words heard often
- Begin to react to his own name
- Tell how a speaker is feeling by the tone of their voice
- Cry at loud noises or voices, and calm in response to a gentle, familiar voice
- Begin to respond to some of the vocabulary associated with picture book
- Look intently at the pictures in a book, and show a preference for some pictures
- Attend and react to colorful pictures
- Hold a book with help
4 – 8 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Discovering and Learning
- Cause things to happen
- Bang on his tray with a spoon to hear the different sounds it makes
- Hit the buttons on his busy box to make things happen
- Pull a string to bring a toy closer
- Remember what has happened recently
- Begin to understand that things exist when not physically present
- Look for an object that he has thrown from the high chair
- Put his arms up when you ask, “How big is baby?”
- Turn his face away from you when he sees you with a tissue
- Hold out his hand for you to play a game
- Show awareness of happenings in his surroundings
- Follow moving objects easily with his eyes
- Find an object that is partially hidden
- Explore everything with hands and mouth
- Try to reach objects
- Look at an object in his hand for a longer period of time
- Imitate actions
4 – 8 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Movements
- Change the position of his body
- Push up on his arms and lift head and chest, arching his back when on his stomach
- Lift both arms and legs and rock on his stomach
- Roll over from back to stomach and stomach to back
- Start to move either forward or backwards, pulling or pushing with his arm
- Get up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth
- Move from lying down to sitting position
- Use his hands in more coordinated movements
- Reach for objects with one hand
- Move objects from hand to hand
- “Rake” objects to himself with one hand
- Pick up a Cheerio with a raking grasp
- Grab feet and toes and bring them to his mouth
- Hold objects in both hands and bang them together
- Wave bye-bye or imitate hand clapping
- Try to turn the pages of a favorite board book
8 – 12 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Feelings about self and others
- Start to show more independence
- Enjoy using her fingers to feed herself
- Help to dress herself, extending an arm or leg
- Want to wash her own face after eating
- Enjoy pulling off her own socks and shoes
- Show interest in familiar adults
- Show a stronger preference for the adults who are her consistent caregivers
- Observe your reactions in a variety of situations
- Watch the same object you are watching
- Be upset if you leave, even for a short time
- Show interest in unfamiliar adults
- Show strong separation anxiety by crying when separated from parent or other familiar caregiver
- Show fear by crying or turning away in some situations
- Show interest of other children
- Imitate other people in her play
- Repeat sounds and gestures for attention
- Calm herself
- React happily to familiar routines
- Show a preference for a blanket or stuffed animal, especially at nap time and bed time
- Babble, talk, or sing to herself
- Suck her thumb
8 – 12 Months Language Development Indicators
Understanding and Communicating
Pre-reading and Pre-writing
- Show more interest in speech
- Respond to one step direction such as “Come to mommy.”
- Point to the cat in a book when you say, “Where is the cat?”
- Recognize and react to the sounds of language; begin to understand that letters make sounds (phonological awareness)
- Begin to imitate non- speech sounds
- Repeat simple sound syllables, (ba, ba, ba)
- String together different sounds
- Enjoy rhymes and nonsense words
- Start to understand and use common rules of communication
- Use simple gestures such as waving “bye”
- Use inflection when babbling
- Use exclamations, such as “oh oh”
- Say “mama” or “dada”
- Try to imitate words
- Demonstrate increasing vocabulary and comprehension by using words to express herself
- Use sounds to identify objects and people
- Smile or make noise in response to music
- Respond to a simple gesture or request
- Begin to identify familiar people
- Explore writing and drawing as a way of communicating
- Mark paper with crayons or markers
8 – 12 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Discovering and Learning
- Make expected things happen
- Drop an object from the high chair and wait for you to pick it up
- Push favorite buttons on the busy box and make a face before the dog pops out
- Pull car by a string
- Remember what has happened recently, and find hidden objects
- Understand that things continue to exist even if out of sight
- Look for an object that she has thrown
- Turn her face away from her caregiver when she sees a washcloth in her hand
- Explore a bell in a ball, turning it over
- Look for the toy she watched you hide
- Show awareness of happenings in his surroundings
- Watch closely what others are doing and try to copy it
- Look for specific toys
- Try to figure out how new toys work
- Crawl or move to reach interesting toys
- Like to make things happen, for example, pulling all of the tissues out of a box
- Look at the correct picture or object when it is named
- Point to pictures in books when you read to her
- Go to get the ball when you ask if she would like to play ball
- Go to the counter where the crackers are kept when asked if she would like one
- Point to correct body part when it is named
- Explore objects in various ways
- Explore objects by shaking, pushing, pulling, throwing and mouthing
- Put a square peg into a round space, and keep trying even when it doesn’t fit
- Repeat enjoyable activities
- Imitate gestures and use of objects
- Pretend to brush hair and teeth, drink from a cup and listen to the telephone
8 – 12 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Movements
- Change position and begin to move from place to place
- Roll from lying on her stomach to sitting up
- Balance and sit alone for long periods of time
- Move from a crawl to sitting and back again
- Crawl easily, gaining speed from month to month
- Pull up on a table and “cruise” around it
- Walk with someone holding both of her hands
- Stand alone without help for a few seconds then minutes
- Take her first few steps without help
- Go from standing to sitting easily
- Climb onto low objects, such as a couch or table
- Coordinate eyes and hands while exploring or holding objects
- Drop objects into a container and dump them out again
- Throw, roll and catch a rolling large rubber ball
- Pick up a spoon by its handle
- Use pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects, such as a Cheerio
- Start to hold the cup and drink from it
12 – 18 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Feelings about self and others
Relating to others
- Show self-awareness and likes and dislikes; begin to develop self-worth
- Claim everything he wants as “mine”
- Cry when things don’t go as he wants them to
- Try to do things, such as feeding, for himself
- Primarily play alongside, but not with others, often competing for toys
- Recognize his reflection in the mirror and say his own name
- Rely on trusted adults to feel safe trying new activities
- Venture out when a trusted adult is near
- Look to you for reassurance, for example, a word, a smile or a gesture
- Experiment with and explore new materials when you are near
- Show with words or gestures that he wants a trusted adult to be near him
- Show awareness of unfamiliar adults
- Appear worried or vulnerable when introduced to a new adult
- Cry when he sees something unfamiliar such as a man with a beard or a clown
- Cry briefly when left with a new caregiver, gradually calming with distractions and support
- Interact with other children
- Touch other children, for example, patting or pulling hair
- React when another child tries to take a toy away from him
- Offer a toy to another child, but show distress when he takes it
- Follow the lead of an older child in play
- Choose to play in the same area as another child
- Begin to express a variety of feelings
- Demonstrate reluctance or frustration when asked to eat or do something he doesn’t want or like
- Show pride in his accomplishments
- Share a toy with a friend
- Hit, kick or bite other children if he doesn’t get what he wants
- Show fear by running to you when a stranger enters the room
- Tend to say “no” before “yes”
- Gain in self-control/regulation
- Stop hitting another child when you say his name
- Come when his name is called
- Allow another child to use a favored toy
- Stop stomping his feet in a puddle when asked
- Have a hard time with transitions between activities
- Choose her own independent way of doing things
12 – 18 Months Language Development Indicators
Understanding and Communicating, Pre-reading and Pre-writing
- Understand the meaning of many words and gestures
- Understand more words than he is able to say
- Go to the climber when asked if he wants to play on the climber
- Follow a simple direction
- Recognize and react to the sounds of language; begin to understand that letters make sounds (phonological awareness)
- Enjoy and sing songs
- Move rhythmically to familiar songs
- Begin to identify familiar environmental sounds
- Point or make sounds when looking at books
- Start to understand and use common rules of speech
- Use simple gestures such as shaking his head for “no”
- Use inflection when babbling
- Use exclamations, such as “oh oh”
- Say “mama” or “dada”
- Try to imitate words
- Demonstrate increasing vocabulary and comprehension by using words and phrases to express himself
- Learn new words and phrases from books
- Listen to the story and ask for it again
- Answer questions about the story
- Identify body parts
- Communicate using consistent sounds, words, and gestures
- Try to mimic words
- Use single words
- Put two words together
- Learn new words almost daily
- Begin to put two words together into a phrase
- Get upset when adults don’t understand her
- Explore drawing, painting and writing as a way of communicating
- Scribble spontaneously
- Explore using markers, crayons, chalk to draw and write
12 – 18 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Exploring and Learning
- Use objects and toys more purposefully
- Choose a favorite book from the shelf and turn the pages more carefully
- Put round shapes into the round holes more accurately
- Roll a ball back and forth with an adult
- Show an increasing ability to remember and participate in imitative play
- Imitate the actions of an adult such as turning a steering wheel in a play car
- Recognize his image in the mirror or in a photograph
- Remember the usual sequence of events and go to get his toothbrush after getting into pajamas
- Use his senses to investigate the world around him, including solving problems
- Push and pull a car, watching the wheels
- Touch a bug that he finds outside and squeal when it moves
- Manipulate and sniff the play-dough
- Stack and knock down big blocks
- Dump and fill objects
- Say “all gone”
- Look at the correct picture or object when it is named
- Identify objects, body parts, and people
- Point to objects or pictures in books
- Match a picture of an object to the real thing
- Say the name of familiar objects
- Use objects and toys more purposefully, exploring cause and effect relationships
- Choose a favorite book from the shelf and turn the pages more carefully
- Put round shapes into the round holes more accurately
- Roll a ball back and forth with an adult
- Begin to understand rules and routines
- Look to the door when it’s time to go outside
- Show distress when faced with a surprise
- Tell when an activity is finished
12 – 18 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Movements
- Move constantly, showing increasing large muscle control
- Walk more than he crawls
- Stop and start movements with more control
- Sit in a chair independently
- Go from sitting to standing more easily
- Climb stairs on hands and knees, or by putting both feet on each step
- Crawl up into a chair and turn around to sit
- Go from a squat to standing with ease
- Pull a toy behind him as he walks, or push a toy in front of him
- Carry a large toy or several smaller ones while walking
- Begin to run with increasing skill
- Use hands in various ways
- Put together several nesting cups, or stacking rings on a ring tree
- Drop wooden beads into a bottle, dump them out and start again
- Build a tower of four or more blocks
- Scribble, if given a crayon and paper
- Start to use one hand more often than the other
- Take apart, then put together large links or pop beads
- Hold an object in one hand and do something to it with the other hand
- Hold a cup and drink, sometimes spilling
- Feed himself applesauce with a spoon
18 – 24 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Learning about self
Relating to others
- Show more awareness of herself and her abilities
- Practice climbing higher and higher on the climber
- Explore new activities and games
- Laugh or frown when happy or upset
- Want to do things herself, but can become easily frustrated
- Take more risks
- Notice differences between herself and others
- Continue to need the security of a trusted adult as she explores
- Go to where other children are, but return to you often
- Play next to several other children, but get up frequently to show the caregiver what she is making
- Look up at you for a wave while playing with toys in a new room full of children
- Continue to show caution around unfamiliar adults
- Stop playing and come to you when a new adult enters the room
- Watch an adult making cookies, but not want to help
- Say “hi” to the greeter at the store, from the safety of her shopping cart seat
- Hold your hand as a new person asks her about her toy
- Show more, but still limited self-regulation
- Cry and cling to a parent but calm down when she has left
- Take a toy from another child, and not return it when asked to by an adult
- Begin to understand “taking turns”
- Begin to understand the concept of “his” and “mine”
- Come when you call her name
- Exhibit frustration by crying, yelling, hitting, or kicking her feet
- Get a familiar comfort item (blanket, stuffed animal) when she is feeling sad or angry
- Ask for help, if needed, in verbal and non-verbal ways
- Come to you and point to where the ball has rolled under the shelf, saying “ball”
- Bring her coat with the sleeve inside out to you for help
- Know resources available in the room, and how to use some of them
- Choose to play in the same area of the room first each day
- Come to the fish tank with her hand out to put some food in the tank, like the other children are doing
- Move from one activity to another
- Show increased interest and assert independence when with other children
- Play near several other children, talking to them only when she wants a toy that they have
- Imitate a child who is pretending to be a dog
- Refuse to share a wagon with another child who wants to climb in while she pulls it
- Move from one activity to another, playing by herself
- At times, shows awareness and concern for other children’s feelings
- Take a doll from another child, but give it back when the child cries
- Hug another child who is sad because his mom just left
18 – 24 Months Language Development Indicators
Understanding and Communicating
Pre-reading and Pre-writing
- Use an increasing number of words and put words together into phrases and simple sentences
- Say “ball” as she looks in the toy box
- Put words together
- Ask about the story
- Ask for what she wants
- Repeat words
- Recognize and react to the sounds of language; begin to understand that letters make sounds (phonological awareness)
- Enjoy and sing songs
- Move rhythmically to familiar songs
- Identify familiar sounds such as animal sounds and emergency vehicles
- Start to understand and use common rules of speech
- Say common words in appropriate context
- Recognize and repeat names of objects
- Begin to use short sentences “I go.”
- Use different tones or sounds when talking
- Demonstrate vocabulary and comprehension by listening with interest and displaying understanding
- Follow directions
- Perform an action shown in a book
- Answer questions from a story
- Verbally label pictures
- Look at and name pictures
- Communicate using consistent sounds, words, and gestures
- Repeat familiar words and phrases
- Put words together in two-word sentences
- Wave “hello” and “bye-bye”
- Explore drawing, painting and writing as a way of communicating
- Scribble spontaneously
- Explore using different writing materials
- Make marks on paper
- Be able to follow simple suggestions and directions with increasing consistency
- Answer a simple question with a nod
- Get a towel when asked by her caregiver
- Point to several body parts when asked
- Go to wash her hands when you say, “Get ready for lunch”
- Begin to develop imitative reading
- Show familiarity with text by repeating songs or stories
- Fill in words in a familiar text
- Show interest in books and other written materials
- Search for a favorite page in a book
18 – 24 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Mathematical, Scientific, Social Studies Exploring and Learning
- Expect certain things to happen as a result of her actions
- Put a doll on the roof of the dollhouse and watch it slide off over and over again
- Fill a bucket with sand and watch it pour out
- Build a block tower and knock it down
- Improve memory for details
- Sing songs and say rhymes after hearing them many times
- Help her caregiver retell a favorite story after hearing it many times
- Show fear of a bee after having been stung by one
- Look for items from previous day
- Have beginning awareness of the order of her environment
- Notice when a new toy is introduced or is in the wrong place
- If asked, will tell you when she is finished eating or playing
- Seek information through observation and exploration
- Show interest in found objects, for example, twigs and leaves
- Try to figure out how things work
- Spend extra time looking at familiar objects
- Ask many questions
- Explore and solve problems
- Try new activities and materials
- Increase attention span when exploring something interesting, especially with an interested adult
- Explore new ways to do things
- Begin to understand rules and routines
- Go to her hook to hang up her coat when she comes in without a reminder
- Get down from standing on a chair when you remind her that chairs are for sitting
- Tell when an activity is finished
- Begin to explore concepts of number, size, and position
- Nest several cups together accurately
- Turn one piece of a puzzle to fit it into a space the right way
- Build a tower of 4 or more blocks and enjoy watching it fall
- Know another child has more crackers
- Begin to sort objects according to one criterion
- Sort blocks by color
- Build a tower using blocks of only one color
- Pick out and match two identical cars
- Pick out and eat only the whole animal crackers
18 – 24 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Movements
- Show increased balance and coordination in play activities
- Enjoy pulling or pushing a toy that makes noise as she walks with it
- Walk backward pulling a wagon
- Climb up the ladder on the slide and slide down
- Turn backwards and sit on the rocking chair
- Go up the stairs putting both feet on each step
- Throw a ball and put hands together to try to catch it
- May begin to use one hand more than the other
- Have increased eye-hand coordination
- String beads on a string or some fish tank tubing
- Pour water through a funnel, then a sieve and back and forth from cup to cup in the bathtub
- Use hands for simple finger plays such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
- Attempt to put together large pop beads after pulling them apart, sometimes succeeding
- Put the correct shapes through the holes in the shape sorter
- Still have some trouble with fine motions of wrists and fingers
- Be able to do more things for herself
- Pull off her own clothes at bedtime
- Drink from a cup with few spills
- Use a spoon for eating most of the time
- Attempt to brush her own hair and teeth
- Attempt to put on her own shirt and help you with her pants by picking up one leg at a time
- Attempt to help put away the toys, putting the blocks with the blocks, and the cars and trucks in another basket
24 – 30 Months Personal and Social Development Indicators
Relating to adults
Relating to other children
Learning about self
- Show increasing self-awareness
- Need additional reassurance about his attempts to try something new
- Put on his own coat, but get it upside down and refuse help to fix it
- Get on a new riding toy and refuse to get off when asked to come to breakfast
- Put together a several piece puzzle, not wanting help and then asking for it when he has trouble
- Identifies self in mirror
- Continue to need adult approval but show more independence
- Climb to the top of the climber and then call for you to watch before he slides down
- Get up from the lunch table after a few bites, following mom as she leaves the room, then return when he knows what she is doing
- Be more interested in unfamiliar adults, but still cautious
- Go to mom for a hug before accepting the ball from a new person
- Let Grandma help with his shoe, even when he hasn’t seen her for a while
- Rush to answer the door when the postal worker knocks, but act shy when he speaks to him
- Not speak to an unfamiliar adult when he is spoken to
- Share his feelings through talking and pretend play
- Say “No, I not sleepy,” when told it is time for a nap
- Have an imaginary friend with whom he talks regularly
- Act out going to the doctor with dolls
- Substitute one object for another, for example, using a block as “food” in the dramatic play area
- Use coping skills with tasks and interactions with peers and adults
- Soothe himself when stressed, perhaps with a thumb, blanket, favorite toy, or photo of a parent
- Ask for help if needed
- Display occasional outbursts of temper when frustrated with an activity or engaged in a conflict
- Withdraw from activities for a short time
- Want the same things to happen day after day
- Show increasing self-regulation
- Show more awareness of expectations
- Start to be interested in toilet training
- Cry when left with caregivers, but quickly comfort himself by playing with toys or friends
- Gain control of emotions with help of trusted adult or comfort item
- Begin to wait turn for juice or snack
- Play along side other children
- Have short periods of play with other children, but mostly play beside them
- Need adult help to resolve conflicts
- Begin to demonstrate preference for friends
- Become aware of gender differences
- Show more awareness of the feelings of another child
- Ask for help when another child takes something that belongs to him
- Help another child to pick up the beads after he dumped them out of the container
- Feel and express remorse by saying “I sorry” after accidentally knocking another child down
- Comfort another child who may be upset by patting or hugging him
24 – 30 Months Language Development Indicators
Listening and Speaking
Pre-reading and Pre-writing
- Demonstrate active listening strategies
- Listen for short periods of time
- Retell and relate what has been heard
- Begin to ask questions
- Become aware of the sounds of spoken language; understand that that letters make sounds (phonological awareness)
- Sing or say songs and rhymes
- Know that his name starts with an M sound
- Identify farm animals by their sounds
- Identify sounds such as water running
- Enter into a conversation
- Interrupt conversation
- Want to talk when the family is talking
- Ask questions about concepts he doesn’t understand
- Try to initiate conversations
- Repeat what he hears
- Use words and some common rules of speech to express his ideas and thoughts
- Sing alone or with you
- Ask about the story
- Use descriptive words
- Use three or four word sentences
- Speak clearly enough to be understood
- Enter into a conversation
- Interrupt or talk over other people’s conversations
- Ask questions about new concepts
- Try to initiate conversations
- Repeat what has just been said
- Recognize that drawings, paintings and writing are meaningful representations
- Pretend to write
- Make a picture and tell you that it is him
- Paint some lines and tell you it is a rainbow
- Understand questions and simple directions
- Get his coat, and put it on when asked by a teacher
- Answer when asked, “Do you want a cracker or a piece of cheese?”
- Ask another child to sit next to him
- Understand and use some positional words
- Begin to develop fluency by imitative reading
- Turn the pages of a favorite book
- Ask for the same favorite book over and over again
- Listen to engaging stories
- Recite a familiar poem or finger play
- Recognize that symbols have corresponding meaning
- Recognize familiar symbols (e.g., hospital, library)
- Find his favorite cereal by the picture on the box
- Use the stop sign in play with his car set
- Put toys away in correctly labeled bins
- Develop vocabulary, language usage and some conventions of speech
- Repeat words heard in the environment
- Name objects and describe actions in the books you read
- Show comprehension by demonstrating understanding of text during and after reading
- Listen to fiction and non-fiction materials
- Ask and/or answer questions about the story while you are reading
- Use writing tools for scribbles and drawings
- Hold a crayon, marker or pencil with a whole fist grasp, and scribble with little control
24 – 30 Months Cognitive Development Indicators
Exploring and Learning: Math, Science, and Social Studies Concepts
- Use imagination, memory and reasoning to plan and make things happen
- Pretend to be daddy driving to work
- Pretend to feed a doll
- Put on dress-ups and pretend to be a dad
- Tell you he is a firefighter before playing
- Improve memory for details
- Sing songs and say nursery rhymes after hearing them many times
- Help you retell a favorite story after hearing it many times
- Ask to be picked up saying “Uh-oh, doggie” when he sees the same dog that knocked him down and licked him the day before
- Have beginning understanding of consequences when following routines and recreating familiar events
- Express opinions about routine changes
- Use the toy mixer like mom uses hers
- Bring a play dough cake to you
- Help create class rules
- Accept the outcomes of his actions
- Want to make choices
- Seek information through observation, exploration and descriptive investigations
- Want to pick up and bring home things he finds on a walk
- Use senses to observe and gather information
- Use tools for investigation
- Explore new ways to do things
- Get a stool to reach something on a shelf
- Try to put on his own coat, but get frustrated when his sleeve is inside out
- Pull a toy car after first trying to push it
- Use a spoon to dig in the garden
- Show interest in quantity and number relationships
- Complain that a friend has more orange slices than he does
- Fill a balance scale with beads, making one side go down
- Fill large and small containers with sand
- Show two objects when asked
- Show interest in concepts, such as matching and sorting according to color, shape and size
- Name one color
- Compare the color of his toy car to another
- Match the colors and shapes in a puzzle
- Groups items by color
- Try to get all the big blocks for his tower
24 – 30 Months Physical Development Indicators
Coordinating Large and Small Muscle Groups
Improving Self-Help Abilities
- Use his whole body to develop spatial awareness
- Move through a simple obstacle course after teacher models actions
- Walk around in a circle holding hands with other children
- Dance to music, including songs that direct movement
- Push herself on riding toys
- Use improved eye-hand coordination to explore and manipulate objects
- Continue to use both hands together
- Put together a several piece puzzle
- Use his hands to pound, poke and build with the play dough
- Do finger plays that require eye-hand coordination, such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
- Zip a large coat zipper
- Enjoy doing for himself whatever he thinks he can do
- Hang up his coat on a hook after taking it off himself
- Feed himself with a spoon
- Drink using both hands, spilling little
- Pick up toys after playing
- Try to brush his own teeth and comb his hair
- Perform at least some skills involved in using the toilet, such as pulling up his own pants afterwards
- Wash his hands and use a towel to dry them
- Take off his clothes
- Perform more complex movements with his arms and legs
- March around the room, walk on tiptoe, and jump off the bottom of the slide
- Try to throw the ball to you
- Jump in and out of a hula hoop
- Walk on a wide balance beam sideways at first, but forward when you hold his hand
30 Months – 3 Years Personal and Social Development Indicators
Relating to adults
Relating to other children
Increasing self-awareness
- Express feelings more freely, showing independence and competence
- Protest when a friend grabs a toy away from her, but share the toy when the friend asks for it
- Get out the paper for the easel and ask for help to put it up
- Show great excitement about finding a ladybug on the playground
- Ask for a favorite song as the class waits for everyone to wash their hands
- Talk more frequently to other children
- Imitate and attempt to please familiar adults
- Repeat words she has heard adults using to tell another child to take her shoes off of the table
- Imitate courteous and non-courteous words that she has heard
- Need a consistent leave taking routine in order to feel comfortable and confident when mom leaves
- Pretend play a series of familiar activities
- Demonstrate cautious curiosity about unfamiliar adults
- Ask a new caregiver to help her play with the puzzle she has selected
- Ask the custodian what he is doing when he comes in to fix the broken sink faucet
- Show the greeter in the store her new shoes from the safety of the shopping cart
- Play cooperatively with other children
- Talk to another child as they pretend to clean the house
- Watch other children play with the ball, then join in doing the same actions
- Look for her special friend to play with at center time
- Choose to participate in simple group activities, like “London Bridge”
- Share feelings through talking and pretend play
- Say “No, I not sleepy”, when told it is time for a nap
- Have an imaginary friend with whom he talks regularly
- Say, “Mommy is coming back,” when playing with a doll
- Show increased self-regulation
- Take turns when provided with assistance from an adult
- Share one of the several dolls that she has with a friend who has none in the pretend play center
- Attend at circle time for longer periods of time
- Demonstrate positive coping strategies such as using her words or asking for help
- Have difficulty transitioning from one activity to another
- Tell you if she is sad or mad if you ask
- Play cooperatively with other children
- Talk to another child as they pretend to clean the house
- Watch other children play with the ball, then join in doing the same actions
- Look for her special friend to play with at center time
- Choose to participate in simple group activities
- Begin to understand the feelings of other children
- Continue to have a hard time sharing, but look to an adult for help
- Have a concerned look on her face when another child falls and gets hurt on the playground
- Give a hug to another child after hitting
- Attempt to problem-solve when another child takes something that belongs to her
- Help another child to pick up the blocks after he dumped them out of the container
- Feel and express remorse after accidentally knocking another child down in a rush to the door to go out
30 Months – 3 Years Language Development Indicators
Listening and Understanding
Expressing Thoughts and Ideas
Entering Into Conversations
Pre-Reading
- Demonstrate active listening skills
- Attend to someone who is speaking for a longer period of time
- Retell and understand simple verbal directions
- Ask questions about what has been heard
- Develop phonological awareness by becoming aware of the sounds of spoken language
- Sing or say simple songs or rhymes that she has heard often
- Identify farm animals by their sounds
- Identify environmental sounds such as a doorbell or fire engine
- Notice parts of words by moving to the beat
- Use more conventions of speech as she speaks
- Use “I” and “me” correctly sometimes
- Talk in a different tone when playing pretend
- Talk in short sentences
- Begin to use plurals
- Expand her vocabulary with many more connecting and describing words
- Use many words to express her feelings
- Use personal pronouns
- Describe what is happening in a book
- Tell if she is mad or sad when asked
- Have more meaningful conversations with peers and adults
- Use the same voice tone mom uses with a baby
- Repeat questions that she has heard you ask
- Talk rapidly trying to tell new information
- Ask or answer a question
- Begin to develop writing skills
- Say she is writing
- Find her name card on a table with others
- Point to the rule sign when asked what we do at circle time
- Understand and respond to simple directions and requests
- Bring a towel to an injured friend
- Take a napkin from the pile and pass it
- Follow simple directions, especially if they are part of a familiar routine
- Try to control others with direct commands
- Begin to develop fluency by imitative reading
- Correctly turn the pages of a book
- Ask for the same book repeatedly
- Listen to fluent reading
- Recite a familiar poem
- Want to hear the book with nothing left out
- Retell parts of the story from a book
- Recognize that symbols have corresponding meaning
- Recognize familiar symbols and road signs
- Find her cereal by the picture on the box
- Use the stop sign in play with the car set
- Put toys away in correctly labeled bins
- Recognize her name
- Develop vocabulary and language usage
- Point to pictures of what you are reading
- Ask/answer questions when reading a book with you
- Guess word meanings from the pictures
- Develop comprehension by demonstrating understanding of text during and after reading
- Listen to fiction and non-fiction materials
- Ask/answer questions about the story
- Tell you what will happen next in a story that has been read
- Use writing tools for scribbles and drawings
- Scribble with greater control using fist or pincer grasp
- Draw a closed circle, may add features and say it is a person
- Understand some abstract concepts, such as time, order, and positional words
- Be confident about the daily routine
- Sit next to a certain friend when asked
- Know the motions, in order, to a familiar finger play
- Ask “why” and other questions frequently to keep a conversation going
- Ask what is for snack
- Ask other children questions
30 Months – 3 Years Cognitive Development Indicators
Exploring and Learning: Math, Science, and Social Studies Concepts
- Use imagination, memory and reasoning to plan and make things happen
- Fill a bag with papers in imitation of an adult leaving for work
- Pretend to be daddy driving to work
- Line up the dolls and read a book to them
- Think ahead and explore ideas
- Identify what area of the room she wants to play in, but when asked what she wants to do say “play”
- Stack up the nesting cups from large to small accurately
- Go to the math center for something to put in the cooking pot she is stirring on the play stove
- Have beginning understanding of consequences when following routines and recreating familiar events
- Have strong feelings about any change in the routine
- Try to follow the rules of a simple board game
- Use the toy mixer the way you do it
- Seek information through observation, exploration and descriptive investigations
- Bring home things she finds on a walk
- Use senses to observe and gather information
- Use tools for investigation (e.g., magnifying glass)
- Explore new ways to do things, showing more independence in problem solving
- Put the dress over the doll’s head, but struggle with the arms
- Stack blocks with the big blocks on the bottom after they fell
- Make a mound of sand instead of just dumping
- Move a stool to reach the water fountain
- Show interest in quantity and number relationships
- Complain that a friend has more pretzels than she does
- Fill a balance scale with beads
- Enjoy pouring from one cup to another
- Ask for “more” fruit
- Try counting from 1-10
- Show interest in concepts such as matching and sorting according to a single criterion
- Name one color
- Compare the color of his toy car to another
- Easily match the colors and shapes in a matching puzzle
- Match the large spoons together
- Use mathematical thinking in daily situations
- Hold up three fingers to show how old she is
- Say that her sister has more than she does
- Match and sort objects by color, size, shape
- Take two crackers out of the snack basket
30 Months – 3 Years Physical Development Indicators
Controlling Large and Small Muscle Groups
Building Self-Help Skills
- Move her body through space with balance and control
- Run, jump up with both feet, gallop, walk on tiptoe, walk backward and sideways, crawl under an object, twirl and roll over, balance on one foot
- Walk sideways and forward on a wide balance beam
- Perform dance motions with the circle of friends
- Run across the playground, starting and stopping easily
- Play rhythm sticks in time to the music
- Easily handle a cup or fork effectively
- Initiates using the toilet on her own with increasing success
- Use smaller manipulatives and finger plays to develop small muscle strength and coordination
- Use one inch cubes and Duplo blocks to build with
- String large beads on a shoelace with a knot at the bottom
- Wind the jumping mouse with a pincer grasp on the small key
- Arrange the counting bears in a line on the table
- Use tweezers to pick up cotton balls and put them in a beaker
- Put a hand in each puppet and make it talk by moving hands inside
- Enjoy moving different fingers for the “Five Little Pumpkins” finger play
- Depend on routines to practice self-help skills and feel confident
- Feed herself even using a fork and a cup with one hand until she becomes too tired
- Help with simple chores such as setting the table with a napkin and plate for each person
- Insist on bathing herself
- Dress herself, except for finding the right hole for her first leg
- Use riding toys easily
- Pedal and steer on a low three-wheeled toy, going with the traffic around and around the circle
- Climb on the rocking horse and push her feet to make it go
- Explore art materials
- Enjoy swirling and squishing the finger paint
- Tear paper to make a collage
- Start to use tools with the play dough such as a rolling pin or a cookie cutter
- Use markers and crayons to “color” a picture sometimes going over the edge of the paper
3 Years Personal and Social Development Indicators
Feelings about Self and Others
- Be more confident, self-directed, purposeful and inventive in play
- Enthusiastically try new activities
- Wait patiently for a short time, knowing that he will get a turn
- Follow older children around and try to enter into their conversations
- Attempt to build a bridge out of the unit blocks after watching another child do it
- Ask you to watch as he walks on a wide balance beam and jumps off
- Make choices about which activities are of interest
- Play cooperatively with other children
- Imitate and try to please familiar adults
- Separate from his parents with limited anxiety
- Pick up his trash after seeing the task modeled by a caregiver
- Listen to spoken directions
- Come to you to show each new addition to his tinker toy construction
- Pretend to wash the dishes and put them away
- Use an order pad to pretend to take a “customer’s order”
- Be more comfortable around unfamiliar adults
- Show the cashier at the store his new book and say “thank you” after she rings it up and hands it back to him
- Not cry when left with a babysitter who engages him with a toy that she brought to share
- Go willingly with a neighbor family to the park even though mom is not going
- Begin to play cooperatively for brief periods with other children
- Look for a favorite friend to play with
- Offer to share the markers with another child
- Show his play dough monster to the child sitting next to him
- Decide with two other children that they will play hide-and-seek
- Need adult help to resolve a conflict over which song he and a friend will listen to in the Listening Center and agree to take turns
- Work with a friend to find the flannel board pieces to go with the story
- Relate his needs, wants and feelings to others
- Tell you what he likes and doesn’t like
- Solve a conflict using his words rather than hitting
- Tell you how he feels
- Proudly show the finger play he learned in school
- Ask for help with putting the paper on the easel
- Choose another center when his first choice is full
- Have increased self-regulation, following classroom rules and routines with guidance
- Get help from you when another child hits
- Proudly tell you that he used the toilet all by himself
- Remind another child of the rules
- Listen to a story for 5-10 minutes
- Sometimes raise his hand to ask a question
- Manage transitions between activities with a few reminders
- Use classroom materials respectfully
- Chose what he liked in the past
- Participate, with help, in the group life of the class
- Join in group games such as playing “Farmer in the Dell”
- Help to clean up after hearing the signal and being encouraged by you
- Answer the question that you are asking everyone at circle time
- Be able to better understand the feelings of other children
- Watch other children to see how they react
- Begin to use simple techniques for preventing/resolving conflicts
- Share a toy car with a child who cries because he has none
- Say he is sorry
- Agree to let a friend help him feed the fish even though it is his job
- Show concern when another child is crying
3 Years Language Development Indicators
Listening and Understanding
Expressing Thoughts and Ideas
Entering Into Conversations
Pre-Reading
- Demonstrate active listening skills
- Attend to the speaker for a longer period of time
- Retell and relate to what has been heard
- Ask questions about what has been heard
- Develop phonological awareness by becoming aware of the sounds of spoken language
- Sing or say simple songs or rhymes
- Supply rhyming words in a familiar song
- Identify farm animals by their sounds
- Identify environmental sounds
- Notice parts of words by moving or clapping
- Use more conventions of speech as he speaks
- Use some positional words such as “behind”
- Be easily understood most of the time
- Use longer sentences, plurals and pronouns
- Use ‘s’ and ‘ed’ at the end of words
- Tell a story with details
- Expand his vocabulary and language usage
- Use words to describe the function of objects
- Learn the names of objects new to him
- Use new words
- Make up a story to go with her play
- Begin to use plurals and more verbs
- Have more meaningful conversations with peers and adults
- Sing or chant nursery rhymes
- Offer information in a group discussion
- Talk with a friend about a new toy
- Talk about what he will do on the weekend
- Begin to develop writing skills by recognizing that drawings, paintings and writing are meaningful representations
- Make a picture and tell you that it is him
- Control his scribbles
- Find his name card
- Show understanding and respond to simple directions and requests
- Follow multi-step directions
- Get his coat and start putting it on
- Wet a paper towel and bring it to a hurt friend
- Take a napkin and pass them on
- Begin to ask “how” and “why” questions
- Begin to develop fluency by engaging in imitative reading
- Correctly turn pages
- Listen to fluent reading
- Recite a nursery rhyme with expression
- Ask to re-read a story, telling it as you read
- Sing along with a song
- Retell a story using some actual phrases
- Recognize that symbols have corresponding meaning
- Identify familiar signs
- Use the stop sign in play with the car set
- Put toys away in correctly labeled bins
- Find his name card
- Recognize a letter in his name on a sign
- Ask what a card says
- Sing the alphabet song, pointing to letters
- Expand his vocabulary and language usage
- Use words learned through reading
- Find the meaning of words from the context
- Make up a story about what he is playing
- Begin to use plurals and more verbs
- Develop comprehension by demonstrating understanding of text during and after reading
- Listen to fiction and non-fiction materials
- Ask/answer questions during/after the story
- Point to and name the numbers in a counting book, and count along
- Make up a story about a book
- Use writing utensils for scribbles and drawings
- Scribble with better control using pincer or correct technique
- Begin to draw representations of people and objects
- Understand abstract concepts
- Remember events
- Wait his turn to see the caterpillars
- Use directional and positional words
- Name or point to many body parts
- Tell his name
- Recognize his name in print and the first letter
- Ask “why” and other questions to keep a conversation going
- Ask many questions
- Ask about how a caterpillar hangs from the top of the jar
3 Years Cognitive Development Indicators
Using Mathematical and Scientific Thinking
Exploring Social Studies
- Use prior knowledge and imagination to think through what he wants to play
- Plan with a friend to make a play train
- Make a garage with the blocks
- Use the cubes to make a long rod
- Plan who will be the dad and son in play
- Seek information through observation, exploration and descriptive investigations with simple science tool
- Bring home things he finds on a walk
- Use her senses to observe
- Use a magnifying glass, balance scale and sorting trays
- Recall details
- Guess that a nut is inside an acorn
- Ask “why” questions
- Have beginning understanding of consequences when following routines and recreating familiar events
- Have strong feelings about any change in the routine
- Try to follow the rules of a board game and become frustrated when the rules change
- Participate in creating rules for the class
- Help to clean up
- Seek information through observation, exploration and descriptive investigations with simple science tools
- Want to bring home things he finds
- Use senses to gather information
- Use tools such as cups and sorting trays
- Remember details
- Confirm predictions
- Ask lots of “why” questions
- Use more advanced problem solving skills, testing his understanding and ideas in real situations
- Bring a tool from home to fix a toy
- Use a toy broom to get a ball under a shelf
- Get a ruler from the art center to play teacher
- Ask for glue to fix his paper airplane
- Use scientific thinking as well as his senses to discover the world around him, and make comparisons between objects
- Ask questions about everything he sees
- Check his seed cup to look for changes
- Put the clay in water to see what happens
- Tell that he likes the biggest fish best
- Show interest in quantity, measuring and number relationships
- Know when his friend has the same number of crackers as he does
- Fill a balance scale with beads
- Know the next number in a counting song
- Tell a friend that he is taller than the tower
- Show interest in concepts such as matching and sorting according to a single criterion
- Name several colors
- Compare the color of his toy car to another
- Match the colors and shapes in a puzzle
- Help to put away the utensils, matching the large spoons
- Use mathematical thinking to solve real problems
- Count out three crackers for snack
- Tell you that his cup is full and hers is empty
- Stand next to the tall tower he built to see if he is taller
- Sort objects by color, shape or size
- Show beginning interest in numerals and counting
- Show that he can count three objects
- Name numerals 1-5 in a counting book
- Count out four cookies from the snack menu
- Count the name cards for the lunch table
- Show beginning interest in geometry
- Name two shapes
- Find shapes in the environment
- Play a shape game
- Explore more complex situations and concepts, beginning to understand some people’s jobs, and care for the environment
- Say that only boys can be the daddies
- Pretend to be a firefighter
- Wait until you point to his group to sing
- Pick up trash on the playground if asked
- Begin to recognize his own physical and family characteristics and those of others
- Count how many boys are in the group
- Go to the table when the teacher says that everyone who has brown hair may go
- Draw a picture of his dad with very long legs
3 Years Physical Development Indicators
Controlling Large and Small Muscle Groups
Caring for Self and Others
- Move with confidence and stability, coordinating movements to accomplish simple tasks
- Climb the stairs on the climber with alternating feet, without holding on
- Push his feet and bend his knees to make the see saw work
- Walk forward on the wide balance beam
- Hop across to the other side when playing “Red Rover”
- Make the big wheel toy spin around fast by turning the handle bar far to one side and pedaling fast
- Go over, under, around and through on an obstacle course
- Begin to “pump” on the swings after someone has gotten him started
- Stand and hop on one foot for a few seconds
- Want you to check and respond to even minor bumps or scrapes
- Easily use riding toys, such as tricycles and big wheels
- Develop finger skills through many forms of play
- Begin to grasp with a finger grasp, but revert to a whole fist grasp at times
- Use connecting blocks to build more recognizable objects such as cars, airplanes and houses, and take them apart
- Stack the blocks or building materials to make a house after watching someone else do it
- Fill and dump several cups in the sand table using a shovel, then a smaller spoon
- Make a snowman out of play dough after watching an older child make balls and put them together
- Enjoy using a variety of art supplies, including markers, finger paints, crayons
- Practice using scissors to cut out shapes, but be unable to stay on the lines
- Move with confidence and stability, coordinating movements to accomplish simple tasks
- Climb the stairs on the climber with alternating feet, without holding on
- Push his feet and bend his knees to make the see saw work
- Walk forward on the wide balance beam
- Hop across to the other side when playing “Red Rover”
- Make the big wheel toy spin around fast by turning the handle bar far to one side and pedaling fast
- Go over, under, around and through on an obstacle course
- Begin to “pump” on the swings after someone has gotten him started
- Stand and hop on one foot for a few seconds
- Want you to check and respond to even minor bumps or scrapes
- Easily use riding toys, such as tricycles and big wheels
- Feel more grown up as he accomplishes self-help and housekeeping tasks with reminders
- Spread icing on his gingerbread man with a craft stick
- Pick up the puzzle he was working on and put it where it belongs
- Sort socks, putting together the ones that match
- Take care of his own toileting needs
- Put on his own coat, hat and mittens, but need help with gloves and getting a zipper started
- Brush his own teeth and hair
- Dress himself up to the point of tying shoes
- Wash and dry his own hands
- Develop finger skills through many forms of play
- Begin to grasp with a finger grasp, but revert to a whole fist grasp at times
- Use connecting blocks to build more recognizable objects such as cars, airplanes and houses, and take them apart
- Stack the blocks or building materials to make a house after watching someone else do it
- Fill and dump several cups in the sand table using a shovel, then a smaller spoon
- Make a snowman out of play dough after watching an older child make balls and put them together
- Enjoy using a variety of art supplies, including markers, finger paints, crayons
- Practice using scissors to cut out shapes, but be unable to stay on the lines