Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards

Getting to Know

the Iowa Early Learning

Standards

(Training Curriculum)

2012

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Training Curriculum Manual – 2013 Page 2

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Training Curriculum - 2013

First Edition, Welcome to the Iowa Early Learning Standards Tammy Bormann, Early Learning and Caring Resources - 2009

Second Edition, Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Tammy Bormann, Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children - 2013

Reviewers of the Second Edition – Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Leann Andre, Consultant – Child Care Resource and Referral

Johnna Haggerty, T.E.A.C.H. Counseling Specialist – Iowa AEYC Sally Hartley, Consultant – Northwest Area Education Agency Kimberly Villotti, Consultant – Iowa Department of Education Melissa Schnurr, Consultant – Iowa Department of Education Brian Fett-Jones, T.E.A.C.H. Counseling Specialist – Iowa AEYC Chris Evan-Schwartz, Teacher – Cedar Rapids Metro Schools

Note: The Iowa Early Learning Standards (2012) were used as narrative throughout the written training curriculum.

Revision funded by Early Childhood Iowa through funding from the Early Childhood Advisory Council grant


History of the Iowa Early Learning Standards

Early learning standards address what young children should know and be able to do across the

first five years of life. In April 2002, President Bush introduced his Good Start, Grow Smart

initiative to encourage states to develop early learning standards for three to five year old

children (Child Care Bureau, 2007). In response to the movement to develop early learning

standards, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the leading

authority on early childhood, released a statement encouraging states to use early childhood

research and theory to guide the development and implementation of early learning standards

(NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2002). Just as research is used to inform program practices, “early

learning standards have the capacity to influence the nature of early learning programs and the

content of children’s daily experiences within the programs” (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow,

2005, p.44).

In 2006, early care and education practitioners in Iowa wrote early learning standards to

address not only the learning needs of three to five year old children within our state, but the

needs of infants and toddlers. In 2010, early childhood leaders began to identify the need to

review and revise the standards, as well as to create an alignment between the standards and

the Kindergarten to 12th Grade (K-12) Iowa Core. This process was included as a priority in the

Head Start Early Childhood Advisory Council federal grant, received by Early Childhood Iowa at

the Iowa Department of Management. Early in 2012, as part of the work of the Early Childhood

Iowa Professional Development Component Group, early care and education leadership from

the Iowa Departments of Education, Human Services, Public Health, and Management, with

partners from the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children and the Iowa Head

Start Association, determined a revision process. A widely diverse group of over fifty

stakeholders was invited to be part of the revision process and became known as the IELS

Review Committee. Because of the quality of the 2006 standards, the IELS Revision Team was

charged with reviewing and revising the standards, only as needed. Additional goals included

the creation of a user-friendly document that any adult working with children and families

could use and a detailed connection to the K-12 Iowa Core in an effort to build a seamless

learning continuum from birth to 12th grade.


Defining the Iowa Early Learning Standards

The Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) address seven developmental areas of young children,

which are based on research and theory in early care and education (Early Childhood Iowa,

2012); physical well-being and motor development; approaches to learning; social and

emotional development; communication, language, and literacy; mathematics and science;

creative arts; and social studies. These content areas are briefly described below:

Physical Well-being and Motor Development – This area of development includes the

characteristics of each child’s growth, physical health, and large and small motor

abilities (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2005). Children need nutritious food to sustain

the growth, activity, and functioning of their bodies, including their brains. Eating

nutritious food daily must be accompanied by offering appropriate daily physical activity

and play time to build large motor skills such as crawling, walking, running, and climbing.

Small motor skills are related to the muscles in children’s fingers and hands, and are

developed through manipulating a variety of objects. As children practice fine motor

skills, they are building the necessary movements needed for later drawing and writing

experiences.

Approaches to Learning – Approaches to learning include children’s curiosity, initiative,

engagement, persistence, problem solving, reasoning, and choosing items to explore

during play. Children are intrinsically motivated to explore the world around them,

investigating and engaging with materials and people in their environment while

gathering knowledge in the process. Learning occurs when children can manipulate and

choose materials, often through play, and can freely use their whole bodies and all their

senses during the learning process (Lockhart, 2011).

Social and Emotional Development – Healthy social and emotional development is

necessary for learning. Social development involves children building relationships with

peers and adults. Emotional development includes the building of children’s self-

esteem and identity. It also involves helping children understand their many emotions

and those of their peers. Self-regulation is a key component of social and emotional

development. Self-regulation refers to children’s ability to respond in an organized,

effective way to events in their world and to become aware of their emotions in order

to help them understand what they need and want, and how to get it in socially

acceptable ways.


Communication, Language, and Literacy – Through interactions with caring and

nurturing adults, children acquire both listening and speaking vocabulary. The ongoing

support and development of a child’s home language serves as a foundation for learning

the English language. Early literacy skills include language development, demonstrating

an interest in and knowledge of books, understanding the role of print, and drawing or

writing skills. Literacy skills develop through conversations, shared book experiences

with caring adults, manipulating objects during play and routines, and using writing

instruments.

Mathematics and Science – Children build their mathematical and scientific skills

through manipulating a variety of materials, as caring adults label their actions and

provide descriptions of the materials. Math skills include counting, comparing, patterns,

shapes, spatial reasoning, and measurement. Science skills include observing,

describing, and predicting the world around us, as well as investigating and problem

solving.

Creative Arts – Creative arts include music, pretend play, and art experiences. Through

repeated exposure to art materials, children gain control of their fine motor skills and

begin to intentionally plan and direct their use of materials (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1987).

Simple, rhythmic songs with repeated phrases and rhymes help children learn language

and sound patterns (Carlton, 2000). Moving to music helps children develop large

muscle control and dexterity. Pretend play is a term to describe play that involves

pretending or the use of materials to represent something real.

Social Studies – Social studies include developing children’s awareness of belonging to a

family and community. This socialization process begins with the family and continues

as children move in and out of social groups. Social studies also include building a

child’s awareness of culture and diversity. Children acquire cultural knowledge as they

develop language, learn concepts, and experience being cared for by their parents,

family members, teachers, caregivers, and other people around them (Office of Head

Start, 2008).

The Iowa Early Learning Standards were written for use by all adults who love, care for, work

with, or educate young children. The IELS are based on the values and beliefs held in Iowa

where communities work together to achieve positive results for children and families. The

standards serve as a framework for making informed decisions that shape how we care for and

educate our youngest citizens.


The Iowa Early Learning Standards were designed to be used for the following tasks (Early

Childhood Iowa, 2012):

inform adults, including families, about what they can expect young children to know

and do;

assist families, professionals, and community leaders in providing high quality early care

and education, family support, and health experiences for all children;

guide curricular and assessment decisions by practitioners in all public and private early

care and education settings; and

inform policy development that enhances our infrastructure and professional

development systems.

The Iowa Early Learning Standards are not intended to do the following (Early Childhood Iowa,

2012):

be used as a checklist or assessment tool to evaluate children;

label, sort, or diagnose children;

exclude children from infant/toddler programs, preschools, kindergarten, or any early

care and education program for which they are otherwise eligible;

identify programs based on children’s high achievement;

serve as the sole criterion for program funding; or

evaluate teachers or caregivers.

Early learning standards assist adults in understanding what children should know and be able

to do prior to entering kindergarten. The IELS emphasize developmentally appropriate content

and child outcomes. They should be implemented with instruction and assessment strategies

that are ethical and appropriate for young children. For full implementation, the standards

must be supported with strong financial resources for early care and education programs,

practitioners, and families from legislators, community leaders, and policy makers (NAEYC,

2002).


Purpose of Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Training Curriculum

In the paper, Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Recommendations for States

(Zero to Three Policy Center, 2008), forming professional development options for early care

and education practitioners was recommended to build an understanding of early learning

standards and how they can be implemented in early care and education settings. Professional

development allows adults to build their understanding of young children and the skills and

materials necessary to provide quality programs (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network,

2001).

In 2009, a training series titled, Welcome to the Iowa Early Learning Standards, was written by

Tammy Bormann, an ECE Consultant and Instructor in Central Iowa, and owner of Early

Learning and Caring Resources. This training series was written for child care providers and

preschool teachers in an effort to build their knowledge and understanding of the 2006

standards. In 2012, Tammy facilitated the review of the Iowa Early Learning Standards in her

role at Iowa AEYC as the ECI Professional Development Coordinator. In 2013, she updated the

training series to reflect the new content added in the 2012 update of the standards, and to

also adjust the content of the training to provide a professional development opportunity for

any adult who touches the lives of children and families. The series has been renamed, Getting

to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards. Both series were supported through funds from

Early Childhood Iowa and the Iowa Department of Management.

Design of Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards Training Curriculum

The narrative of the Iowa Early Learning Standards was used throughout the script of the

training modules. Topics in each module are capitalized and underlined and the total minutes

for the topic are included in the heading. Activities are titled and in bold print and include the

amount of time needed to complete the activity. Times are tentative and activities may take

less or more time depending on the participants’ needs. A list of materials is provided at the

beginning of each module and are also listed within the script. It is recommended that the

script be followed to ensure consistency across the state as the training is provided. However,

it is important to adjust discussions and activities to meet the needs of the participants. You

will find blank pages within the handout sections as you print the curriculum. This is to allow

handouts or articles to be placed on the same page and for the evaluation to be its own page.


Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards includes six, 2.5 hour training modules to

get early care and education practitioners familiar with the standards. Module topics with a

brief description are as follows:

1. Introduction to the Iowa Early Learning Standards – this module includes activities to get

familiar with the IELS and information included within the introductory content of the

standards;

2. Principles of Child Development – this module builds understanding of the 12 principles

of child development determined by the National Association for the Education of

Young Children (NAEYC) and adopted by the IELS Revision Committee, it also includes

getting familiar with the seven content areas and standards within;

3. Understanding Early Learning Theory – this modules focuses on early learning theories

that guided the 12 principles of child development and content within the IELS, which

includes building a basic understanding of developmentally appropriate practice as

defined by the NAEYC;

4. Approaching Learning through Play – this module builds an understanding of children’s

approaches to learning specifically focused on how children learn through play using

curiosity, engagement, and problem solving;

5. The Role of Relationships and Routines in Children’s Development – this module focuses

on the importance of relationships in supporting children’s learning and how the IELS

are evident within everyday routines; and

6. A Seamless Continuum from Birth – 12th Grade – this module builds understanding

around school readiness, activities that build children’s skills and knowledge, and how

the IELS align with the Iowa Core and expectations of children as they enter school.

Your Role as Adult Educator

As an Adult Educator, also known as a Trainer or Instructor, your role is to educate early care

and education, health, mental health, and family support practitioners on the Iowa Early

Learning Standards and how to reflect the standards within their work with children and

families. It is critical for you to be knowledgeable of the Iowa Early Learning Standards,

developmentally appropriate practice as determined by the National Association for the

Education of Young Children, the script of the training, and the skills and equipment necessary

to support the growth and development of children as outlined in the IELS.


For the success of the series, it is important for you to read the script of the training modules

and the Iowa Early Learning Standards to build your knowledge, which will guide your

instruction and interactions with participants. You will be responsible for printing off a copy of

the training curriculum, Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards. It is located on the

Early Childhood Iowa website;

www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html. The standards

are also located at this website. To teach the modules, you will need to gather the materials

necessary for the presentation of the modules. If you are working with a training organization,

they might be willing to assist you in gathering the materials needed to teach the modules. The

materials needed are defined in each training module.

The Role of Training Organizations

In most scenarios, Adult Educators will contract with an approved training organization to teach

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards. It will be important for frequent

communication between an Adult Educator and a training organization to follow the

procedures for offering and evaluating the training. It is highly recommended that training

organizations hire Adult Educators that have experience in this role and have become familiar

with the script for the training. Additional recommendations are as follows:

1. Participants should be between 15-30 people for activities to be implemented

successfully;

2. A participant manual should be created using the handouts included within the training

modules;

3. Multiple copies of the Iowa Early Learning Standards should be printed and provided to

each participant. The standards can be found at

www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html;

4. Consider purchasing or assisting with the materials needed by Adult Educators to

present each module; and

5. Provide an evaluation tool for each module or use the example provided within the last

module.

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards will be posted on the DHS training registry

by the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children. Approved training organizations

can request to sponsor the training and will then be responsible for tracking attendance and

providing certificates.

http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html



Terminology

Listed below are descriptions of various terminologies used throughout the Iowa Early Learning

Standards (IELS) and the training curriculum.

Adult Educator – Adult Educator refers to those who educate and instruct other adults in knowledge and practices for professional development; other titles include trainer, instructor, presenter, and speaker.

Adult Supports – These are written within each standard of the IELS and are examples

of adult behaviors that can be used to support a standard; adults include anyone who

loves, cares for, works with, or educates young children.

Approaches to Learning – This is one of the seven content areas in the 2012 Iowa Early

Learning Standards; infant/toddler area 2 and preschool area 9. Approaches to learning

include children’s curiosity, initiative, engagement, persistence, problem solving,

reasoning, and choosing items to explore during play.

Area – In the 2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards, there are seven developmental or

content areas: physical well-being and motor development; approaches to learning;

social and emotional development; communication, language, and literacy;

mathematics and science; creative arts; and social studies. Content areas 1 through 7

include the infant/toddler standards and content areas 8 through 14 include the

preschool standards.

Benchmarks – These include clear, specific descriptions of knowledge or skill that can be

recognized through observations, descriptions, and documentations of children’s

behaviors (Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium, 2003). Benchmarks are

written within each standard of the IELS to show milestones in the development of

children’s skills.

Communication, Language, and Literacy – This is one of the seven content areas in the

IELS; area 4 for infant/toddler and area 11 for preschool. This includes listening and

speaking vocabulary. Early literacy skills include language development, demonstrating

an interest in and knowledge of books, understanding the role of print, and drawing or

writing skills. Literacy skills develop through conversations, shared book experiences

with caring adults, manipulating objects during play and routines, and using writing

instruments.

Creative Arts – This is one of the seven content areas in the IELS; content area 6 for

infant/toddler and content area 11 for preschool. Creative arts include music, pretend

play, and art experiences. Pretend play is a term to describe play that involves



Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) – Developmentally appropriate practice

describes an approach in early childhood that guides teachers in making daily decisions

about their teaching practices and program settings, based on their knowledge of child

development and what is known about how young children learn (Bredekamp & Copple,

2009).

Early Care and Education – This term describes programs offered for children who are

birth to eight years of age. It includes early learning, family support, special needs,

health, and mental health settings.

Early Care and Education Practitioners – Early care and education practitioners include

adults working directly and indirectly with children from birth to eight years of age.

These roles include child care providers, teachers, administrators, family support,

health, and mental health practitioners.

Early Childhood – Early childhood includes the time period from birth to age eight

(Bredekamp & Copple, 2009).

Early Childhood Iowa – Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) is an alliance of stakeholders that

includes all professionals in early care and education, health, mental health and family

support roles serving children birth through age five in Iowa. The initiative’s purpose is

to be a catalyst for the continued development of a comprehensive, integrated early

care, health, and education system. Recognizing the critical importance of the early

years, ECI seeks to work at both the state and local levels to improve the efficiency and

effectiveness of services provided to young children and their families.

Early Learning Standards (ELS) – These are statements that describe expectations for

the learning and development of young children across the areas of physical, cognitive

(also known as approaches to learning), social, emotional, and language development

(Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium, 2003).

Infant/Toddler – This describes the time period from birth to three years of age. Infants

include children from birth to approximately 18 months of age. Toddlers include

children from approximately 18 months of age to 36 months.

Iowa Core - The Iowa Core describes academic expectations for all Iowa’s Kindergarten

through 12th grade students. The 2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards include an

alignment with the Iowa Core.

Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) – The IELS describe what children, ages birth to

five, should know and be able to do prior to entering kindergarten (Early Childhood

Iowa, 2012).


Math and Science – This is one of the seven content areas in the IELS; content area 5 for

infant/toddler and content area 12 for preschool. Math skills include counting,

comparing, patterns, shapes, spatial reasoning, and measurement. Science skills include

observing, describing, and predicting the world around us, as well as investigating and

problem solving.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – This is the world’s

largest organization dedicated to early childhood. The organization was founded in

1926 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009) and has defined developmentally appropriate

practices from research and theory in early childhood.

Physical Well-being and Motor Development – This is one of the seven content areas in

the IELS; content area 1 for infant/toddler and content area 8 for preschool. This

includes the characteristics of each child’s growth, physical health, and large and small

motor abilities (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2005). Large motor abilities include skills

that involve the big muscles of the body, such as crawling, walking, running, jumping,

throwing, catching, balancing, and climbing. Small motor skills are related to the

muscles in children’s fingers and hands.

Preschool – This describes the time period of childhood from three to five years of age.

Preschool is only focused on this age of child and does not mean the child is enrolled in

a preschool.

Professional Development – Professional development includes facilitated teaching and

learning experiences that are designed to support the acquisition of knowledge, skills,

and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge into practice (National

Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008).

Rationale – The rationale is written information within each of the Iowa Early Learning

Standards and details the research supporting each standard.

Social and Emotional Development – This is one of the seven content areas in the IELS;

content area 3 for infant/toddler and content area 10 for preschool. Social development

involves children building relationships with peers and adults. Emotional development

includes the building of children’s self-esteem and identity. It also involves helping

children understand their many emotions those of their peers. Self-regulation is a key

component of social and emotional development. Self-regulation refers to children’s

ability to respond in an organized, effective way to events in their world and to become

aware of their emotions in order to help them understand what they need and want,

and how to get it in socially acceptable ways.


Social Studies – This is one of the seven content areas in the IELS; content area 7 for

infant/toddler and content area 14 for preschool. Social studies include developing

children’s awareness of belonging to a family and community. Social studies also

include building a child’s awareness of culture and diversity (Office of Head Start, 2008).

Standards – A standard includes criteria set for a certain task. It differs from a

recommendation or a guideline in that it requires compliance. An agency, program, or

professional that does not meet a standard may receive disciplinary action either within

or outside the program. A standard is the highest criteria for practice set by an

association or agency (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013,

http://www.healthychildcare.org/StandardsRegulations.html).

Young Children – According to the National Association for the Education of Young

Children (NAEYC), the ages of young children span the human life from birth to age eight

(Bredekamp & Copple, 2009). Within the IELS, young children are birth to five years of

age (Early Childhood Iowa, 2012).

Internet Resources

Any of the resources listed within the upcoming reference section would be valuable for Adult

Educators to build their knowledge of the information presented within Getting to Know the

Iowa Early Learning Standards. Below are some suggested internet resources that would be

valuable for referring to participants in the training.

Early Childhood Iowa

www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/ - This provides information on the work of Early

Childhood Iowa.

Empowering Preschool Quality

www.uni.edu/coe/regentsctr/epq/index.php - This website was created to provide

resources for early care and education practitioners and Adult Educators providing

professional development for them. Video clips are included that reflect the Iowa Early

Learning Standards in action.

Iowa Early Learning Standards

www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html -

You can print copies of the Iowa Early Learning Standards and the training curriculum

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards from this site.

http://www.healthychildcare.org/StandardsRegulations.html

http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood

http://www.uni.edu/coe/regentsctr/epq/index.php



National Association for the Education of Young Children

www.naeyc.org – This website contains many useful printed materials, including the

organization’s position statement on developmentally appropriate practice and

information on the 12 principles of child development.

Zero to Three

www.zerotothree.org – This website is a valuable resource for developmentally

appropriate practices with infants and toddlers. It also provides resources for families.

References Used Within the Introduction

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in

early childhood programs (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the

Education of Young Children.

Carlton, E. (2000). Learning through music: The support of brain research. Child Care

Information Exchange, 5, 53-56.

Child Care Bureau. (2007). A guide to good start, grow smart in child care.

Washington, DC: Author.

Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium. (2003). The words we use: A

glossary of terms for early childhood education standards and assessment.

Retrieved February 20, 2008, from http://www.ccsso.org/ECEAglossary.

Early Childhood Iowa. (2012). Iowa early learning standards. Des Moines, IA:

Author.

Lockhart, S. (2011). Active learning for infants and toddlers. ReSource, Spring 2011, 5-10.

Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. (1987). Creative and mental growth (8th ed.). New York, NY:

Macmillan.

National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], & National

Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education

[NAECS/SDE]. (2002). Early learning standards: Creating the conditions for

success. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.naeyc.org.

http://www.naeyc.org/

http://www.zerotothree.org/

http://www.ccsso.org/ECEAglossary


National Professional Development Center on Inclusion. (2008). What do we mean by

professional development in the early childhood field? Chapel Hill: The University of

North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, Author.

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2001). A new guide for evaluating child

care quality. Zero to Three, 21, 40-47.

Office of Head Start. (2008). Revisiting and updating the multicultural principles for Head Start

programs serving children ages birth to five: Addressing culture and home language in

Head Start programs systems & services. Retrieved from

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-

linguistic/Dual%20Language%20Learners/ecd/culture_and_diversity/manage_pub_0060

2a1_092305.html.

Scott-Little, C., Kagan, S. L., & Frelow, V. S. (2005). Inside the content: The breadth

and depth of early learning standards. Greensboro, NC: The Regional

Educational Laboratory at SERVE.

Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of

early childhood. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Zero to Three Policy Center. (2008). Early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers:

Recommendations for states. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from

http://www.zerotothree.org.

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-linguistic/Dual%20Language%20Learners/ecd/culture_and_diversity/manage_pub_00602a1_092305.html





Materials Needed

This includes a list of materials which are needed by Adult Educators to teach Getting to Know

the Iowa Early Learning Standards training curriculum. All modules need the following items:

Flip chart paper or dry erase board and appropriate markers

Pens or pencils

Markers and/or crayons

Chart paper

Extra paper for note taking

Easel stand, if necessary

Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape

Iowa Early Learning Standards for each participant or one for each table

Participant Manual containing handouts for series or copies of handouts for participants at each module

Certificates from training organization

It might be useful for Adult Educators to gather materials for participants, such as pens, pencils, highlighters, and post-it notes into five to six pencil boxes. These can then be placed at each table during the training modules. Additional materials are listed in the chart on the next page.

Thank you for your commitment to Iowa’s children and the adults

who love, care for, work with, and educate them!


Additional Materials for Each Module Module Required Materials Optional Materials

Module 1 *Yarn

*Examples of standards such as national accreditation standards, DHS regulations, national health and safety standards, and standards for the Family Support Program Credential

Module 2 *Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009)

*Developmentally

Appropriate Practice:

Curriculum and Development

in Early Education, 3rd

Ed.,

Carol Gestwicki, 2007.

*Copy of IELS alignment with

Teaching Strategies GOLD

Objectives for Development

and Learning

Module 3 *Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009) *DVD accompanying Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009) *Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky by Carol Garhart Mooney *Envelopes *Handouts 3.1 and 3.2 cut apart and placed into envelopes

Module 4 *Collections of materials such as bottle caps, plastic lids, small wooden blocks, clean yogurt containers, pine cones, seashells, bristle blocks, rocks, feathers, or Lincoln logs

Module 5 Additional materials not needed

Module 6 *Paper shapes – 8x10 plain or construction paper, large square for house, small squares for windows, brown rectangles for door, triangle for roof *Glue *Book - Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle *Math and science related materials such as pine cones, counting bears, seashells, stacking rings, shape sorters, small bucket of sand, small wooden blocks, and small plastic animals



Module 1 Script – Introduction to the Iowa Early Learning Standards


Module 1 Introduction to the Iowa Early Learning Standards

Building Instructor Knowledge:

Once mysterious, dismissed, or ignored, today we know much more about how young

children’s bodies, brains, and relationships grow and develop. From the moment of birth until a

child enters kindergarten, there are approximately 2000 days. Research shows these 2000 days

involve the most extraordinary and critical period of growth and development in a child’s

lifetime.

Early learning standards, also referred to as guidelines or expectations, are descriptions of the

knowledge, behaviors, and skills that children from birth through age five may demonstrate

during the first 2000 days of life. These skills defined in the Iowa Early Learning Standards lead

to success as children enter school and later become productive adult citizens in our

communities.

The Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) are based on the values and beliefs held in Iowa where

communities work together to achieve positive results for children and families. The IELS serve

as a framework for making informed decisions that shape how we care for and educate our

youngest citizens. The Iowa Early Learning Standards are designed to be used for the following

tasks:

inform adults, including families, about what they can expect young children to know

and be able to do;

assist families, professionals, and community leaders in providing high quality early care,

health, and education experiences for all children;

guide curricular and assessment decisions by practitioners in all public and private early

care and education settings; and

inform policy development that enhances our infrastructure and professional

development systems.

The IELS address seven developmental areas: physical well-being and motor development;

approaches to learning; social and emotional development; communication, language, and

literacy; mathematics and science; creative arts; and social studies (Early Childhood Iowa,

2012). When adults know what young children should be learning, they can create

environments and provide experiences that support and nurture optimum physical, social,

emotional, language, and cognitive development.


Early childhood leadership in Iowa has long recognized the need for developmentally

appropriate learning standards for children, birth to age five, in our state. During 2005 and

2006, in response to federal requirements under Good Start, Grow Smart Early Childhood

Initiative and the Federal Child Care Development Fund, the Iowa Departments of Education

and Human Services jointly established a process and identified stakeholders to serve as the

Iowa Early Learning Standards Writing Committee. The standards were developed through

several months of work and formally adopted in 2006.

In 2010, early childhood leaders began to identify the need to review and revise the 2006

standards, as well as create an alignment between the standards and the Kindergarten to 12th

Grade (K-12) Iowa Core. The review process was included as a priority in the Head Start Early

Childhood Advisory Council federal grant, received by Early Childhood Iowa at the Iowa

Department of Management. Early in 2012, as part of the work of the Early Childhood Iowa

Professional Development Component Group, early childhood leadership from the Iowa

Departments of Education, Human Services, Public Health, and Management, with partners

from the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children and the Iowa Head Start

Association, developed a revision process. A widely diverse group of over fifty stakeholders was

invited to be part of the review and revision writing team, known as the IELS Review

Committee. This team met throughout 2012 in both large and small groups to produce a

revised version of the standards. Within the revision process of 2012, the following goals were

determined and guided the review process:

honor the quality work completed in 2006 by the original writing committee through

making revisions only as needed;

design a user-friendly document for anyone working with and caring for young children;

provide alignment across the K-12 Iowa Core, Head Start Child Development and Early

Learning Framework, Teaching Strategies® GOLD Objectives for Development and

Learning, and other applicable documents used within the state;

use the IELS to impact policies and procedures at the department level;

design professional development opportunities that are aligned with the standards;

define what children should know and be able to do, using current research;

impact the four ovals of Iowa’s professional development framework - early learning,

family support, health/mental health/nutrition, and special needs/early intervention;

design an implementation plan to share the revised standards; and

build a seamless continuum with the Iowa Core to provide standards from Birth-12th

grade.


The Iowa Early Learning Standards were formally adopted by Early Childhood Iowa in January

2013. It is intended that the revised IELS will support legislators, community leaders, and early

care and education, health, mental health, and family support practitioners in the development

of an integrated and well-financed infrastructure that provides all young children with high-

quality early care and education experiences. This will, in turn, support Early Childhood Iowa’s

vision that “Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful”.

Learning Objectives:

As a result of attending this training module, participants will be able to do the following:

1. Describe the content and organization of Iowa Early Learning Standards, and

2. Summarize the essential considerations included within the Iowa Early Learning

Standards.

Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper

Extra paper for note taking, etc.


Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape

Iowa Early Learning Standards (one for each participant or one for each table group);

participants may be interested in bringing a laptop to access the standards on the ECI

website: www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html

Participant manual or handouts for module

Optional - examples of standards such as national accreditation standards from NAEYC

and NAFCC, DHS regulations, national health and safety standards, and standards for the

Family Support Program Credential

Certificates

Yarn



References Used in Module 1: American Academy of Pediatrics. (2013). Standards, recommendations, guidelines, and

expectation. Retrived from http://www.healthychildcare.org/StandardsRegulations.html.

American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP]. (2011). Policy statement: Media use by children

younger than 2 years. Pediatrics 128(5), 1040-1045. Charlesworth, R., & Lind, K. K. (1999). Math and science for young children (3rd ed.).

New York, NY: ITP.

Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assemby Resolution 50/155 of 21. (1995, December). Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm#art44.

De Schipper, J. C., Taevecchio, L. W., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2008). Children's attachment

relationships with day care caregivers: Associations with positive caregiving and the child's temperament. Social Development, 17(3), 454-470.

Early Childhood Iowa. (2012). Iowa early learning standards. Des Moines, IA:

Author.

Eckerman, C., & Peterman, K. (2004). Peers and infant social/communication development. In G. Bremner, & A. Fogel (Eds.). Blackwell handbook of infant development (pp. 326-350). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Elkind, D., Clemens, S. G., Lewis, R., Brown, S., Almon, J., & Miller, E. (2009, October). The

Wisdom of Play: How Children Learn to Make Sense of the World. Retrieved from http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/RoomPlanning/WisdomOfPlay.pdf#search=The%20Wisdom%20of%20Play.

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and

maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191. Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young

American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes. High, P. C. (2008). School readiness. Pediatrics, 121(4), e1008-e1015. Howes, C., & Smith, E. (1995). Relations among child care quality, teacher behavior,

children’s play activities, emotional security, and cognitive activity in child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 10, 381-404.



Hyson, M. (n.d.). Research Connections. Retrieved from http://www.researchconnections.org/files/childcare/pdf/PlayandApproachestoLearning MarilouHyson-1.pdf.

Iowa Department of Education. (2006). Iowa early learning standards. Des Moines, IA: Author.

Labbo, L. D. (2009). 'Let's do the computer story again, Nana': A case study of how a 2 year old

and his grandmother shared thinking spaces during multiple readings of an electronic story." In Multimedia and Literacy Development: Improving Achievement for Young Learners, eds. A.G. Bus & S.B. Neuman. (pp. 196-210). New York: Routledge.

Labbo, L. D. (1996). Computers real and make believe: Providing opportunities for literacy

development in an early childhood sociodramatic play center. Instructional Resource No. 26.

Lifter, K., Foster-Sanda, S., Arzamarski, C., Briesch, J., & McClure, E. (2011). Overview of play: Its

uses and importance in early intervention/early childhood special education. Infants and Young Children, 24(3), 225-245.



Macmillan.

National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC]. (2003). Position statement:

Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf.

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). NAEYC Standards for Early

Childhood Professional Preparation Programs. Retrieved from

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ProfPrepStandards09.pdf.

National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC] & Fred Rogers Center for

Early Learning and Children’s Media. (2012). Position statement: Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/PS_technology_WEB.pdf.

http://www.researchconnections.org/files/childcare/pdf/PlayandApproachestoLearning-

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/PS_technology_WEB.pdf







2a1_092305.html.

Roskos, K., Burstein, K., You, B. K, Brueck, J., & O'Brien, C. (2011). A formative study of an e-book instructional model in early literacy." Creative Education, 2(1), 10-17.




Shore, R., Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. 2004. Child Outcome Standards in Pre-K Programs:

What Are Standards; What Is Needed To Make Them Work? Retrieved from http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/5.pdf.

Thompson, R. A. (1998). Early sociopersonality development. In W. Damon, & N. Eisenberg (Eds.). Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3: Social emotional, and personality development (pp. 25-104). New York, NY: Wiley.

Turbill, J. (2001). A researcher goes to school: Using technology in the kindergarten literacy

curriculum. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 1(3), 255-279. Vacca, J. J. (2001). Promoting positive infant-caregiver attachment: The role of the early

interventionist and recommendations for parent training. Infants & Young Children, 13(4), 1-10.

Web Finance, Inc. (2013). Business Dictionary. Retrieved from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-performance-standard.html. Zero to Three Policy Center. (2008). Early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers:

Recommendations for states. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org.




http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/5.pdf

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-performance-standard.html



MATERIALS NEEDED

LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND SCRIPT

Yarn Chart paper Markers

WELCOME/INTRODUCTIONS (40 MINUTES TOTAL) Welcome to Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards! My name is

____________ and I am looking forward to being your Instructor for this series.

- Provide personal background information and credentials

- Provide housekeeping info: location of bathrooms, cell phones turned

off or to vibrate, class start and end time, and dates of class

Activity – Icebreaker (15 minutes)

To get us started, I’d like all of us to stand in a circle. We are going to toss

a ball of yarn to each other within our circle. When you receive the yarn,

I’d like you to tell your name and the type of program you work in such as

child care center, family child care, preschool, home visitation,

counseling, nutrition, etc. After you’ve shared, toss the yarn to another

person.

- Do this until everyone has shared the type of program they work in.

The yarn should have created a web.

- If you have a large group, you can form two groups; each with their

own yarn.

The early learning standards were defined with all of our programs in mind,

making connections for adults on what children birth to five years of age

should know and be able to do. The yarn clearly shows these connections.

Through understanding and using the Iowa Early Learning Standards in our

programs, we ensure children will experience quality early care and education

experiences that provide a foundation for future success as a student and

citizen.

Activity – Assessing Knowledge of Participants (15 minutes)

There are four pieces of chart paper posted around the room; Chart 1 – I

have a general awareness of the Iowa Early Learning Standards; Chart 2 –

I use the IELS within my work frequently; Chart 3 – I use the IELS within

my work occasionally; and Chart 4 – I am not familiar with the Iowa Early

Learning Standards.

- Prepare and post the chart paper prior to the start of class.


Markers

Go stand by the chart paper that best describes your knowledge of the

Iowa Early Learning Standards. There is no wrong or right answer. This

activity is to help build my understanding of the knowledge that each of

you are bringing to this training series.

- Let participants move to charts and then give the following directions.

With the others standing with you, on the chart paper list the knowledge

that you hope to gain from attending this series.

- Allow participants 5 minutes to prepare what they wish to learn.

- Let participants share their thoughts; 10 minutes.

This training series was designed for any adult who loves, cares for, works with,

or educates young children. It will build your understanding of the Iowa Early

Learning Standards, also known as the I-E-L-S, and how you can reflect them in

your work with children and families. For the success of the series, it is

important that we respect each other’s thoughts and my right as the instructor

to keep our activities and discussions on task.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF STANDARDS (15 MINTUES TOTAL)

In your materials (or at your tables, if the training organization did not provide

a copy for each participant), you have a copy of the Iowa Early Learning

Standards. At each seat there was a pile of handouts. Please purchase a binder

to keep the handouts from the series. Bring this binder and the standards with

you to each session. There will be opportunities for reflection and homework

assigned at the end of each module. It is important to complete the homework

not only to further your understanding of the standards but to also assist you

in the opening activities of each session where the homework will be

discussed.

We will get to know each other better as we move through the series. I’m

looking forward to our time together. Your knowledge and experiences will be

beneficial to our discussions together, but please participate at a level that is

comfortable for you.


It might be helpful to bring copies of some of the standards that guide early childhood programming; these are mentioned in the possible answers to the right Handout 1.1

Activity – Sources of Standards (5 minutes)

Before we look at the Iowa Early Learning Standards, let’s determine

sources of standards that you use to guide your work with children.

What are some of the standards that you use to guide your work with

children and families?

- Seek possible answers from the large group. Answers might include

the following: DHS regulations, Council for Professional Recognition-CDA,

National Association for the Education of Young Children for center

based care, National Association for Family Child Care for home based

care, national health and safety Standards, or standards for the Family

Support Program Credential.

Several organizations provide standards, which guide our early care and

education programs. Standards are a necessary component for

designing quality, developmentally appropriate early care and education

settings. Please find Handout 1.1 which describes four types of

standards.

- Share the below information from the handout.

1. Early Learning Standards - Early learning standards, also referred to

as guidelines or expectations, are descriptions of the knowledge,

behaviors, and skills that children from birth through age five should

demonstrate. These skills lead to success as students enter school

and later become productive adult citizens in our communities (Iowa

Early Learning Standards, 2012).

2. Program Standards - Program standards include the resources,

learning experiences, and instructional strategies that programs offer

to help children learn. These include classroom standards which

identify classroom characteristics such as the maximum number of

children, the ratio of adults to children, and the materials available

for play and learning. Program standards also include teaching and

curriculum standards which identify learning experiences for children

(Shore, Bodrova, & Leong, 2004).


2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards Handout 1.2

3. Performance Standards

Performance standards describe what is expected from an employee.

These standards form the basis of a performance review (Web

Finance, Inc., 2013,

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-performance-

standard.html).

4. Professional Preparation Standards

The National Association for the Education of Young Children

believes that all early care and education professionals should have

knowledge of child development and learning across the birth

through age 8 range as well as an understanding of developmentally

appropriate curriculum and assessment approaches. The

professional preparation standards are used within college and

university early care and education programs (NAEYC Standards for

Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs, 2009,


ProfPrepStandards09.pdf).

Standards are necessary to define our roles and develop our understanding of

children. The Iowa Early Learning Standards serve as a framework for making

informed decisions that shape how we care for and educate Iowa’s youngest

citizens.

EXPLORING THE IOWA EARLY LEARNING STANDARDS (45 MINUTES TOTAL)

The IELS were written to guide expectations, program planning, curriculum

planning, and the implementation of experiences within early care and

education programs (Iowa Department of Education, 2006). The IELS can be

used by all adults who touch the lives of children, including families, to build an

understanding of child development and what adults can do to support the

development of children’s skills and knowledge. Our next activity will help you

to become familiar with the IELS.

Activity – Exploring Iowa’s Early Learning Standards (30 minutes)

For this activity, you will need a copy of the Iowa Early Learning

Standards. You will also need Handout 1.2. This activity is a scavenger

hunt. Work with your tablemates to find the answers to the questions

on Handout 1.2.





- Have participants work with their tablemates for 10-15 minutes. Walk

around to observe work.

- When the majority of participants have completed the worksheet.

Read each question and rotate among the tables for responses. Add the

additional information detailed in the script below.

1. In what year were the Iowa Early Learning Standards first

developed? When were they revised? (page 7)

During 2005 and 2006, in response to federal requirements under the Good

Start, Grow Smart Early Childhood Initiative and the Federal Child Care

Development Fund, the Iowa Departments of Education and Human Services

jointly established a process and identified stakeholders to serve as the Iowa

Early Learning Standards Writing Committee. The standards were developed

through several months of work and formally adopted in 2006. In 2010, early

childhood leaders began to identify the need to review and revise the

standards, as well as to create an alignment between the IELS and the

Kindergarten to 12th Grade (K-12) Iowa Core. Early in 2012, as part of the work

of the Early Childhood Iowa Professional Development Component Group,

early childhood leadership from the Iowa Departments of Education, Human

Services, Public Health, and Management, with partners from the Iowa

Association for the Education of Young Children and the Iowa Head Start

Association, developed a revision process which included inviting a widely

diverse group of over fifty stakeholders to be a part of the review and revision

writing team. This team met throughout 2012 in both large and small groups to

produce a revised version of the standards. The standards were then formally

adopted and endorsed by Early Childhood Iowa in January 2013.

2. What age covers the infant standards? Toddler standards?

Preschool standards? (page 10)

The Iowa Early Learning Standards are divided into two age groups,

infant/toddler and preschool. Infants and toddlers cover the time period from

birth until three years of age. Infants include children from 0-18 months and

toddlers 18-36 months. Preschool covers the ages of three through five years.

Preschool does not necessarily mean that the child is enrolled in a preschool

program; this is just the age description.


3. What is the significance of 2000 days? (page 5)

From the moment of birth until a child enters kindergarten, there are

approximately 2000 days. Research shows these 2000 days involve the most

extraordinary and critical period of growth and development in a child’s

lifetime. A child’s brain is wired for growth and learning within the womb. The

developing brain is dependent on experience and sensory input. Every

experience - whether it’s a newborn holding an adult’s finger, an older infant

learning to walk or a preschooler seeing a bus for the first time – excites the

brain. These experiences create neural circuits. When an experience is

repeated over and over these circuits grow strong. Imagine a pathway in the

woods, that pathway is there because someone or something walked it over

and over and over again. The same is true for circuits in the brain. When

experiences are repeated circuits grow and children gain knowledge and

abilities. As young children interact with people, objects, and events in the first

2000 days, they develop the skills, understandings, and character traits that

will impact their later learning.

4. What are the five main sections in the IELS as listed in the table of

contents? (pages ii & iii)

There are five sections in the IELS that are identified by Roman numerals. Let’s

look briefly at each section.

1. Section one starts on page 5 and includes the introductory pieces to

the standards. It shares the history, definition, and layout of the Iowa

Early Learning Standards.

2. In Section two of the IELS document starting on page 12, you can find

information on several essential considerations within early care,

health, and education. The considerations include the following and our

next activity will focus on these essential considerations:

The Importance of Children’s Health and Well-Being

The Role of Caring Adults and Communities

The Importance of Embracing Diversity

The Importance of Play in Learning

The Role of Technology and Interactive Media

The Role of Assessment

Understanding School Readiness


Handout 1.3

3. Section three starts on page 28 and contains the standards for infants

and toddlers. Content areas 1 to 7 are detailed in this section.

4. Section four starts on page 84 and contains the standards for

preschool-aged children. The preschool standards cover content areas

8 to 14. We will study the content areas in the next training session.

5. In Section five of this document starting on page 150, you will find the

alignment of the Iowa Early Learning Standards and the Iowa Core for

English Language Arts and Mathematics. The Iowa Core describes

academic expectations for all Iowa's Kindergarten to 12th grade

students. The alignment demonstrates that multiple content areas and

benchmarks of the IELS serve as precursory learning for achieving the

skills expected at the end of kindergarten.

5. What are the seven content areas of the IELS? (page 8) Each content area reflects universal aspects of growth and development for

young children. The areas of development are inter-connected and encompass

the development of the whole child. The seven content areas of the 2012 IELS

are as follows:

1. physical well-being and motor development;

2. approaches to learning;

3. social and emotional development;

4. communication, language, and literacy;

5. mathematics and science;

6. creative arts; and

7. social studies.

Handout 1.3 provides brief descriptions of each content area and you can

follow along as I highlight these seven content areas.

Physical well-being and motor development – This includes the

characteristics of each child’s growth, physical health, and large and

small motor abilities (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2005). It includes

content area 1 for infants and toddlers and content area 8 for

preschool.


Large motor development includes the skills that involve the big

muscles of the body such as crawling, walking, running, jumping, and

catching objects. Small motor development includes skills related to

the muscles in children’s fingers and hands such as picking up and

manipulating objects.

Approaches to learning – Approaches to learning, also known as

cognitive or intellectual development include children’s curiosity,

initiative, engagement, persistence, problem solving, reasoning, and

choosing items to explore during play. It includes content area 2 for

infants and toddlers and content area 9 for preschool. Children are

intrinsically motivated to explore the world around them making play a

key approach to learning for young children.

Social and emotional development – This includes content area 3 for

infants and toddlers and content area 10 for preschool. Social

development involves children building relationships with peers and

adults. Emotional development includes the building of children’s self-

esteem and identity. It also involves helping children understand their

many emotions and those of their peers. Self-regulation is a key

component of social and emotional development. Self-regulation refers

to children’s ability to become aware of their emotions in order to help

them understand what they need and want and how to get it in socially

acceptable ways.

Communication, language, and literacy – Early literacy skills include

vocabulary development, interest in and an understanding of books,

and using drawing or writing instruments. It includes content area 4 for

infants and toddlers and content area 11 for preschool. The ongoing

support and development of a child’s home language serves as a

foundation for learning the English language. Language develops

through interactions with adults and children. Writing skills are

developed through manipulating and exploring a variety of materials

during play and routine experiences.


Handout 1.4

Mathematics and science – This includes content area 5 for infants and

toddlers and content area 12 for preschool. Math skills include

counting, comparing, patterns, shapes, spatial reasoning, and

measurement. Science skills include observing, describing, and

predicting the world around us, as well as investigating and problem

solving. Children build their mathematical and scientific skills through

manipulating a variety of materials as adults label their actions and

provide descriptions of the materials.

Creative arts – Creative arts include music, pretend play, and art

experiences. Pretend play is a term to describe play that involves


Through repeated exposure to art materials, children gain control of

their fine motor skills. Simple, rhythmic songs with repeated phrases

and rhymes help children learn language and sound patterns (Carlton,

2000). Moving to music helps children develop large muscle control

and dexterity. Creative arts include content areas 6 for infants and

toddlers and content area 13 for preschool.

Social Studies – Social studies includes content areas 7 for infants and

toddlers and content area 14 for preschool. Social studies include

developing children’s awareness of belonging to a family and

community. Membership in a family contributes to a child’s identity,

which sets the stage for his/her confidence in interacting with others.

Social studies also include building children’s awareness of culture and

diversity. Children acquire cultural knowledge as they develop

language, learn concepts, and experience being cared for by their

parents, family members, teachers, caregivers, and other people around

them (Office of Head Start, 2008).

6. What are the components of each content area? (page 10) The components of each content area include the standard, rationale, benchmarks, examples of benchmarks, adult supports, and references. These components are outlined on Handout 1.4. Each of these components is numbered with an arrow on the handout.


1. Standard = The standard describes the knowledge and behaviors that every child should demonstrate.

2. Rationale = The rationale provides a description of each standard and the research that supports it.

3. Benchmarks = Benchmarks define the skills and behaviors that children

develop to demonstrate the standard; communication, language, and

literacy includes additional benchmarks for English language learners.

4. Examples = The examples describe how children might practice or demonstrate the benchmarks.

5. Adult supports = Adult supports provide a list of recommendations for

practice that can be used to contribute to the care, learning, and

development of infants, toddlers, and preschool age children using

developmentally appropriate strategies. All the recommended adult

supports should incorporate English and each child’s home language.

6. References = The references detail the resources and research used within the rational for each standard.

7. What is guiding principle #1? #7? #10? (page 9)

The 2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards Review and Writing Committee

unanimously agreed to use the National Association for the Education of Young

Children (NAEYC) Principles of Child Development and Learning as guiding

principles for the review process. The guiding principles included in the 2009

position statement of developmentally appropriate practice are grounded in

research theory and literature. Although each principle stands alone in

describing what we know to be true about how young children learn and grow,

they are stronger when combined.

Guiding principle #1 - All the domains of development and learning—

physical, social and emotional, and cognitive—are important, and they are

closely interrelated. Children’s development and learning in one domain

influence and are influenced by what takes place in the other domains. The

content areas of the IELS reflect the domains of children’s development. For

young children, many times an experience impacts several areas of

development at the same time. This refers to children being holistic learners,

which means they do not take in information subject by subject but learning

physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and language lessons all at the same

time.


Guiding principle #7 - Children develop best when they have secure,

consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive

relationships with peers. Through nurturing and consistent relationships

children are able to develop a sense of trust in others to keep them safe and

cared for, develop the confidence and abilities to follow their own interests as

they learn and explore, build a sense of identity, and establish the structure of

their brains (Zero to Three, 2008). After developing close, affectionate

relationships with primary caregivers such as family members, children can

also develop close, affectionate relationships with other familiar, sensitive, and

responsive adults who are nurturing and supportive to them (De Schipper,

Taevecchio, & Van IJzendoorn, 2008; Sroufe, Fox, & Pancake, 1983). These

bonds, referred to as attachment, form the basis for developing reciprocal

social relationships with adults and with peers (Thompson, 1998). Research

suggests that secure attachments to adult caregivers are related to optimal

social and cognitive growth (Howes & Smith, 1995). Attachment helps

children regulate their emotions, learn to interact with objects and people in

their environment, and become aware of themselves as people (Thompson,

1998; Vacca, 2001).

Guiding Principle #10 - Play is an important vehicle for developing self-

regulation as well as for promoting language, cognition, and social

competence. Play is fundamental and essential for infants, toddlers, and

preschool age children to develop healthy and active brains, bodies, and

relationships (Ginsburg, 2007). Through play, children learn about themselves

and the world and engage in positive social interactions with peers and

nurturing adults. Given time, space, supportive adults, open-ended materials,

and safe, yet challenging environments, children develop confidence in

themselves, competencies to master their environment, deep-seated

connectedness to and caring about others, the ability to create environments

of love, safety, and security, and resilience (Ginsburg, 2007).


7 pieces of chart paper; each labeled with an essential consideration from pages 12 – 24

8. What is the Iowa Core? (page 11 and 150)

The Iowa Core describes academic expectations for all Iowa’s Kindergarten

through 12th grade students. The 2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards include

an alignment with the Iowa Core which starts on page 150 of the standards.

The alignment links the age appropriate expectations of infants, toddlers, and

preschoolers to knowledge that children should master by the end of

kindergarten. Furthermore, the alignment provides an illustration of how

learning at the earliest ages cumulatively builds to support academic and social

success for children as they enter the Kindergarten to 12th grade system.

Understanding the skills children will be working toward in kindergarten

provides guidance to early care and education, family support, mental health,

and health practitioners as well as families, and knowing what young children

have learned prior to school provides insight to kindergarten educators. In all,

the alignment of the IELS and the Iowa Core establishes a seamless continuum

for a birth to grade twelve educational system for all of Iowa’s learners.

ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS (45 MINUTES TOTAL)

As the IELS Revision Committee reviewed the 2006 document and discussed

the state of early care and education in 2012, there were several topics of

background information that needed to be defined in the standards. This

background information became seven essential considerations that must

be addressed when supporting the development of children. These

considerations focus on overall health and well-being, relationships, diversity,

play, technology, assessment, and school readiness.

Activity – Essential Considerations (40 minutes)

For this activity, we will have seven groups - one group for each essential

consideration.

The Importance of Children’s Health and Well-Being

The Role of Caring Adults and Communities



The Role of Technology and Interactive Media




Markers

Please go stand by the topic that is of most interest to you and take a

marker with you.

- Have the topic of each essential consideration posted around the

room on pieces of chart paper. If after each person chooses a topic and a

group is too big, ask people to choose another topic that has a smaller

number of people.

I would like you to read the essential consideration given to you and

write down a key statement that describes the consideration assigned to

you. These essential considerations are on pages 12-24. Write your

statement on the piece of chart paper and below it write ideas for how

you can help families understand these essential considerations.

- Walk around to observe as groups work; 10-15 minutes.

- As they near completion of their work, announce to the groups to pick

a spokesperson to stand by their chart and the remainder of the group

can sit down.

- Allow each group to share; 25 minutes. Use the comments listed

below to provide additional information.

The Importance of Children’s Health and Well-Being - Children learn

best when they are free from hunger. Balanced nutrition, adequate

sleep, and physical activity help children grow and set the stage for

healthy habits and life-long learning. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers

must have their basic needs met in order to be ready to learn. Like all

areas of a child’s development, health and well-being must be

considered within the context of each individual child. Early care and

education, health, mental health, and family support providers must be

aware of a child’s health in order to individualize and promote their

overall development and well-being. Daily care and learning experiences

in healthy and safe environments must foster the development of each

child and should be flexible to capture the interests of the children as

well as the individual abilities of the children.


The Importance of Caring Adults and Communities - Young children

develop knowledge and skills as they interact with familiar, consistent,

and caring adults. Nurturing and responsive adults play a critical role in

establishing the foundation for healthy growth and development. They

help children develop a sense of security and trust, which are necessary

for children to be ready to learn. Families are children’s primary

caregivers and first teachers, and should be valued as partners in early

care and education, health, mental health and family support programs.

Creating partnerships with families is essential for ensuring that children

are provided the best learning experiences within and outside the home.

As you become familiar with the standards, you will become familiar with

the examples of adult supports that guide children’s development

through timely, responsive, and appropriate interactions. These

examples were intentionally generalized so that they could be used

across roles and settings that touch the lives of children.

The Importance of Embracing Diversity - Diversity refers to the

characteristics that make an individual unique. It includes differences

such as age, culture, disabilities, education, family mobility (transient,

military, migrant), family structure (same sex couples, single, adoptive,

grandparents), gender, languages, race/ethnicity, region, religion,

socioeconomic status/class, and talented and gifted skills. Iowa is

becoming more diverse, and children are leading the way. Over the last

two decades, almost all of Iowa’s growth in population has been due to

the growth of the diversity of its residents. Culturally and linguistically

responsive adults can intentionally recognize, embrace, and celebrate

diversity to promote success for all children by respecting,

understanding, and showing empathy for the diverse cultural traditions

and values of the children and families they serve. Caring adults can

address the diversity of children by acquiring cultural knowledge about

families to inform program practices, including learning key words and

phrases from a child’s home language. Embracing diversity also includes

respecting developmental differences through accommodating children

with varying abilities and their families.


The Iowa Early Learning Standards are designed to identify standards and

benchmarks with adult supports for all children. Young children with

special physical, social, emotional, health, and/or communication needs

may require additional individualized supports, adaptations, and

accommodations by adults to fully access early care and education

programs. When a child’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as well as

their physical and learning needs, are reflected in programs, learning is

more meaningful and effective. This is the heart of individualized care.

The Importance of Play in Learning - Play is so important for optimal

child development that it is included as a right of every child in the

United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (Convention on the

Rights of the Child. General Assemby Resolution 50/155 of 21, 1995).

Research documents and continues to explore and support the intrinsic

value and positive benefits of play as a positive approach to learning for

young children (Hyson, n.d.; Lifter, Foster-Sanda, Arzamarski, Briesch, &

McClure, 2011). The most recent position statement on Developmentally

Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children Birth

through 8 (NAEYC, 2009) describes the foundational and long-term

benefits of play that include the development of self-regulation skills as

well as language, cognitive, and social competence. Through play,

children develop competencies and character traits that support learning

and emotional well-being (Elkind, Clemens, Lewis, Brown, Almon, &

Miller, 2009; Ginsburg, 2007). The Iowa Early Learning Standards

emphasize the importance of play in learning by integrating play into

every content area of development using examples of both indoor and

outdoor play to illustrate how caring adults can support children’s

natural inclinations, motivations, joy, and learning. We will learn more

about play in Module 4.

The Role of Technology and Interactive Media - Children can learn about

technology when provided opportunities to explore and experience

media in age appropriate ways (Labbo, 1996; Roskos, Burstein, You,

Brueck, & O'Brien, 2011). However, it is essential that during exploration

adults are present to supervise, interact with children, and scaffold

learning (Labbo, 2009; Turbill, 2001).


The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Association

for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) discourage all screen media

for children under 2 years of age and recommend only one to two hours

per day for children older than 2 years (AAP, 2011; NAEYC & Fred Rogers

Center for Early Learning and Children's Media, 2012). A position

statement on technology was created by the National Association for the

Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early

Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College to help anyone

working with young children make informed decisions about the

appropriate use of technology.

The Role of Assessment - Assessment should be a key component of all

programs serving children and families. The Iowa Early Learning

Standards are not intended to be used directly as an assessment tool, but

can be used as a guide for selecting assessments that include the areas of

development with comparable benchmarks. Examples of current

assessments available to assess children’s mastery or partial mastery of

many of the skills, understandings, and attitudes identified in the Iowa

Early Learning Standards include Teaching Strategies® GOLD Objectives

for Development and Learning, HighScope® Child Observation Record, or

the Ounce Scale™. Assessments should be developmentally

appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, tied to children’s

daily activities, supported by professional development, and inclusive of

families. The determination of what to assess should be based on the

Iowa Early Learning Standards and what all children should know and be

able to do prior to entering kindergarten.

Understanding School Readiness - School readiness includes the

readiness of the individual child, school’s readiness for children, and the

ability of the family and community to support optimal early childhood

development (High, 2008). School readiness is ensured by the efforts of

family members, teachers or child care providers, community members,

and policy makers. School readiness cannot be determined by looking at

a child alone nor should school readiness be measured only by

knowledge of math and literature.


Gathering pertinent information with respect to readiness includes a

comprehensive, developmentally, and educationally important set of

goals, rather than a narrow set of skills (NAEYC, 2003). To have rewarding

and successful daily experiences, as well as to prepare for successful,

responsible experiences both in school and in a democratic society, every

child needs the following:

Safe, nurturing, and healthy home environments;

access to high quality early care and education experiences;

health care, nutrition, and social-emotional nurturance; and

caring adults in their lives who have the skills, understanding, and

resources to foster development.

The Essential Considerations not only describe key concepts that must be

considered in early care and education programming and support systems but

also include examples of strategies that can be used to help families in

supporting their children’s development. Take time to read the Essential

Considerations thoroughly and consider how they impact your role with

children.

CLOSING COMMENTS (5 MINUTES TOTAL)

The Iowa Early Learning Standards describe what children, birth to five years of

age, should know and be able to do. The standards are for everyone who

loves, cares for, works with or educates young children. The standards can be

used as a resource to build understanding of child development, support and

enhance children’s learning and development, and inform those who make

decisions about programming and services for children and families. When

adults know what young children should be learning, they can create

environments and provide experiences that support and nurture optimum

physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive development. The Iowa

Early Learning Standards serve as a touch-point for developing and providing a

variety of daily experiences in safe, nurturing, and stimulating environments

that give each child the opportunity to succeed.


Handout 1.5 Certificates

Homework

Choose one Essential Consideration and create a handout for families

that will build understanding of the key concepts within that

consideration and ways they can support their child’s development

based on the information. Bring your handout to class next time. Our

opening activity will focus on the handouts created. In addition, if time

allows, take time to read each of the Essential Considerations described

on pages 12-24.

At the end of each module, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the

knowledge gained during the training. This reflection will help you identify

how you will implement the information, support that you might need, and any

questions to ask me or other resources. I would encourage you to place this

handout somewhere in your program that will allow you to remember the

information gained and how you planned to use it. When you are finished with

your reflection at the end of each module, you can come to me to receive your

certificate.

Tonight’s reflection is on Handout 1.5. I look forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you for your participation.

- Answer any questions that arise during the reflection process either with

the participant individually or at the next session. Be sure to have

participants also complete any evaluations required by the training

organization.

- Hand out certificates.



Module 1 Participant Handouts – Introduction to the Iowa Early Learning Standards



Handout 1.1

Types of Standards in Early Care and Education Settings

A STANDARD includes criteria set for a certain task. It differs from a recommendation or a guideline in that it requires compliance. An agency, program, or professional that does not meet a standard may receive disciplinary action either within or outside the program. A standard is the highest criteria for practice set by an association or agency (American Academy of Pediatrics, http://www.healthychildcare.org/StandardsRegulations.html, retrieved August 2013).

1. Early Learning Standards

Early learning standards, also referred to as guidelines or expectations, are descriptions of the knowledge, behaviors, and skills that children from birth through age five should demonstrate. These skills lead to success as students enter school and later become productive adult citizens in our communities (Early Childhood Iowa, 2012).

2. Program Standards

Program standards include the resources, learning experiences, and instructional strategies that programs offer to help children learn. These include classroom standards which identify classroom characteristics such as the maximum number of children, the ratio of adults to children, and the materials available for play and learning. Program standards also include teaching and curriculum standards which identify learning experiences for children (Shore, Bodrova, & Leong, 2004).

3. Performance Standards Performance standards describe what is expected from an employee. These standards form the basis of a performance review (Web Finance, Inc., http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-performance-standard.html, retrieved August 2013).

4. Professional Preparation Standards The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) believes that all early care and education professionals should have knowledge of child development and learning across the birth through age 8 range as well as developmentally appropriate curriculum and assessment approaches. In addition, practitioners should have in-depth knowledge and skills in their role that supports children in infant/toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and early primary grade programs (NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs, http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ProfPrepStandards09.pdf, retrieved August 2013).



http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ProfPrepStandards09.pdf


Scavenger Hunt through the Iowa Early Learning Standards (2012) Handout 1.2

1. In what year were the Iowa Early Learning Standards first developed? When were they revised? (page 7)

2. What age covers the infant standards? Toddler standards? Preschool standards? (page 10)

3. What is the significance of 2000 days? (page 5) 4. What are the five main sections in the IELS as listed in the table of contents? (pages ii & iii) 5. What are the seven content areas of the IELS? (page 8)

6. What are the components of each content area? (page 10)

7. What is guiding principle #1? #7? #10? (page 9)

8. What is the Iowa Core? (page 11 & 150)


Handout 1.3

Seven Content Areas – Iowa Early Learning Standards (2012)

1. Physical well-being and motor development (IELS content areas 1 & 8) – This includes the

characteristics of each child’s growth, physical health, and large and small motor abilities (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2005). Children need nutritious food to sustain the growth, activity, and functioning of their bodies, including their brains. Eating nutritious food daily must be accompanied by offering appropriate daily physical activity and play. Adults should provide opportunities for children to be physically active from birth. Large motor skills include crawling, walking, running, jumping, and climbing. Small motor skills are related to the muscles in children’s fingers and hands and are developed through manipulating and playing with a variety of age appropriate objects. As children practice fine motor skills, they are building the necessary movements needed for drawing and writing experiences.

2. Approaches to learning (IELS content areas 2 & 9) – Approaches to learning include children’s curiosity, initiative, engagement, persistence, problem solving, reasoning, and choosing items to explore during play. Children are intrinsically motivated to explore the world around them, investigating and engaging with materials and people in their environment and gathering knowledge in the process. Learning occurs when children can manipulate and choose materials and can freely use their whole bodies and all their senses (Lockhart, 2011). Adults help young children develop reasoning and problem solving skills by making problem solving opportunities available as children explore a variety of materials, by encouraging children to experiment with solutions, by not intervening too quickly to solve problems for children, and by helping children notice the results of their experiments. Through play, children build understanding and skills in cognitive, communication, motor, social, and emotional development.

3. Social and emotional development (IELS content areas 3 & 10) – Healthy social and emotional development is necessary for learning. Social development involves children building relationships with peers and adults. Adults help children develop peer relationships by providing supervised opportunities for children to interact in an environment with adequate space and materials (Eckerman & Peterman, 2004). Children need opportunities to become attached to consistent, responsive, and sensitive adults. Research suggests that secure attachments to adult caregivers are related to optimal social and cognitive growth (Howes & Smith, 1995). Emotional development includes the building of children’s self-esteem and identity. It also involves helping children understand their emotions and those of their peers. Self-regulation is a key component of social and emotional development. Self-regulation refers to children’s ability to become aware of their emotions in order to help them understand what they need and want, and how to get it in socially acceptable ways.


4. Communication, language, and literacy (IELS content areas 4 & 11) – Through interactions with caring and nurturing adults, children acquire both listening and speaking vocabulary. The ongoing support and development of a child’s home language serves as a foundation for learning English. Literacy skills include vocabulary development, showing an interest in and understanding of books, and using drawing or writing materials. Literacy skills are developed through conversations with adults and peers, shared book experiences with caring adults, manipulating a variety of age appropriate materials, and experiences with writing materials. When adults talk with children during play and daily routines, children build vocabulary that will assist them when they begin to recognize letters and start reading (Hart & Risley, 1999). Children develop skills in using writing instruments as they manipulate and explore a variety of materials during play and routine experiences.

5. Mathematics and science (IELS content areas 5 & 12) – Math and science are everywhere. Children build their mathematical and scientific skills through manipulating a variety of materials as caring adults label their actions and provide descriptions of the materials. Math skills include counting, comparing, patterns, shapes, spatial reasoning, and measurement. Science skills include observing, describing, and predicting the world around us, as well as investigating and problem solving. Science is an active process and includes earth, physical, and life science. Children need time to think about problems, permission to experiment and make mistakes, and encouragement to try a variety of strategies within play and learning to develop math and science skills (Charlesworth & Lind, 1999).

6. Creative arts (IELS content areas 6 & 13) – Creative arts include music, pretend play, and art

experiences. Pretend play is a term to describe play that involves pretending or the use of materials to represent something real. Through the arts, children can learn to communicate ideas, make choices, practice motor skills, and explore physical properties of materials. It is important to support the creative process in young children, opposed to focusing on an end product. Through repeated exposure to art materials, children gain control of their fine motor skills and begin to intentionally plan and direct their use of materials (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1987). Simple, rhythmic songs with repeated phrases and rhymes help children learn language and sound patterns (Carlton, 2000). Moving to music helps children develop large muscle control and dexterity. Pretend play helps children learn to communicate, control and compromise, assume different roles, and use their understandings to act out a variety of emotions and social relationships.

7. Social studies (IELS content areas 7 & 14) – Social studies include developing children’s

awareness of belonging to a family and community. In order to function as a member of a family or community, children must learn to communicate, participate, and interact with other members of a group. This socialization process begins with the family and continues as children move in and out of social groups. Membership in a family contributes to a child’s identity, which sets the stage for his/her confidence in interacting with others. Social studies also include building a child’s awareness of culture and diversity. Every individual is rooted in culture and culture influences every aspect of human development. Children acquire cultural knowledge as they develop language, learn concepts, and experience being cared for by their parents, family members, teachers, caregivers, and other people around them (Office of Head Start, 2008).


Handout 1.4

IELS Components of Each Content Area

1. Standard = describes the expectations of what a child should demonstrate

2. Rationale = highlights a description of each standard and the research that supports it

3. Benchmarks = defines the skills and behaviors that children develop to

demonstrate the standard; communication, language, and literacy includes

additional benchmarks for English language learners

4. Examples = describe how children might practice or demonstrate the

benchmarks

5. Adult supports = provide a list of recommendations for practice that can be

used to contribute to the care, learning, and development of infants,

toddlers, and preschool age children using developmentally appropriate

strategies. All the recommended adult supports should incorporate English

and each child’s home language.

6. References = research behind the standard

Each of these components is numbered with an arrow on the following page example taken from the standards.



Area 2: Approaches to Learning

2.4 Play and Senses

Standard Infants and toddlers engage in play to learn.

Rationale Play is fundamental and essential for infants and toddlers to develop healthy active brains, bodies, and relationships (Ginsberg, 2007). Through play, children learn about themselves and the world through self-created experiences and positive social interactions with peers and nurturing adults. For infants, play is voluntary and self-motivating (Young & Hauser-Cram, 2006). Through play, infants and toddlers typically build understanding and skills in cognitive, communication, motor, social, and emotional development. Piaget (1971) argued that play allows infants and toddlers to build their understanding of how things work, including their own bodies, and allows them to test their understandings. Infants and toddlers who are allowed to spend most of the day freely moving arms and legs, while exploring their physical environment designed for maximum safety, develop the most advanced motor and cognitive skills needed for later development. Given time, space, supportive adults, open-ended materials, and safe, yet challenging environments, children develop confidence in themselves, competencies to master their environment, deep-seated connectedness to and caring about others, and the ability to create and propagate environments of love, safety, security, and resilience (Ginsberg, 2007).

Benchmarks The infant or toddler:

1. uses sights, smells, sounds, textures, and tastes to explore and experience routines and materials within the environment.

2. chooses and participates in a variety of play experiences.

3. imitates behaviors in play.

4. repeats experiences with materials, adults, and peers to build knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

Examples of

Benchmarks

Kayla turns the pages of the touch-and-feel book. She touches the fur on the lamb and says, “Baaa.”

Cyndi pulls out the nesting cubes. She carefully takes apart each cube and makes a circle of them all around her.

While reading a book to Amari, the adult uses a puppet to act out certain parts of the story. Amari crawls over to the puppet bin, and pulls one out. He fidgets for a moment to find the opening and slides it over his hand. Amari wiggles his hand inside, looks to the adult, and smiles.

An adult starts doing the actions to Itsy Bitsy Spider. Joseph watches, and then imitates the actions with the adult as the adult sings the rhyme.

1

2

2

3

2

4

2


Adult Supports With infants and toddlers, adults:

prepare the physical environment to encourage children’s play by providing a variety of non-toxic, developmentally appropriate materials that are child accessible and sufficient, as well as facilitate development in all areas.

provide daily opportunities for play, including indoor/outdoor play, active/quiet play, and large/small motor play for each child.

interact often with children during play; playing with the child and talking about the experience.

adapt materials as needed so that each child can explore the environment through play.

engage in turn-taking games such as making faces, vocalizing, and imitating actions with each child.

match activities to the interests and abilities of each infant or toddler, occasionally showing the next steps as needed.

safeguard the health and safety of each child by introducing non-toxic, developmentally appropriate materials and experiences to encourage use of the senses.

References Ginsburg, K. R. (with the Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health). (2007). The importance of play in

promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent–child bonds. Pediatrics, 119, 182–191.

Piaget, J. (1971). Biology and knowledge. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Young, J. M., &Hauser-Cram, P. (2006). Mother-child interaction as a predictor of mastery

motivation in children with disabilities born preterm. Journal of Early Intervention, 28, 252-263

5

2

6

2


Handout 1.5 Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 1

Introduction to the Iowa Early Learning Standards

Participant Name____________________________ Email/Phone______________________________

Please evaluate your knowledge prior to attending this training module and after attending. 1 = I have no knowledge of this concept 2 = I have little knowledge of this concept 3 = I have some knowledge of this concept 4 = I have a lot of knowledge of this concept

Before attending. . .

Participant skills and knowledge

After attending. . .

1 2 3 4 I can describe the content and organization of the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can summarize the essential considerations included within the Iowa Early Learning Standards

1 2 3 4

List your plans for using the knowledge gained from this training module.

List the type of assistance needed to implement the concepts presented in this training module.

Write any questions that you might ask for clarification of information learned in today’s session.



Module 2 Script – Principles of Child Development


Module 2 – Principles of Child Development


Early learning standards, also referred to as guidelines or expectations, are descriptions of the

knowledge, behaviors, and skills that children from birth through age five may demonstrate

during the first 2000 days of life. The Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) emphasize

developmentally appropriate content and child outcomes as defined by the National

Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

After reviewing materials such as the K-12 Iowa Core, Head Start Child Development and Early

Learning Framework, and the Teaching Strategies® GOLD Objectives for Development and

Learning and considering the current Iowa context, the Iowa Early Learning Standards Review

and Writing Committee chose to use the six content areas from the 2006 document and add a

seventh to address what children learn from within their cultures, families, and communities

titled as social studies. The seven content areas of the 2012 IELS are as follows:

1. physical well-being and motor development;

2. approaches to learning;

3. social and emotional development;

4. communication, language, and literacy;

5. mathematics and science;

6. creative arts; and

7. social studies.

The standards and benchmarks in each of these areas are based on both research and theory in

child development and early education. The 2012 Iowa Early Learning Standards Review and

Writing Committee unanimously agreed to use the NAEYC’s Principles of Child Development

and Learning as guiding principles for the review process. The guiding principles are included in

the 2009 position statement of developmentally appropriate practice and are grounded in

research theory and literature. Although each principle stands alone in describing what we

know to be true about how young children learn and grow, they are stronger when combined.


The guiding principles of child development are as follows (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009):

1. All the domains of development and learning—physical, social and emotional, and

cognitive—are important, and they are closely interrelated. Children’s development

and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by what takes place in

other domains.

2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented

sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already

acquired.

3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to child, as well as at

uneven rates across different areas of a child’s individual functioning.

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of

biological maturation and experience.

5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and delayed, on a child’s

development and learning; and optimal periods exist for certain types of

development and learning to occur.

6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or

representational capacities.

7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with

responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers.

8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural

contexts, including the language of their family.

9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them, children

learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and interactions are

effective in supporting all forms of learning.

10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as for promoting

language, cognition, and social competence.

11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a

level just beyond their current mastery, and also when they have many

opportunities.

12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning, such as

persistence, initiative, and flexibility; in turn, these dispositions and behaviors affect

their learning and development.

Please review the principles of child development prior to teaching this session. They can be

found at http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf.


Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper



Post-it notes

Highlighters

Timer

Scissors

Tape

Handout 2.2 cut apart and placed in small gift bag

Small gift bag





Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from

Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009)

Optional - Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in Early

Education (Gestwicki, 2007.

Optional – copy of Teaching Strategies® GOLD Objectives for Development and Learning

alignment with the IELS

Certificates


As a result of attending this training session, participants will be able to do the following:

1. Discuss the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s 12 principles of

child development, and

2. Describe the seven content areas within the Iowa Early Learning Standards.



References Used Within Module 2:




Gestwicki, C. (2007). Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in Early Education. 3rd Ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191.

High, P. C. (2008). School readiness. Pediatrics, 121(4), e1008-e1015. Labbo, L. D. (2009). 'Let's do the computer story again, Nana': A case study of how a 2 year old

and his grandmother shared thinking spaces during multiple readings of an electronic story." In Multimedia and Literacy Development: Improving Achievement for Young Learners, eds. A.G. Bus & S.B. Neuman. (pp. 196-210). New York: Routledge.

Labbo, L. D. (1996). Computers real and make believe: Providing opportunities for literacy

development in an early childhood sociodramatic play center. Instructional Resource No. 26.




success. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org.

Roskos, K., Burstein, K., You, B. K, Brueck, J., & O'Brien, C. (2011). A formative study of an e-book instructional model in early literacy." Creative Education, 2(1), 10-17.

Turbill, J. (2001). A researcher goes to school: Using technology in the kindergarten literacy

curriculum. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 1(3), 255-279.


MATERIALS

NEEDED


Participant

handouts that

were created

as homework

Handout 2.1

Chart paper

Markers

WELCOME AND REVIEW (25 MINUTES TOTAL)

Welcome! Last week we became familiar with the content and organization of

the Iowa Early Learning Standards. We also explored the seven essential

considerations that must be addressed when supporting the development of

children. These essential considerations focus on overall health and well-

being, relationships, diversity, play, technology, assessment, and school

readiness.

Activity – Sharing the Essential Considerations (20 minutes)

For homework, you were to choose one of the essential considerations

and create a handout for families that builds understanding of the key

concepts within that consideration and ways they can support their

child’s development based on the information.

- Divide the room in half. Have each half stand on opposite sides of the

room. Then have them face each other and walk across the room to find

the person they are aligned the best with. This will be their partner.

Please share your handouts with each other. If you do not have a

handout, review Handout 2.1 and discuss how you can use this handout

with families or co-workers.

- Allow for work; 10 minutes.

- Rotate through the room and ask for key messages that each group

plans to share with families. Write these messages on a piece of chart

paper or dry erase board; 10 minutes.

As you share these essential considerations with families, you can use

the pieces titled “What does this mean for families” to help build their

understanding of how they can support their child’s development. You

might also consider recording these key messages that we just shared

and that I wrote on the chart paper.


Handout 2.3

12 PRINCIPLES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT (85 MINUTES TOTAL)

To be effective in using the Iowa Early Learning Standards and building family

understanding, it is important to be knowledgeable of child development and

how children learn. The National Association for the Education of Young

Children, also known as NAEYC, has defined 12 principles of child development

that can be used within our work with children and families (NAEYC &

NAECS/SDE, 2002). The NAEYC is the largest organization focused on early

care and education. They have provided important guidance on children and

early care and education since 1926.

During the 2012 revision of the Iowa Early Learning Standards, the IELS Review

Committee unanimously agreed to use the NAEYC Principles of Child

Development and Learning as guiding principles for the review process. The

guiding principles included in the 2009 position statement of developmentally

appropriate practice are grounded in research and theory. Although each

principle stands alone in describing what we know to be true about how young

children learn and grow, they are stronger when combined.

Activity – 12 Principles of Learning (75 minutes)

To learn about the NAEYC’s 12 principles of child development, we are

going to do a partner activity. Each set of partners will become an

expert on a child development principle and then share their learning

with the class to build our understanding.

Find Handout 2.3 and let’s do Principle 12 together. This principle states

the following: “Children’s experiences shape their motivation and

approaches to learning, such as persistence, initiative, and flexibility; in

turn, these dispositions and behaviors affect their learning and

development”. Take a moment to read this principle and underline or

highlight key words and phrases.

- Let participants read; 5 minutes.


Chart paper

Markers

Paper bag

Handout 2.2,

cut apart

Tell me some key sentences or phrases that you underlined.

- Answers should include the following:

o “Approaches to learning” is one of five aspects of school

readiness.

o It is focused on how children learn.

o Children’s approaches to learning include children’s feelings

and behaviors when learning including attention, persistence,

flexibility, and self-regulation.

o Children approach learning differently. This can be influenced

by their temperament and experiences within the family

environment as well as care and education programs.

Now tell me what pictures come to mind as you think about this

principle and what we just discussed.

- Pictures could include a happy or sad face, children working or playing

alone or with others, an adult and child, or many people to represent the

influence of family, and pictures depicting children playing with a variety

of materials.

- Draw these pictures as they are shared.

As you can see, my pictures represent the principle that children’s

experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning, such as

persistence, initiative, and flexibility. Their approaches to learning affect

their learning and development. The pictures show that some children

learn by playing alone or with others. The pictures also show children

playing with a variety of materials to build their knowledge.

Choose a person sitting next to you to be your partner.

- Prior to class cut out the principles from Handout 2.2. Place these

pieces of paper into a paper bag. Do not use principle 12.

- Walk around to each group and have them draw a principle out of the

bag. This is the principle that they will explore and work with during this

activity.


Handout 2.3

Chart paper

Markers

Tape

With your partner, you are going to read the principle assigned to you

from Handout 2.3. As you read, highlight or underline key words or

phrases. Discuss what you read. Then on a piece of chart paper, draw a

picture or pictures that describe your principle. Try to use only pictures.

When you are finished tape your picture on a wall close to you. Choose

a spokesperson to describe your principle. When we are finished, each

group will share the definition of the principle they focused on and the

picture they drew to represent it.

- Allow for work; 10-15 minutes.

- Allow for each group to share the definition of their principle and the

pictures they made to represent it; 55 minutes.

- It is important for you to have read each of these principles to

recognize any deviation from each principle’s meaning. You can find the

principles on the NAEYC website at

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf. You can

also add comments during sharing from the additional notes below that

are taken from Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and

Development in Early Education (Gestwicki, 2007).

1. All the domains of development and learning—physical, social and

emotional, and cognitive—are important, and they are closely

interrelated. Children’s development and learning in one domain

influence and are influenced by what takes place in other domains.

Domains of children’s development are closely related; what is

occurring in development in one domain can both limit and

facilitate development in other domains. A program that strives to

nurture development optimally supports all domains as having

equal importance. All learning experiences are recognized as

integrated opportunities for growth, instead of a separate skill or

content entities. The emphasis on one domain only, such as

cognitive, is bound to upset the interrelationship among the various

domains (p. 12).


2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well

documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge

building on those already acquired. Study of child development

reveals fairly predictable patterns of growth and development

during the early childhood years, with individual variation in

manifestation and related cultural meaning. Understanding the

behaviors and abilities associated with typical development

provides a framework for adults in recognizing usual growth

patterns, as well as knowing how best to support children’s optimal

learning and challenge. Knowing the value of early steps in the

sequence helps adults resist pressure to provide less appropriate

experiences before learning foundations have been laid.

Development cannot continue well when children are pushed to

skip or hurry through earlier stages. Children need the time to

proceed through the sequence (p. 12).

3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to

child, as well as at uneven rates across different areas of a child’s

individual functioning. Each child has a pattern and pace of

development unique to the individual, with factors such as

heredity, health, individual temperament and personality, learning

style, experiences, and family background creating enormous

differences. Comparing the development of individuals of similar

chronological age is impossible and dangerous. Rigid expectations

for age related group norms conflict with principles that demand

individual support of particular strengths, needs, and interests

(p. 12).

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous

interaction of biological maturation and experience. Biological

maturation is in fact a prerequisite for many kinds of learning, but a

child’s interrelationship with the environment determines just what

learning will take place. Inherited tendencies are shaped by factors

in the child’s physical and social world. Development is a result not

of heredity alone or of environment alone, but of the interaction

between the two (p. 14).


5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and

delayed, on a child’s development and learning; and optimal

periods exist for certain types of development and learning to

occur. Both positive and negative effects result from repeated

experiences early in the lives of young children, and these effects

have implications for later development. For example, children

given the opportunity to develop social skills through play with

peers in the preschool years usually develop confidence and

competence in their social relations with others. This allows them

to enter confidently into later peer relationships as they begin

primary school and to enter group learning situations with more

ease than children lacking those earlier social experiences. Times of

readiness for optimal learning occur in the early years and need to

be taken advantage of in planning experiences (p. 13).

6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-

regulation, and symbolic or representational capacities. Learning

in the early years proceeds from physical, sensorimotor

understanding to symbolic knowledge. Programs recognizing this

developmental principle provide first hand experiences in which

children may extend their behavioral knowledge and then provide

media and materials that allow children to represent their symbolic

knowledge and growing understanding of concepts (p. 13).

7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent

relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive

relationships with peers. Warm, nurturing relationships with

responsive adults are necessary for many key areas of children’s

development, including empathy and cooperation, self-regulation

and cultural socialization, language and communication, peer

relationships, and identity formation. Developmentally appropriate

programs recognize the importance of meeting children’s physical

and psychological needs. Attention is given to healthy and safe

environments, as well as to meeting comprehensive services such

as nutrition, dental and medical needs. Attention is also given to

creating environments in which warm relationships can develop

over time (p. 15).


8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple

social and cultural contexts, including the language of the family

and home. Children’s development is best understood within the

context of family, then their school community, and finally the

larger community. Children are capable of learning to function in

more than one cultural context simultaneously, when supported

respectfully. Children should be able to add new cultural and

language experiences without giving up on the contexts with which

they began. Recent knowledge helps us understand what can be

lost when children’s home languages and culture are not respected

and reinforced in the early care setting (p. 13).

9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around

them, children learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching

strategies and interactions are effective in supporting all forms of

learning. Individuals have different intelligences or methods of

learning to understand the world. Intellectual development occurs

by a process of constructivism through interaction with other

people, materials, and experiences. As children form and test their

own hypotheses about how the world works, their thought

processes and mental structures undergo continual revision. Child

appropriate programs create environments that provide materials

and interaction needed for such constructions. Teaching strategies

support children’s active learning and rely less on direct

transmission of knowledge that young children have not created

themselves (p. 14). Adults must provide varieties of experiences so

that individuals who have different learning preferences can find

their areas of competency and strengthen other areas as needed (p.

15).


10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well

as for promoting language, cognition, and social competence. Play

is the optimum context in which children can actively construct

their knowledge of the world. Play gives children opportunities to

understand the world, interact with others in social ways, express

and control emotions, and develop their symbolic capabilities.

Child initiated, adult supported play is an essential component of

developmentally appropriate practice (p. 14).

11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged

to achieve at a level just beyond their current mastery, and also

when they have many opportunities. Children’s images of

themselves as successful learners result from experiences in which

they can succeed most of the time. Thus, adults have an important

role in identifying children’s growing competencies and interests

and in matching experiences accordingly. In addition, children can

learn when experiences are just above their present abilities,

especially when supportive adults collaborate to help children

move to more complex levels of skills and understanding - known as

scaffolding learning (p. 15).

Each of these twelve principles is interrelated and influences adults as they

make decisions about the practices within their programs. While it is

important to have a basic knowledge of child development, we must also

recognize that each child is unique and will develop according to their own

biological makeup within the experiences they are provided. To make

decisions regarding children and families, it is necessary to think about the

developmental areas of children and the needs of each child, including their

social and cultural backgrounds, to support the needs of children.

EXPLORING THE SIX CONTENT AREAS (40 MINUTES TOTAL)

The Iowa Early Learning Standards contain seven content areas that reflect the

12 principles of child development; we were introduced to these content areas

in Module 1. These content areas describe the skills that children should know

and be able to do from birth to five years of age. Let’s review them briefly.


Handout 2.4

1. Physical well-being and motor development – This includes children’s

overall health and their motor development. Large motor skills involve

the big muscles of the body like running. Small motor skills involve the

muscles in children’s fingers and hands.

2. Approaches to learning – Approaches to learning include children’s

curiosity, problem solving, choosing items to explore, and persisting

tasks.

3. Social and emotional development – Social development involves

children building relationships with peers and adults. Emotional

development includes the building of children’s self esteem and

identity. It also involves helping children understand feelings.

4. Communication, language, and literacy – This includes verbal and non-

verbal forms of communication. Through interactions with caregivers

and teachers, children acquire both listening and speaking vocabulary.

5. Mathematics and science – Math and science are everywhere. This

includes children’s understanding of numbers and their investigation

skills.

6. Creative arts – Creative arts include music, pretend play, and art

experiences.

7. Social studies - Social studies includes building children’s understanding

of relationships and communities. Social studies also include building a

child’s awareness of culture and diversity.

Activity – Understanding the Seven Content Areas (30 minutes)

We will form 7 groups; one for each content area. In your group, you

will decide to focus on the infant/toddler standards or the preschool

standards. Read the information on the content area assigned to you

and the age group you chose. With your group, complete Handout 2.4.


What discoveries did you make as you explored the content area

assigned to you?

- Allow for sharing; 15 minutes. Answers will vary depending on

participant’s prior knowledge of child development and new

knowledge gained.


Optional –

copy of

Teaching

Strategies

GOLD

Objectives for

Development

and Learning

Handout 2.5

Certificates

The content areas of the IELS reflect child development. The standards are not

“magical” information. They describe what we all know about young children

and what we see them do throughout our interactions with them. The IELS are

a resource that should be used to continue to build your understanding of

children and what you can do to support their learning. The standards are also

a tool for us to use to guide families in understanding child development and

what they can do to support their child’s development.

CLOSING (5 MINUTES TOTAL)

The IELS identify goals, benchmarks, and adult supports for ALL children and

reflect the NAEYC’s principles of child development. The IELS are NOT

designed to be used as a readiness checklist, for labeling or diagnosing

children, to exclude children from programs, or to evaluate personnel.

However, the standards can be used to choose assessments that mirror the

standards such as the Teaching Strategies GOLD Objectives for Development

and Learning. You can find an alignment of the IELS and GOLD at

http://www.teachingstrategies.com/content/pageDocs/IA-GOLD-Alignment-

Early-Learning-2012.pdf.

Homework

Before next time, choose an age group to focus on and start reading

through the content areas, standards, benchmarks, and adult supports.

Next time, we will start with an activity that will continue to get us

familiar with the content areas. Reading the information will assist you

in this activity.

Handout 2.5 contains the reflection for this module. Take time to complete

this before leaving. It will assist you in determining how to use the information

from today’s class.

- Answer any questions that arise during the reflection process either

with the participant individually or at the next session. Be sure to have


organization.

I will give you your certificate as you complete your reflection. Thank you for

your participation.




Module 2 Participant Handouts - Principles of Child Development



Handout 2.1

Getting to Know the Iowa Early

Learning Standards:

Essential Considerations

The Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) were written in 2006 and updated in 2012. The IELS describe what children should know and be able to do throughout the first five years of life. The IELS are divided into seven content areas that reflect universal aspects of growth and development of young children:

1. Physical well-being and motor development;

2. Approaches to learning;

3. Social and emotional development;

4. Communication, language, and literacy;

5. Mathematics and science;

6. Creative arts; and

7. Social studies.

When implementing the Iowa Early Learning Standards, it is important for all adults to consider the following topics as they make decisions about children from birth through age five. Further explanation of these essential considerations can be found within the standards located on the Early Childhood Iowa website: www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html

The Importance of Children’s Health and Well Being

Children learn best when they are healthy, safe and free of hunger. Adults must be aware of a child’s health in order to promote their overall development and well-being.

The Importance of Caring Adults and Communities

Young children develop knowledge and skills as they interact with familiar, consistent, and caring adults. Nurturing and responsive adults play a critical role in establishing the foundation for healthy growth and development.




Caring adults can address the diversity of children by acquiring cultural knowledge about families to inform program practices. Families should expect that caring adults in early care, health, and education settings and those who visit families in their homes will respect and honor their cultures and child rearing practices that arise from those culture.


Play is fundamental and essential for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children to develop healthy and active brains, bodies, and relationships (Ginsburg, 2007).

The Roles of Technology and Interactive Media

Children can learn about technology when provided opportunities to explore and experience media in age appropriate ways (Labbo, 1996; Roskos, Burstein, You, Bruck, & O’Brien, 2011). However, it is essential that during exploration adults are present to supervise and interact with children to support learning (Labbo, 2009; Turbill, 2001).


The IELS are not intended to be used directly as an assessment tool. However, they should be seen as a guide for selecting assessments that include similar areas of development and benchmarks. Assessments should be developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, tied to children’s daily activities, supported by professional development, and inclusive of families.


School readiness includes the readiness of the individual, the school’s readiness for children, and the ability of the families and communities to support optimal early childhood development (High, 2008). To have rewarding and successful daily experiences that prepare children to be part of a democratic society, each child needs the following: access to high quality early care and education; health care, nutrition, and social-emotional nurturance; and caring adults in their lives who have the skills, understanding, and resources to foster their development.


Principles of Child Development Handout 2.2

1. All the domains of development and learning—physical, social and emotional, and

cognitive—are important, and they are closely interrelated. Children’s development

and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by what takes place in

other domains.

2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented

sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already

acquired.

3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to child, as well as at

uneven rates across different areas of a child’s individual functioning.

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of

biological maturation and experience.

5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and delayed, on a child’s

development and learning; and optimal periods exist for certain types of

development and learning to occur.

6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or

representational capacities.

7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with

responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers.

8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural

contexts, including the language of their family.

9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them, children

learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and interactions are

effective in supporting all forms of learning.

10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as for promoting

language, cognition, and social competence.

11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a

level just beyond their current mastery, and also when they have many

opportunities.

12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning, such as

persistence, initiative, and flexibility; in turn, these dispositions and behaviors affect

their learning and development.



Handout 2-3

NAEYC - 12 Principles of Development Source: Bredekamp & Copple. (2009). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.

1. All the domains of development and learning—physical, social and emotional, and cognitive—are important, and they are closely interrelated. Children’s development and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by what takes place in other domains. Children are thinking, moving, feeling, and interacting human beings. To teach them well involves considering and fostering their development and learning in all domains. Because this full spectrum of development and learning is fundamental to children’s lives and to their future participation as members of society, early care and education must address all the domains. Further, changes in one domain often facilitate or limit development in other areas. For example, when children begin to crawl or walk, they gain new possibilities for exploring the world, and their mobility affects both their cognitive development and sense of autonomy. Likewise, children’s language development influences their ability to participate in social interaction with adults and other children; such interactions, in turn, support their further language development. A growing body of work demonstrates the relationship between emotional and social factors and children’s academic competence and thus the importance of all these areas in educating young children. In brief, the knowledge base documents the importance of a comprehensive curriculum and the interrelatedness of the developmental domains in children’s well-being and success.

2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already acquired. Human development research suggests that relatively stable, predictable sequences of growth and change occur in children during the first nine years of life. Predictable changes occur in all domains of development, although the ways that these changes are manifested and the meaning attached to them may vary widely in different cultural and linguistic contexts. Knowledge of how children within a given age span typically develop and learn provides a general framework to guide teachers in preparing the learning environment, considering curriculum, designing learning experiences, and teaching and interacting with children. Also important for educators to know are the sequences in which children gain specific concepts, skills, and abilities, building on prior development and learning. In mathematics, for example, children’s learning to count serves as an important foundation for their acquiring an understanding of numerals. Familiarity with known learning sequences should inform curriculum development and teaching practice.


3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to child, as well as at uneven rates across different areas of a child’s individual functioning. Individual variation has at least two dimensions: the inevitable variability around the typical or normative course of development and the uniqueness of each child as an individual. Children’s development follows individual patterns and timing; children also vary in temperament, personality, and aptitudes, as well as in what they learn in their family and within the social and cultural context or contexts that shape their experience. All children have their own strengths, needs, and interests. Given the enormous variation among children of the same chronological age, a child’s age is only a crude index of developmental abilities and interests. For children who have special learning needs or abilities, additional efforts and resources may be necessary to optimize their development and learning. The same is true when children’s prior experiences do not give them the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a specific learning environment. Given this normal range of variation, decisions about curriculum, teaching, and interactions with children should be as individualized as possible. Rigid expectations of group norms do not reflect what is known about real differences in development and learning. At the same time, having high expectations for all children is essential, as is using the strategies and providing the resources necessary to help them meet these expectations.

4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of biological maturation and experience. Development is the result of the interplay between the growing, changing child and the child’s experiences in the social and physical worlds. For example, a child’s genetic makeup may predict healthy growth, but inadequate nutrition in the early years of life will keep this potential from being fulfilled. Conversely, the impact of an organic condition on a young child’s learning and development can be minimized through systematic, individualized intervention. Likewise, a child’s innate temperament—such as a predisposition to be either wary or outgoing—shapes and is shaped by how other children and adults interact with that child. In light of the power of biology and the effects of children’s prior experiences, it is important for early childhood educators to maintain high expectations and employ all their knowledge, ingenuity, and persistence to find ways to help every child succeed.


5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and delayed, on a child’s development and learning; and optimal periods exist for certain types of development and learning to occur. Children’s early experiences, whether positive or negative, are cumulative. For example, a child’s social experiences with other children in the preschool years may help him develop social skills and confidence that enable him or her to make friends in subsequent years, and these experiences further enhance the child’s social competence and academic achievement. Conversely, children who fail to develop minimal social skills and thus suffer neglect or rejection from peers are at risk for later outcomes such as school dropout, delinquency, and mental health problems. Similarly, early stimulation promotes brain development and the forming of neural connections, which in turn enable further development and learning. But if the very young child does not get this stimulation, he is less able to benefit from subsequent learning opportunities, and a cumulative disadvantage is set in motion. Intervention and support are more successful the earlier a problem is addressed. Prevention of reading difficulties, for example, is far less difficult and expensive than remediation. In addition, the literature shows that some aspects of development occur most efficiently at certain points in the life span. The first three years of life, for example, appear to be an optimal period for oral language development. Ensuring that children get the needed environmental inputs and supports for a particular kind of learning and development at its “prime time” is always the most reliable route to desired results.

6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and symbolic or representational capacities. A pervasive characteristic of development is that children’s functioning becomes increasingly complex—in language, social interaction, physical movement, problem solving, and virtually every other domain. Increased organization and memory capacity of the developing brain make it possible with age for children to combine simple routines into more complex strategies. The younger the child, the more she or he tends to think concretely and in the here and now. Yet in some ways, young children’s thinking can be quite abstract. For example, preschoolers know that adding always makes more and subtracting makes less, and they are able to grasp abstract ideas about counting objects such as the one-to-one principle. All young humans must negotiate the transition from total dependence on others at birth to competence and internal control, including learning to regulate their emotions, behaviors, and attention. For young infants, there are tasks such as learning to soothe themselves from arousal to a settled state. A few years later, self-regulation means developing the capacity to manage strong emotions and keep one’s attention focused. Throughout the early years, adults play significant roles in helping children learn to self-regulate.


Caregivers are important in helping very young children to modulate their emotional arousal; for example, soothing babies and then helping them learn to soothe themselves. In the preschool years, teachers can help children develop self-regulation by scaffolding high-level dramatic play, helping children learn to express their emotions, and engaging children in planning and decision making. During the early years of life, children move from sensory or behavioral responses to symbolic or representational knowledge. For example, young children are able to navigate their homes and other familiar settings by recall and sensory cues, but later they come to understand and can use abstractions such as left and right or read a map of the house. It is around age 2 that children begin to represent and reconstruct their experiences and knowledge. For example, children may use one object to stand for another in play, such as a block for a phone or a spatula for a guitar. Their ability to use various modes and media to convey their meaning increases in range and scope. By the preschool years, these modes may include oral language, gestures and body movement, visual arts (drawing, painting, sculpting), construction, dramatic play, and writing. Their efforts to represent their ideas and concepts in any of these modes enhance the knowledge itself.

7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers. From the earliest years of life, warm, nurturing relationships with responsive adults are necessary for many key areas of children’s development, including empathy and cooperation, self-regulation and cultural socialization, language and communication, peer relationships, and identity formation. When children and caring adults have the opportunity to get to know each other well, they learn to predict each other’s signals and behavior and establish attunement and trust. The first and most important relationships are those a child forms with parents or other primary caregivers. Forming one or more such attachments sets the stage for other relationships, as children move into the wider world beyond their immediate family. Young children benefit from opportunities to develop ongoing, trusting relationships with adults outside the family and with other children. Notably, positive teacher-child relationships promote children’s learning and achievement, as well as social competence and emotional development. Nurturing relationships are vital in fostering high self-esteem and a strong sense of self-efficacy, capacity in resolving interpersonal conflicts cooperatively, and the sociability to connect with others and form friendships. Further, by providing positive models and the security and confidence to try new experiences and attempt new skills, such relationships support children’s learning and the acquisition of numerous capabilities.


8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple social and cultural contexts. Understanding children’s development requires viewing each child within the sociocultural context of that child’s family, educational setting, and community, as well as within the broader society. These various contexts are interrelated, and all powerfully influence the developing child. For example, even a child in a loving, supportive family within a strong, healthy community is affected by the biases of the larger society, such as racism or sexism, and may show some effects of its negative stereotyping and discrimination. Here culture is intended to refer to the customary beliefs and patterns of behavior, both explicit and implicit, that are inculcated by the society—or by a social, religious, or ethnic group within the society—in its members. Even though culture is discussed often in the context of diversity and immigrant or minority groups, all of us are members of cultures and are powerfully influenced by them. Every culture structures and interprets children’s behavior and development in its own way. Early childhood teachers need to understand the influence of sociocultural contexts and family circumstances on learning, recognize children’s developing competencies, and be familiar with the variety of ways that children may demonstrate their developmental achievements. Most importantly, educators need to be sensitive to how their own cultural experience shapes their perspective and to realize that multiple perspectives, not just their own, must be considered in decisions about children’s development and learning. As children grow up, they need to learn to function well in the society and in the increasingly global economy and to move comfortably among groups of people from backgrounds both similar and dissimilar to their own. Fortunately, children are capable of learning to function in more than one social or cultural context and to make behavioral or linguistic shifts as they move from one context to another, although this complex ability does not occur overnight and requires adult support. Acquiring a new language or the ability to operate in a new culture can and should be an additive pro-cess, rather than causing the displacement of the child’s first language and culture. For example, immigrant children are able to develop English proficiency without having to give up their home language, and it is important that they retain their fluency in the language of their family and community. Likewise, children who speak only English benefit from learning another language and can do so without sacrificing their English proficiency.


9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them, children learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and interactions are effective in supporting all these kinds of learning. Several prominent theories and bodies of research view cognitive development from the constructivist, interactive perspective. That is, young children construct their knowledge and understanding of the world in the course of their own experiences, as well as from teachers, family members, peers and older children, and from books and other media. They learn from the concrete (e.g., manipulatives); they also apparently are capable of and interested in abstract ideas, to a far greater degree than was previously believed. Children take all this input and work out their own understandings and hypotheses about the world. They try these out through interactions with adults and other children, physical manipulation, play, and their own thought processes—observing what happens, reflecting on their findings, imagining possibilities, asking questions, and formulating answers. When children make knowledge their own in these ways, their understanding is deeper and they can better transfer and apply their learning in new contexts. Using multiple teaching strategies is important in meeting children’s different learning needs. The Eager to Learn: Educating Our Preschoolers report concluded:

Good teachers acknowledge and encourage children’s efforts, model and demonstrate, create challenges and support children in extending their capabilities, and provide specific directions or instruction. All of these teaching strategies can be used in the context of play and structured activities. Effective teachers also organize the classroom environment and plan ways to pursue educational goals for each child as opportunities arise in child-initiated activities and in activities planned and initiated by the teacher.

Thus, children benefit when teachers have at their disposal a wide range of teaching strategies and from these teachers select the best strategy to use in a situation, depending on the learning goal, specific context, and needs of individual children at that moment, including children who may need much more support than others even in exploration and play.

10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as for promoting language, cognition, and social competence. Children of all ages love to play, and it gives them opportunities to develop physical competence and enjoyment of the outdoors, understand and make sense of their world, interact with others, express and control emotions, develop their symbolic and problem-solving abilities, and practice emerging skills. Research shows the links between play and foundational capacities such as memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, social skills, and success in school.


Children engage in various kinds of play, such as physical play, object play, pretend or dramatic play, constructive play, and games with rules. Observed in all young animals, play apparently serves important physical, mental, emotional, and social functions for humans and other species, and each kind of play has its own benefits and characteristics. From infancy, children act on the world around them for the pleasure of seeing what happens; for example, repeatedly dropping a spoon on the floor or pulling the cat’s tail. At around age 2, children begin to demonstrate symbolic use of objects—for instance, picking up a shell and pretending to drink as from a cup—at least when they have had opportunities to observe others engaging in such make-believe behavior. From such beginnings, children begin to engage in more mature forms of dramatic play, in which by the age of 3–5 they may act out specific roles, interact with one another in their roles, and plan how the play will go. Such play is influential in developing self-regulation, as children are highly motivated to stick to the roles and rules of the play, and thus grow in the ability to inhibit their impulses, act in coordination with others, and make plans. High-level dramatic play produces documented cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. However, with children spending more time in adult-directed activities and media use, forms of child play characterized by imagination and rich social interactions seem to be declining. Active scaffolding of imaginative play is needed in early childhood settings if children are to develop the sustained, mature dramatic play that contributes significantly to their self-regulation and other cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional benefits. Adults can use proven methods to promote children’s extended engagement in make-believe play as well as in games with rules and other kinds of high-level play. Rather than detracting from academic learning, play appears to support the abilities that underlie such learning and thus to promote school success.

11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond their current mastery, and also when they have many opportunities to practice newly acquired skills. Human beings, especially children, are motivated to understand or do what is just beyond their current understanding or mastery. Effective teachers create a rich learning environment to activate that motivation, and they make use of strategies to promote children’s undertaking and mastering of new and progressively more advanced challenges. In a task just beyond a child’s independent reach, adults and more-competent peers contribute significantly to the child’s development by providing the support or assistance that allows the child to succeed at that task. Once children make this stretch to a new level in a supportive context, they can go on to use the skill independently and in a variety of contexts, laying the foundation for the next challenge. Provision of such support, often called scaffolding, is a key feature of effective teaching.


At the same time, children need to be successful in new tasks a significant proportion of the time in order for their motivation and persistence to be maintained. Confronted by repeated failure, most children will simply stop trying. Repeated opportunity to practice and consolidate new skills and concepts is also essential in order for children to reach the threshold of mastery at which they can go on to use this knowledge or skill and apply it in new situations. Young children engage in a great deal of practice during play and in other child-guided contexts. To set challenging, achievable goals for children and to provide the right amount and type of scaffolding require knowledge of child development and learning, including familiarity with the paths and sequences that children are known to follow in acquiring specific skills, concepts, and abilities. This general knowledge, along with what the teacher learns from close observation and probing of the individual child’s thinking, is critical to matching curriculum and teaching experiences to that child’s emerging competencies so as to be challenging but not frustrating.

12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to learning, such as persistence, initiative, and flexibility; in turn, these dispositions and behaviors affect their learning and development. The National Education Goals Panel and its Goal One Technical Planning Group identified “approaches to learning” as one of five aspects of school readiness. Focused on the how rather than the what of learning, approaches to learning involve both children’s feelings about learning (including their interest, pleasure, and motivation to learn) and children’s behavior when learning (including attention, persistence, flexibility, and self-regulation). Even in the early years, children differ in their approaches to learning. These differences may influence children’s school readiness and school success. For example, children who start school more eager to learn tend to do better in reading and mathematics than do less motivated children. Children with more positive learning behaviors, such as initiative, attention, and persistence, later develop stronger language skills. Moreover, children with greater self-regulation and other “learning-related skills” in kindergarten are more skilled in reading and mathematics in later grades. Although temperament and other inherent differences may affect children’s approaches to learning, their experiences in families and early education programs have a major influence. Programs can implement evidence-based strategies that will promote positive approaches to learning. These strategies include strengthening relationships with children; working with families; and selecting effective curriculum, assessments, and teaching methods.


Handout 2.4

After reviewing the content area assigned to your group, complete the following.

Content Area _________________________________________________________________

Information Already Known

New Information Gained

Key Ideas

How I Will Use the Information



Handout 2.5

Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 2

Principles of Child Development






1 2 3 4 I can discuss the NAEYC’s 12 principles of child development. 1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can describe the seven content areas included within the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

1 2 3 4






Module 3 Script - Understanding Early Learning Theory


Module 3 – Understanding Early Learning Theory


To be effective in implementing early learning standards, it is important for teachers and

caregivers of young children to be knowledgeable of child development and how children learn.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has defined guidelines

for working with young children using research-based strategies that are known as

developmentally appropriate practice. NAEYC is the leading authority in early childhood and in

response to early learning standard efforts, released a statement to guide states in forming

early learning guidelines. In this statement, states were encouraged to use early childhood

research and theory to guide the development and implementation of early learning standards

(NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2002). In the 2012 revision process, the IELS Review Committee

determined that one of the goals in the revision process was to define what young children

should know and be able to do using current research. The rationale of each standard

highlights the research that was used to support the standard and what we know about child

development.

Early theorists agreed that children learn from doing and that early care and education

experiences should involve real-life materials and experiences that encourage experimentation

and independent thinking (Mooney, 2000). The NAEYC used these theories of early childhood

to determine developmentally appropriate practices, also known as DAP, for young children.

DAP defines the materials, equipment, skills, and strategies necessary for providing quality early

learning experiences for children.

To build your understanding of developmentally appropriate practice that was determined

through the study and understanding of early learning theories, read NAEYC’s Position

Statement (2009) on developmentally appropriate practice;

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf. To learn more about the theories

that guide developmentally appropriate practice, read Theories of Childhood: An Introduction

to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky by Carol Garhart Mooney.


Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper



Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape





3 copies of Handout 3.1 and 3 copies of 3.2; cut apart and each set put into individual envelopes

Certificates

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009)

DVD accompanying Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (2009)

Printed posters of the standards; 3 for infant/toddler and 3 for preschool – these can be located on the Early Childhood Iowa website at www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/EC_resources/early_learning_standards.html

Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky (Mooney, 2000) – one copy of each chapter

Certificates Learning Objectives: As a result of attending this training session, participants will be able to do the following:

1. Summarize early learning theories, and 2. Describe developmentally appropriate practice.




References Used Within Module 3:

Dodge, Diane Trister, Rudick, Sherrie, & Berke, Kai-lee. (2006). The creative curriculum for

infants, toddlers, & twos (2nd Ed.). Washington, DC: Teaching Strategies, Inc.

Dodge, Diane Trister & Jones, Candy. (2003). A trainer’s guide to the creative curriculum for

preschool. Washington, DC: Teaching Strategies, Inc.

Dodge, Diane Trister,Colker, Laura J., & Heroman, Cate. (2002). The creative curriculum for

preschool (4th Ed.). Washington, DC: Teaching Strategies, Inc.

Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium. (2003). The words we use: A

glossary of terms for early childhood education standards and assessment.

Retrieved February 20, 2008, from http://www.ccsso.org/ECEAglossary.

Mooney, C. G. (2000). Theories of childhood: An introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson,

Piaget, & Vygotsky. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.




success. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.naeyc.org.

http://www.ccsso.org/ECEAglossary


MATERIALS NEEDED


Handout 3.1 Handout 3.2 Envelopes Handout 3.3 IELS Posters or Handouts 3.4 and 3.5

WELCOME AND REVIEW (30 MINUTES TOTAL) Last time, we explored the seven content areas of the Iowa Early Learning Standards; physical well-being and motor development; approaches to learning; social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; math and science; creative arts; and social studies. For homework, you were to read through the content areas for either infants and toddlers or preschool. Each content area is broken down into a standard. The standards are the specific statements that describe children’s learning and development (ECEA Consortium, 2003).

Activity – Sorting the Standards (20 minutes) - Prior to class make 3 copies of Handout 3.1 and 3 copies of Handout 3.2. Cut each handout apart and put each handout set into an envelope. Be sure to mix up the strips in each envelope. At each table, you have an envelope that contains the standards for either infants and toddlers or preschoolers. On Handout 3.3, you have each content area listed. I would like you to read through the standards given to you and then I would like you to sort them into the content area you feel the standard applies to without looking at the Iowa Early Learning Standards book. - Allow time for sorting standards; 10-15 minutes. - Walk around and observe participants. As they near the end of sorting, provide each table with the poster of the standards or refer them to Handouts 3.4 and 3.5 for their age group. Give them directions to compare their sorting to the poster; 5 minutes.

As you worked you might have noticed that some standards could fit into multiple content areas such as “Infants and toddlers explore new environments with interest and recognize familiar places” could fit into approaches to learning but is actually located within social studies. This demonstrates the NAEYC’s first principle of child development that all domains of development are closely interrelated and that development within the domains are influenced by each other.


This is called holistic learning which means that while children might be practicing a large motor skill such as walking, they are practicing their skills of persistence as represented in approaches to learning, and also building social skills as they are walking among other children or to a loving caregiver. Content areas, standards, and benchmarks are what adults have created to understand how children develop and learn. This also demonstrates how children’s experiences and routines impact several areas of a child’s development all at the same time. Children do not take in information subject by subject but are learning physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and language lessons all at the same time. Again, it is adults that separate out the learning goals. Children learn from everything they experience and we must recognize the impact that their experiences have on their development. To work effectively with children and families, it is important to be knowledgeable of child development and how children learn. The NAEYC has defined guidelines for working with young children using research-based strategies that are known as developmentally appropriate practice. NAEYC is the leading authority in early childhood and in response to early learning standard efforts, released a statement to guide states in forming early learning guidelines. In this statement, states were encouraged to use early childhood research and theory to guide the development and implementation of early learning standards (NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2002). In the 2012 revision process, the IELS Review Committee determined that one of the goals in the revision process was to define what young children should know and be able to do using current research. The rationale of each standard highlights the research that was used to support the standard and what we know about child development.

EARLY LEARNING THEORIES (75 MINUTES TOTAL) There are many who have contributed to the body of knowledge that makes up early childhood research and theory. Some of these theorists include John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky.


1 copy of each theorist copied from the book Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky (Mooney, 2000) and placed in the center of tables. Chart paper, markers Handout 3.6

ACTIVITY – Understanding Theory (60 minutes) At your tables, you have a chapter from a book titled Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky by Carol Garhart Mooney. Each group will explore the chapter related to the theorist assigned to them. - Each chapter should be copied and placed in the center of five tables. If there are more tables, have those participants join one of the other tables. As you explore, write down key ideas on a piece of chart paper that represent how children learn that were determined by that theorist. The person whose birthday is closest to July 1 will be the spokesperson and the person whose birthday is furthest from July 1 is the writer. - Allow groups to work for 15-20 minutes. Walk around to observe the progress and answer questions. - Have each spokesperson share about their theorist; 30 minutes. - Have participants record notes on Handout 3.6. - Below is a summary of answers that can also be used as additional notes if needed. John Dewey - theorist from the 1800s - most influenced our thinking on education - believed children learn best by interacting with people - children’s interests should be the basis for planning learning experiences - it is important to be sensitive to the needs of children and their families - an experience is only educational if (1) it is based on the children’s interests, (2) it supports children’s development, (3) it helps children develop new skills, (4) it adds to children’s understanding of the world, and (5) it prepares children to live more fully - adults should teach not only subject matter but also how to live in society - observation is necessary to determine the kinds of experiences children are interested in and ready for - adults need to have a strong knowledge base of children - adults need to be willing to make sense of the world for children


Maria Montessori

- educator from the early 1900s - influenced the way early care and education programs are structured - children learn best through sensory experiences - children learn best by doing and through repetition - children learn language and life skills from the environments where they spend their time - adults should provide real tools for children that work - adults should keep materials and equipment accessible to the children and organized - materials should be child-sized – this way children have power to get what they need and can put it away when done - do not interfere with children’s patterns and pace of learning - allow children to take responsibility - schedule large blocks of open-ended time - do not pull children away from projects that interest them - “Teach little, and observe much”

Erik Erikson - theorist from the 1900s - influenced our understanding of social and emotional development - determined 8 Stages of Man; Stages 1-3 in early childhood (1) trust vs. mistrust, 0-1 year; baby’s task is to develop trust in herself, other people, and the world, (2) autonomy vs. shame and doubt, 2-3 years; child must acquire a sense of independence without suffering shame, (3) initiative vs. guilt, 4-5 years; child acquires a sense of purpose and competence - in the earliest years of life, patterns develop that influence a person’s actions and interactions for the rest of his/her life - hold babies for feeding - keep babies comforted and be responsive to needs - children need consistent caregivers - adult should not be over controlling and adjust to children’s need to be dependent and independent - provide choices - set clear limits - have appropriate expectations of children - focus on children’s gains not mistakes


Jean Piaget - theorist from the 1900s - helped to create our overall view of how children think - children construct their own knowledge by giving meaning to people, places, and things in their world - children learn best when they are doing work for themselves and creating their own understanding of what’s going on - children need every opportunity to do things themselves - children’s curiosity drives learning - play is the avenue for learning - children need to construct own knowledge - 4 stages of cognitive development; sensorimotor and preoperational in first years - Sensorimotor (0-18 months); babies rely on senses and physical activity to learn about world, Preoperational (18 months-6 years) - children see the world only from their point of view – egocentrism - adults should nurture inquiry and support the children’s own search for answers - ask questions to help children think through problems rather than telling the answer - provide large blocks of uninterrupted time for free play - provide many real world experiences inside and outside - plan open-ended activities and ask open-ended questions

Lev Vygotsky - theorist from the 1900s - helped us understand that social and cognitive development work together - children have a zone of proximal development – the distance between the most difficult task a child can do alone and the most difficult the child can do with help - social and cognitive development work together and build on each other - personal experiences cannot be separated from social as a child’s world is shaped by family, community, socioeconomic status, education, and culture - a child’s understanding of the world comes from the values and beliefs of adults and other children in their lives - learning takes place in play - interaction among teachers and peers is necessary to advance knowledge – a child on the edge of learning a new concept can benefit from the interactions of teachers or peers; this is known as scaffolding


Handout 3.7 Develop-mentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009). Handout 3.8

- adults should use observations to determine where children are in a learning process and where they are capable of going - pair up children who can learn from each other - provide opportunities for interaction among adults and peers - encourage conversations among children and adults Handout 3.7 details additional contributions to our knowledge of children and how they learn. I would encourage you to read through this handout to further your knowledge on children.

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE (35 MINUTES TOTAL) The National Association for the Education of Young Children used these theories of early childhood to determine developmentally appropriate practices for young children, also known as DAP. DAP defines the materials, equipment, skills, and strategies necessary for providing quality early learning experiences for children. NAEYC defines developmentally appropriate practice in their book, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009).

- Show the green NAEYC book; Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009).

Handout 3.8 defines developmentally appropriate practice which is grounded in research about how children develop and learn. Developmentally appropriate practice includes the role of relationships, creating meaningful experiences, and allowing for active hands-on manipulation of materials to help children construct their own understanding of the world. Many times these experiences are supported through play. For developmentally appropriate practice to work adults must meet children where they are in their development and learning, but also help children work through challenging experiences and materials. When making decisions about children, adults need to consider each child’s individual, social, and cultural needs.

Activity – Video and Discussion (20 minutes) Included in the NAEYC’s 2009 DAP book is a DVD with video clips and printed resources. We are going to watch part of the video that explains DAP. As you watch, I would like you to think about the clips in the video and how they build on the knowledge you have gained in the last two class sessions. Write down phrases that are important to you in regards to developmentally appropriate practice.


NAEYC DVD from Develop-mentally Appropriate Practice (2009)

- Watch the DVD found within the 2009 edition of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 watch the video clip, “What is Developmentally Appropriate Practice?”; 10 minutes. What phrases did you hear in the video that helped describe developmentally appropriate practice? - Allow for sharing; 10 minutes. Answers should include the following.

o There are three components to DAP; age appropriate, individually appropriate, and socially and culturally appropriate. Experiences must support these three components.

o Being culturally appropriate includes meeting children’s individual needs. To become culturally appropriate, we must be curious about children’s lives.

o DAP leads to joyful children, physically and intellectually engaged in meaningful learning.

o DAP involves meeting children where they are, recognizing their interests and capabilities, and using this knowledge to keep an experience going to help them achieve skills and knowledge.

o DAP follows children’s needs and temperament, and then being willing to offer what a child needs.

o DAP does not mean doing the same things for all children. Adults pay close attention to each child’s needs, tailoring situations and instructions so each child can be successful in their own way.

The work of the early theorists helped lay the foundation for developmentally appropriate practice and continue to guide the work of early care and education programs with children. Every day we make decisions to guide children’s learning and developmentally appropriate practice should provide the foundation to support these decisions. The decisions we make leave a lasting impact on children and families. CLOSING (10 MINUTES TOTAL) The content within the Iowa Early Learning Standards reflect early learning theory. We can use the content to help build our understanding of children and early learning theory and use the information to build understanding of children, especially for families.



Homework For next time, download and read NAEYC’s position statement on developmentally appropriate practice. It can be found at http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf. The information we learned last week on the 12 principles of child development are included in this position statement. Becoming familiar with the information will be useful for our opening activity next week.

Please find Handout 3.9 to reflect on today’s session. When you are finished, come to me for your certificate. Thank you so much for your hard work today. We will see you next week.




organization.


http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf


Module 3 Participant Handouts – Understanding Early Learning Theory



SORTING STANDARDS – INFANT/TODDLER Handout 3.1

Infants and toddlers participate in healthy and safe living practices.

Infants and toddlers engage in play to learn.

Infants and toddlers demonstrate a sense of belonging within their family, program, and other social settings or groups.

Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of comparisons and amount, including use of numbers and counting.

Infants and toddlers develop large motor skills.

Infants and toddlers engage in early reading experiences.

Infants and toddlers develop small motor skills.

Infants and toddlers engage in early writing experiences.

Infants and toddlers express curiosity and initiative in exploring the environment and learning new skills.

Infants and toddlers understand and use communication and language for a variety of purposes.

Infants and toddlers purposefully choose, engage, and persist in play, experiences, and routines.

Infants and toddlers demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

Infants and toddlers begin to recognize patterns.

Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of spatial relationships.

Infants and toddlers participate in a variety of rhythm, music, and movement experiences.

Infants and toddlers observe, describe, predict, and explore the world around them.

Infants and toddlers show increasing awareness of and ability to express emotions in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

Infants and toddlers explore new environments with interest and recognize familiar places.

Infants and toddlers relate positively with significant adults.

Infants and toddlers display a positive sense of self.

Infants and toddlers participate in a variety of sensory and art-related experiences.

Infants and toddlers demonstrate a strong sense of self within their culture.

Infants and toddlers respond to and initiate interactions with other children.

Infants and toddlers engage in dramatic play experiences.



SORTING STANDARDS – Preschool Handout 3.2

Children understand healthy and safe living practices.

Children purposefully choose and persist in experiences and play.

Children express curiosity, interest, and initiative in exploring the environment, engaging in experiences, and learning new skills.

Children understand counting, ways of representing numbers, and relationships between quantities and numerals.

Children develop large motor skills. Children develop small motor skills. Children engage in early reading experiences.

Children engage in early writing experiences.

Children demonstrate an increasing sense of belonging to a family and community.

Children understand and use communication and language for a variety of purposes.

Children engage in play to learn. Children understand patterns. Children demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

Children understand shapes and spatial relationships.

Children participate in a variety of music and movement experiences.

Children observe, describe, and predict, the world around them.

Children show increasing ability to regulate their behavior and express their emotions in appropriate ways.

Children express a positive sense of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Children relate positively with significant adults.

Children engage in dramatic play experiences.

Children participate in a variety of art and sensory-related experiences.

Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of culture and diversity.

Children respond to and initiate appropriate interactions with other children, and form positive peer relationships.

Children plan and carry out investigations to answer questions and test solutions to problems.

Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of past events and how those events relate to one’s self, family, and community.

Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of the environment in which they live, especially how people (including themselves) relate to that environment.

Children understand comparisons and measurement.



Handout 3.3 Physical Well-Being and Motor Development Approaches to Learning Communication, Language, and Literacy Social and Emotional Development Math and Science Creative Arts Social Studies



Handout 3.4

Infant and Toddler Early Learning Standards – 2012

Area 1: Physical Well-Being and Motor Development 1.1 Healthy and Safe Living

Infants and toddlers participate in healthy and safe living practices. 1.2 Large Motor Development

Infants and toddlers develop large motor skills. 1.3 Small Motor Development

Infants and toddlers develop small motor skills. Area 2: Approaches to Learning

2.1 Curiosity and Initiative Infants and toddlers express curiosity and initiative in exploring the environment and learning new skills.

2.2 Engagement and Persistence Infants and toddlers purposefully choose, engage, and persist in play, experiences, and routines.

2.3 Reasoning and Problem Solving Infants and toddlers demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

2.4 Play and Senses Infants and toddlers engage in play to learn.

Area 3: Social and Emotional Development

3.1 Self Infants and toddlers display a positive sense of self. 3.2 Self-Regulation


3.3 Relationships with Adults Infants and toddlers relate positively with significant adults. 3.4 Relationships with Children Infants and toddlers respond to and initiate interactions with other children.

Area 4: Communication, Language, and Literacy 4.1 Language Understanding and Use


4.2 Early Literacy Infants and toddlers engage in early reading experiences.

4.3 Early Writing Infants and toddlers engage in early writing experiences.


Area 5: Mathematics and Science 5.1 Comparison and Number

Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of comparisons and amount, including use of numbers and counting.

5.2 Patterns Infants and toddlers begin to recognize patterns.

5.3 Shapes and Spatial Relationships Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of spatial relationships.

5.4 Scientific Reasoning Infants and toddlers observe, describe, predict, and explore the world around them.

Area 6: Creative Arts 6.1 Art

Infants and toddlers participate in a variety of sensory and art-related experiences. 6.2 Music, Rhythm, and Movement


6.3 Dramatic Play Infants and toddlers engage in dramatic play experiences.

Area 7: Social Studies 7.1 Awareness of Family and Community


7.2 Awareness of Culture Infants and toddlers demonstrate a strong sense of self within their culture.

7.3 Exploration of the Environment. Infants and toddlers explore new environments with interest and recognize familiar places.

A poster of the infant/toddler standards can be found on the Early Childhood Iowa website: http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/files/early_learning_standarda/InfantAndToddlerStandardsPoster11x17.pdf

http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/files/early_learning_standarda/InfantAndToddlerStandardsPoster11x17.pdf



Handout 3.5

Preschool Early Learning Standards – 2012


Children understand healthy and safe living practices. 8.2 Large Motor Development

Children develop large motor skills. 8.3 Small Motor Development

Children develop small motor skills. Area 9: Approaches to Learning

9.1 Curiosity and Initiative Children express curiosity, interest, and initiative in exploring the environment, engaging in experiences, and learning new skills.

9.2 Engagement and Persistence Children purposefully choose and persist in experiences and play.

9.3 Reasoning and Problem Solving Children demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

9.4 Play and Senses Children engage in play to learn.


10.1 Self Children express a positive awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

10.2 Self-Regulation Children show increasing ability to regulate their behavior and express emotions in appropriate ways.

10.3 Relationships with Adults Children relate positively with significant adults. 10.4 Relationships with Children

Children respond to and initiate interactions with other children, and form positive peer relationships.

Area 11: Communication, Language, and Literacy

11.1 Language Understanding and Use Children understand and use communication and language for a variety of purposes.

11.2 Early Literacy Children engage in early reading experiences.

11.3 Early Writing Children engage in early writing experiences.




12.2 Patterns Children understand patterns.

12.3 Shapes and Spatial Reasoning Children understand shapes and spatial relationships.

12.4 Scientific Reasoning Children observe, describe, and predict the world around them.

12.5 Scientific Investigations and Problem Solving Children plan and carry out investigations to answer questions and test solutions to problems.

12.6 Measurement Children understand comparisons and measurement.

Area 13: Creative Arts

13.1 Art Children participate in a variety of art and sensory-related experiences.

13.2 Music, Rhythm, and Movement Children participate in a variety of music and movement experiences.

13.3 Dramatic Play Children engage in dramatic play experiences.


Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of belonging to a family and community.

14.2 Awareness of Culture Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of culture and diversity.

14.3 Awareness of the Relationship between People and the Environment in Which They Live Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of the environment in which they live, especially how people (including themselves) relate to that environment.

14.4 Awareness of Past Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of past events and how those events relate to one’s self, family, and community.

A poster of the preschool standards can be found on the Early Childhood Iowa website: http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/files/early_learning_standarda/PreschoolStandardsPoster11x17.pdf


Theories of Early Learning – Key Ideas Handout 3.6

John Dewey

Maria Montessori

Erik Erikson

Jean Piaget

Lev Vygotsky

Additional Notes


Handout 3.7

Theorist Key Concepts

Abraham Maslow

Source: The Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos, 2006, Teaching Strategies, Inc.

1. There is a hierarchy of needs common to all human beings: physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem. 2. Basic physiological needs of hunger, thirst, and bodily comfort must be met before children are able to

focus on learning. 3. Adults need to recognize and provide for each child’s needs. 4. Adults must keep children free from harm and build relationships to provide a safe feeling. 5. Children need to feel accepted and that they belong. 6. Children should be provided experiences that help children feel competent as a learner.

John Bowlby


1. A child’s first relationships create a foundation for future relationships with others. 2. Through relationships, children learn about their self-worth, relationships with others, and how to express

emotions. 3. Secure attachments help children feel confident in exploring their environments. 4. Adults should provide responsive, nurturing care to each child. 5. Routines can be used to develop and maintain relationships with children. 6. Children’s communication attempts should be responded to positively.

Howard Gardner

Source: The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, 2002, Teaching Strategies, Inc.

1. There are eight intelligences: linguistic (language), logical (math and problem solving), musical (music patterns and rhythm), spatial (how things work and location), kinesthetic (fine and large motor coordination, hands-on learners), interpersonal (leaders and friendship skills), intrapersonal (understanding of self), and naturalistic (enjoy science and nature).

2. Children can be intelligent in many different ways and intelligence can exist in several categories 3. People have the capacity to develop all intelligences if provided materials and encouragement. 4. Children should be exposed to a variety of experiences to support each child’s intelligence specialties.

Stanley Greenspan/ T. Berry Brazelton


1. Children have seven needs – ongoing, nurturing relationships; physical protection, safety and regulation; experiences tailored to individual differences; developmentally appropriate experiences; limit setting, structure, and expectations; stable, supportive communities and cultural continuity; adults to protect their future. When seven needs are met, children are prepared socially, emotionally, and intellectually for future life success.

2. Adults should be responsive to children’s communication attempts. 3. Children need assistance in expressing emotions appropriately. 4. Children need many opportunities for play. 5. Schedules, routines, and experiences should be individualized to meet each child’s needs. 6. Adults should set limits and guide learning in ways that reflect realistic expectations for children’s

behavior.

Ron Lally, Peter Mangione

*Variety of sources from the Program for Infant/ Toddler Care

1. Infants and toddlers experience life more holistically than any other age period. Social, emotional, intellectual, language, and physical lessons are not separated by the infant.

2. The infant/toddler is dependent on close, caring, ongoing relationships as the source of positive, physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth.

3. An infant or toddler learns most of how he or she thinks and feels by imitating and incorporating the behaviors of those around him or her.

4. Each infant is born curious and motivated to learn and actively participates in learning each day. 5. All children come into the world temperamentally different than each other and because of these

differences they need to be treated differently by their caregivers. 6. Much of the first two years of life are spent in the creation of a child’s identity. Because this is such a

critical part of a child’s make up – how they first see themselves, how they think they should function, how they expect others to function in relation to them – early care must ensure that in addition to carefully selected and trained caregivers links with family, home culture, and home language are incorporated into learning experiences.

7. The development of language is particularly crucial during the infant/ toddler period. 8. Adults should interact in ways that understand that the child is learning from the whole experience not

just that part of the experience to which the adult gives attention. 9. Adults need to read the cues of each child and responds to needs accordingly. 10. Continuity of caregiving programs support ongoing relationships. 11. Adults should provide many opportunities for infants/toddlers to engage in meaningful and context-

based dialogue with them and to have the child’s communications acknowledged and encouraged.


Handout 3.8

Developmentally Appropriate Practice

*Determined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) *Developmentally appropriate practice is grounded in research and learning about how children develop and learn. *Developmentally appropriate practice promotes young children’s optimal learning and development through providing opportunities for (1) relationships with responsive adults, (2) active hands-on involvement, (3) meaningful experiences, and (4) constructing their understanding of the world. *Developmentally appropriate practice means teaching young children in ways that (1) meet children where they are as individuals and a group and (2) help each child reach challenging and achievable that contribute to his/her ongoing development and learning. *Developmentally appropriate practice is a result of decisions affecting children. These decisions should incorporate knowledge about child development and learning, each individual child, and social and cultural contexts.

Source: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009).



Handout 3.9

Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 3 Understanding Early Learning Theory






1 2 3 4 I can summarize early learning theories. 1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can describe developmentally appropriate practice. 1 2 3 4






Module 4 Script – Approaching Learning through Play


Module 4 - Approaching Learning through Play


Play is so important for optimal child development that it is included as a right of every child in

the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (Convention on the Rights of the Child.

General Assemby Resolution 50/155 of 21, 1995). Research documents and continues to

explore and support the intrinsic value and positive benefits of play as a positive approach to

learning for young children (Hyson, n.d.; Lifter, Foster-Sanda, Arzamarski, Briesch, & McClure,

2011). The most recent position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early

Childhood Programs Serving Children Birth through 8 (Bredekamp & Copple, 2009) describes

the foundational and long-term benefits of play that includes the development of self-

regulation skills as well as language, cognitive, and social competence.

Play is fundamental and essential for infants, toddlers, and preschool age children to develop

healthy and active brains, bodies, and relationships (Ginsburg, 2007). Intuitively valued over

time, play has been a natural mode for learning in early care and education programs.

However, free, spontaneous, child-directed play is being attacked and in danger of losing its

status. In today’s lifestyle of ‘hurried families’, emphasis on academic preparation for school,

and concern for global positioning, families and schools are minimizing and dismissing child’s

play. Early learning standards have the potential to reinstate and endorse the benefits of play

for children.

Through play, children learn about themselves and the world through self-created experiences

and positive social interactions with peers and nurturing adults. Children explore and practice

complex motor, cognitive, communication, and social skills developing neural synapses that

lead to self-regulation, symbolic or representational capacities, and executive functions

(Bodrova & Leong, 2005; Hyson, n.d.). They also develop competencies and character traits that

support learning and emotional well-being (Elkind, Clemens, Lewis, Brown, Almon, & Miller,

2009; Ginsburg, 2007). Given time, space, supportive adults, open-ended materials, and safe,

yet challenging environments, children develop confidence in themselves, competencies to

master their environment, deep-seated connectedness to and caring about others, the ability

to create environments of love, safety, and security, and resilience (Ginsburg, 2007).


Children enrolled in highly academic programs dominated by teacher-directed activities may be

academically prepared for the first years of school. However, longitudinal studies are

documenting that a healthy balance between preparing for the future and living fully in the

present through play, child-centered and organized experiences, and caring adult-child

interactions prepare children for life emotionally, socially, and academically (Elkind, Clemens,

Lewis, Brown, Almon, & Miller, 2009; Ginsburg, 2007; Gopnik, 2012; Miller & Almon, 2009). All

children need the support of nurturing and caring adults who understand, value, and provide

opportunities for play in ways that enable the access of their instinctive motivations to

understand or do what is just beyond their current understanding or mastery.

The Iowa Early Learning Standards emphasize the importance of play in learning by integrating

play into every content area of development using examples of both indoor and outdoor play to

illustrate how caring adults can support children’s natural inclinations, motivations, joy, and

learning. Play is natural. Play is meaningful. Play is joyful. Play is essential as we engage and

prepare our young children for the 21st century.

Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper



Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape

Collections of materials such as bottle caps, plastic lids, small blocks, yogurt containers, pinecones, rocks, feathers, seashells, bristle blocks, or Lincoln logs





Certificates




As a result of attending this training session, participants will be able to do the following: 1. Describe how children use play to approach learning, and 2. Give examples of how the Iowa Early Learning Standards can be recognized in play.

References Used in Module 4: Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2005). High quality preschool programs: What would Vygotsky say?

Early Education & Development, 16(4), 437-446.




Carlton, E. (2000). Learning through music: The support of brain research. Child Care

Information Exchange, 5, 53-56.

Charlesworth, R., & Lind, K. K. (1999). Math and science for young children (3rd ed.). New York, NY: ITP.

Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assemby Resolution 50/155 of 21. (1995,

December). Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm#art44.

Eckerman, C., & Peterman, K. (2004). Peers and infant social/communication development. In G. Bremner, & A. Fogel (Eds.). Blackwell handbook of infant development (pp. 326-350). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Elkind, D., Clemens, S. G., Lewis, R., Brown, S., Almon, J., & Miller, E. (2009, October). The

Wisdom of Play: How Children Learn to Make Sense of the World. Retrieved from

http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/RoomPlanning/WisdomOfPla

y.pdf#search=The%20Wisdom%20of%20Play.

Gestwicki, C. (2007). Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in

Early Education. 3rd Ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and

maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191.

Gopnik, A. (2012). Scientific thinking in young children: Theoretical advances, empirical

research, and policy implications. Science, 337(6102), 1623-1627.

http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/RoomPlanning/WisdomOfPla


Gronlund, G., & James, M. (2007). Early learning standards and staff development: Best

practices in the face of change. Redleaf Press: St. Paul, MN.

Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young

American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes. Howes, C., & Smith, E. (1995). Relations among child care quality, teacher behavior,

children’s play activities, emotional security, and cognitive activity in child care. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 10, 381-404.

Hyson, M. (n.d.). Research Connections. Retrieved from

http://www.researchconnections.org/files/childcare/pdf/PlayandApproachestoLearning

-MarilouHyson-1.pdf.

Lifter, K., Foster-Sanda, S., Arzamarski, C., Briesch, J., & McClure, E. (2011). Overview of play: Its

uses and importance in early intervention/early childhood special education. Infants and

Young Children, 24(3), 225-245.



Macmillan.

Miller, E., & Almon, J. (2009, March). Crisis in the kingergarten: Why children need to play in

school. Retrieved from

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/

Kindergarten_8-page_summary.pdf.






2a1_092305.html.




http://www.researchconnections.org/files/childcare/pdf/PlayandApproachestoLearning

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/





MATERIALS NEEDED


Chart paper

Markers


Last week, our time focused on early learning theories and building our

understanding of developmentally appropriate practice. Developmentally

appropriate practice defines the materials, equipment, skills, and strategies

necessary for providing quality care and education experiences for children.

Practitioners, who work with children and families, can use this knowledge to guide

their practices and to help families in supporting the healthy development of their

children.

Activity – Describing Developmentally Appropriate Practice (20 minutes)

At your tables, write down words or phrases that you would use to describe

developmentally appropriate practice. Choose three words or phrases to

share with the large group.


- Have participants share their three words; 10 minutes. Write these words

on dry erase board or chart paper. Answers might include the following:

o Determined by the National Association for the Education of

Young Children (NAEYC)

o Defines materials to support children’s care and learning

o Grounded in research

o Promotes children’s learning and development

o Discusses the role of relationships in learning

o Supports the value of play in learning

o Helps each child build their knowledge and skills

o Should be used when making decisions that affect children

o Guides adults’ interactions with children

o Describes what is best for children

The principles and theories that guide developmentally appropriate practice help

us understand that children learn best through relationships with responsive

adults, many opportunities for play with a variety of materials, and meaningful

routines; all of which help children construct their own understanding of the world.


Collections of

materials

such as

bottle caps,

plastic lids,

small blocks,

yogurt

containers,

pinecones,

rocks,

seashells,

bristle blocks,

feathers, or

Lincoln logs

Handout 4.1

THE VALUE OF PLAY (80 MINUTES TOTAL)

Intuitively valued over time, play has been a natural mode for learning in early care

and education programs. However, free, spontaneous, child-directed play is being

attacked and in danger of losing its status. In today’s lifestyle of ‘hurried families’,

emphasis on academic preparation for school, and concern for global positioning,

families and schools are minimizing and dismissing child’s play. The Iowa Early

Learning Standards have the potential to reinstate and endorse the benefits of play

for children through having standards related to play in the content area of

approaches to learning and examples of play throughout the standards when

helping children build the skills identified in the standards.

Activity – Learning Through Play (40 minutes)

To help us learn about the value of play, we are going to play ourselves. On

the tables and scattered throughout the room, there are several bags or

containers of play materials. Some of these materials are collections of

items, some are commercially made, and some are natural. I would like each

of you to choose an item to explore. You may sit at the tables or on the

floor. You may also choose to play alone or with a friend. For this activity,

there is no predetermined goal or plan for your materials, just relax and

explore. You will have approximately 15 minutes to interact with your

materials.

- Allow for play for 15 minutes.

- After 15 minutes, ask participants to clean up their materials and return to

their tables. Have them complete Handout 4.1 and then start discussing

their reflections with their tablemates; 15 minutes.

- As participants complete their handout, place a bag of materials from the

play activity in the middle of the tables.

How did this play experience help you connect to the value of play for

children?

- Answers will vary but may include the following: play is relaxing, play

builds children’s skills and knowledge, our interactions impact children’s play,

I need to provide children more time for play, children do not need

expensive toys for learning, it is important to incorporate natural materials

into play.


Handout 4.2

Handout 4.2 provides information on the value of play in children’s development.

Play provides for all areas of a child’s development - Play supports all areas

of development in a simultaneous and integrated way. For instance, when a

child is playing in the block area to build a large structure they later call a

space station, they are cooperating and sharing ideas, problem solving,

developing hand-eye coordination, understanding balance, showing task

perseverance, building fine motor skills, and enjoying companionship.

Play emphasizes learning as an active process - Involvement in meaningful

activities gives children a context for learning. As children interact with other

children and materials, they build knowledge based on their previous

learning. When children are free to move, they see the entire environment

as a place for learning.

Play presents highly motivated opportunities for learning - When children

are able to choose their play experiences, they can show their motivation.

They can choose where and how to play, their play partners, and their play

roles. The children accept challenges because they are interested in them.

Play allows for differences - Play supports differences in interests,

developmental ability, and learning style. Within the play choices a teacher

prepares, children can play together or alone, play with simple or complex

materials, play to construct, create, manipulate, explore and pretend, and

they can succeed at their own level.

Play contributes to brain development - The first five years of a child’s life

are the largest period of brain development. Having a variety of play

experiences with a variety of materials builds the brain. When adults

interact with the children and materials during play, the brain continues to

build. The more a child experiences a play activity the stronger the

connections in the brain.

Play is pleasurable - Children are filled with energy, enthusiasm, and

curiosity as they play. They are excited by their discoveries and build

confidence in their abilities.


Play promotes acquisition of foundation skills - Research shows the

connections between play and cognitive activities such as memory, self-

regulation, language and literacy development, and adaptive and social skills.

Cognitive development continues to build through high quality play

experiences that promote cooperation, problem solving, imagination, and

empathy.

Play is supported through having an appropriate environment for play, real

world experiences, and interactions with adults - The environments that

adults design for children influence their ability to make choices and interact

with peers. Flexibility about placement, movement and use of materials

allows play to expand. It is important to provide spaces large enough for

children to play together and alone. Providing a variety of materials

influences developmental and cultural viewpoints. When teachers provide

long periods of uninterrupted play, more complex play will occur. Providing

opportunities for real world experiences supports imagination. Teachers

who wish to participate in children’s play must be careful not to interrupt

learning. They must be careful observers to recognize when it is important

to assist in and extend learning. To add to play, teachers can help children

plan and organize play, add new ideas through questions, model to

demonstrate appropriate play behaviors, and provide props.

Play is essential for the healthy development of children. Through play, children

learn about themselves and the world. Research documents and continues to

explore and support the positive benefits of play. Through play, children learn

about themselves and the world through self-created experiences and positive

social interactions with peers and nurturing adults. Children explore and practice

complex motor, cognitive, communication, and social skills developing neural

synapses that lead to self-regulation, symbolic or representational capacities, and

executive functions (Bodrova & Leong, 2005; Hyson, n.d.). They also develop

competencies and character traits that support learning and emotional well-being

(Elkind, Clemens, Lewis, Brown, Almon, & Miller, 2009; Ginsburg, 2007). Given

time, space, supportive adults, open-ended materials, and safe, yet challenging

environments, children develop confidence in themselves, competencies to master

their environment, deep-seated connectedness to and caring about others, the

ability to create environments of love, safety, and security, and resilience

(Ginsburg, 2007).


Post-it notes

Chart paper

Handout 4.3

Activity – Play and the IELS (30 minutes)

The Iowa Early Learning Standards emphasize the importance of play in

learning by integrating play into every content area of development using

examples of both indoor and outdoor play to illustrate how caring adults can

support children’s natural inclinations, motivations, joy, and learning.

At your tables, I have placed a bag of materials; some of you may have

played with this collection of materials during our last activity. I want you to

explore the materials at your table. On post-it notes, write the skills or

knowledge that are learned; one skill on each post-it note. I’m going to give

you 5 minutes to write down as many skills that you can think of.


- Around the room post a piece of chart paper for each content area.

Around the room are the seven content areas of the IELS. I would like you to

post these skills with the content area that you feel best matches the skill

listed. You can use Handout 4.3 to refresh your memory on the content

areas.

- Allow for work 5-8 minutes.

- Ask for seven volunteers and have each one stand at one of the pieces of

chart paper. Ask each volunteer to read some of the skills listed on the

post-it notes; 15 minutes.

Play within inside and outside environments supports the healthy development of

children across all skill areas. Your post-it notes and conversations are evident of

the growth we see in children as they play. Studies are documenting that child-

centered play and caring adult-child interactions within play and throughout the

routines of the day prepare children for life emotionally, socially, and academically

(Elkind, Clemens, Lewis, Brown, Almon, & Miller, 2009; Ginsburg, 2007; Gopnik,

2012; Miller & Almon, 2009). Developmentally appropriate practice values play,

both indoors and out, and considers both equally essential. Outdoor play should

not be seen as just a time for children to blow off steam and teachers to stand

around talking, but a time for learning to continue to occur. Outdoor play provides

key spaces for children to practice their physical skills of crawling, walking, running,

jumping, throwing, and riding. In addition, the outdoor environment provides a

place for children to explore nature and can extend the indoor opportunities of

reading, pretending, constructing, and creating.


Handout 4.4

Just as each child is unique in their development and biological traits, so are they

unique in how they approach learning and play. Children’s early experiences with

the environment and relationships with adults that support curiosity, initiative,

persistence, and problem solving supports healthy brain development.

Approaches to learning reflected in content areas 2 and 9 include play and begin

with a child’s interest in the world. Children show curiosity and initiative when

choosing to interact with people and objects in the environment. Children learn by

doing and trying. When children try a variety of ways to get what they want, they

are practicing problem solving. Doing the same things over and over strengthen

skills and build a child’s confidence. Adults can foster these approaches to learning

through providing sufficient and interesting materials and time to explore. As

caregivers support children’s efforts, children become more willing to try new

things. Nurturing healthy approaches to learning lay a strong foundation for future

learning and success.

THE ROLE OF ADULTS DURING PLAY (30 MINUTES TOTAL)

Young children develop the understanding and skills they need with supports from

their familiar, consistent caregivers. When family members, teachers, and

caregivers observe or join children in play, they are given an opportunity to see the

world through children’s eyes. When we take time to play with children and reflect

on our experiences, we learn to value play as a key component of children’s

approaches to learning, recognize the learning that occurs through play, and

advocate for programs that use play to support the growth and development of

children.

Adults need to be actively involved in observing, facilitating, and extending

children’s play. When you have a variety of appropriate materials for children to

explore and adults interacting with children through their explorations, such as

describing the items the children are playing with and asking questions, children

learn about the world and build the skills needed to be successful when they enter

school.

Activity – Strategies that Support Play (20 minutes)

Included in each standard of the IELS are adult supports. Handout 4.4

describes strategies adults can use to support and extend children’s learning

during play. I would like you to find this handout.


Take a moment to read through the strategies. Choose one of these

strategies to focus on. Write a brief description of how you can help another

adult, such as a family member, in using this strategy to support children’s

play and learning. Share your thoughts with your tablemates.


- Allow for sharing; 10 minutes.

- Ask each table to choose one strategy to share with the large group.

- Answers will vary but you can provide the following examples:

o ACKNOWLEDGE what children do or say. This gives them

positive attention – “Thank you for helping me fold the laundry”

or “You built a block tower as tall as you.”

o ENCOURAGE persistence and effort. This gives encouragement

to keep going. – “You are working really hard on that picture. I

can’t wait to see your finished picture.”

o GIVE SPECIFIC FEEDBACK. This tells a child exactly what he needs

to do or has done. – “I like the way you are being very careful

when riding your bike. You have your helmet on and you are

looking around for any dangers.”

o MODEL attitudes, ways of approaching problems, and behavior

toward others. Children watch what adults do so it is very

important to be a role model of behaviors. – “Hmm, I’m really

frustrated that my cake didn’t cook very well. I need to re-read

the recipe and see what I missed.”

o DEMONSTRATE the correct way to do something. This helps

children know the proper steps of doing something – “Let me

show you how to sort the clothes so we can do laundry. We have

to keep the whites separate so that the colors of the other clothes

don’t change the white clothes a different color.”

o CREATE or ADD CHALLENGES, while sometimes reducing the

challenge. This helps children attempt a skill just beyond their

ability and encourages them to try – “I bet you can figure out how

to fit these puzzle pieces together. You try first.” Then, “Oh I can

see this puzzle is really hard let me help you through it. Can you

find a piece with the same color as this piece?”


o ASK QUESTIONS to encourage thinking. This encourages children

to think through situations – “What do you think would happen if

we bring the snow inside?” or “What could we say to your friend

to see if you can play with him?”

o GIVE ASSISTANCE only as needed. This helps children think

through what they are doing and see if they can figure out the

task. – “I said it was Tyisha’s turn. What can we do to help you

remember your turn? First Tyisha goes and then it is your turn.

So you need to wait for Tyisha to finish and then you can have

your turn.”

o PROVIDE INFORMATION, to build children’s knowledge. “This

animal does look a little bit like a horse but it is called a mule. It is

smaller and it makes a different sound than a horse too. It says

hee-haw.”

o GIVE DIRECTIONS telling children exactly what they need to do –

“First, I need you to take your coat off and then I need you to go

pick out a book to read.”

These strategies are effective in supporting all children’s learning needs. Families

are children’s primary caregivers and first teachers, and should be valued as

partners in early care and education, health, mental health, and family support

programming. Creating partnerships with families is essential for ensuring that

children are provided with the best learning experiences. Giving examples of these

strategies to families can help them in supporting their children’s learning.


Young children learn the most important things not by being told but by

constructing knowledge for themselves as they interact with the physical world

and with other children. They do this through playing (Gronlund & James, 2008).

Research documents and continues to explore and support the intrinsic value and

positive benefits of play as a positive approach to learning for young children

(Hyson, n.d.; Lifter, Foster-Sanda, Arzamarski, Briesch, and McClure, 2011). For

more information on play and its role in children’s development, I recommend

attending the Iowa AEYC Play Experience as well as their follow up session focused

on play and the Iowa Early Learning Standards.


Handout 4.5

Certificates

Homework

Read the content area, approaches to learning, for infants/toddlers and

preschoolers. Write down key ideas and bring these to class next time.

Also, find an article on the value of play that might be used to create

understanding on how play supports children’s development and learning.

Please find Handout 4.5 to reflect on today’s session. When you are finished, I can

give you your certificate. Thank you for participating. We will see you next week.

- Answer any questions that arise during the reflection process either with

the participant individually or at the next session. Be sure to have


organization



Module 4 Participant Handouts -

Approaching Learning through Play



Reflections on Play Handout 4.1 Use this handout to reflect on your play experience. Share your thoughts with your table mates.

1. Describe what you were feeling as you played.

2. How did your play start? Did you sort or organize materials? Did you start building? Did you explore the physical properties of the materials? Did you observe others at play first?

3. Why did you choose to play alone? OR Why did you choose to play with a friend?

4. How did this experience help you relate to how children play and why play is important to their development?


Handout 4.2

Understanding the Role of Play in Children’s Development and Learning

Source: Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in Early Education, Gestwicki, 2007.

1. Play provides for all areas of a child’s development.

2. Play emphasizes learning as an active process.

3. Play presents highly motivated opportunities for learning. 4. Play allows for differences.

5. Play contributes to brain development.

6. Play is pleasurable.

7. Play promotes acquisition of foundation skills.

8. Play is supported through having an appropriate environment for play, real world experiences, and interactions with adults.


Handout 4.3

Seven Content Areas – Iowa Early Learning Standards (2012)

1. Physical well-being and motor development (IELS content areas 1 & 8) – This includes the

characteristics of each child’s growth, physical health, and large and small motor abilities (Scott-Little, Kagan, & Frelow, 2005). Children need nutritious food to sustain the growth, activity, and functioning of their bodies, including their brains. Eating nutritious food daily must be accompanied by offering appropriate daily physical activity and play. Adults should provide opportunities for children to be physically active from birth. Large motor skills include crawling, walking, running, jumping, and climbing. Small motor skills are related to the muscles in children’s fingers and hands and are developed through manipulating and playing with a variety of age appropriate objects. As children practice fine motor skills, they are building the necessary movements needed for drawing and writing experiences.

2. Approaches to learning (IELS content areas 2 & 9) – Approaches to learning include children’s curiosity, initiative, engagement, persistence, problem solving, reasoning, and choosing items to explore during play. Children are intrinsically motivated to explore the world around them, investigating and engaging with materials and people in their environment and gathering knowledge in the process. Learning occurs when children can manipulate and choose materials and can freely use their whole bodies and all their senses (Lockhart, 2011). Adults help young children develop reasoning and problem solving skills by making problem solving opportunities available as children explore a variety of materials, by encouraging children to experiment with solutions, by not intervening too quickly to solve problems for children, and by helping children notice the results of their experiments. Through play, children build understanding and skills in cognitive, communication, motor, social, and emotional development.

3. Social and emotional development (IELS content areas 3 & 10) – Healthy social and emotional development is necessary for learning. Social development involves children building relationships with peers and adults. Adults help children develop peer relationships by providing supervised opportunities for children to interact in an environment with adequate space and materials (Eckerman & Peterman, 2004). Children need opportunities to become attached to consistent, responsive, and sensitive adults. Research suggests that secure attachments to adult caregivers are related to optimal social and cognitive growth (Howes & Smith, 1995). Emotional development includes the building of children’s self-esteem and identity. It also involves helping children understand their emotions and those of their peers. Self-regulation is a key component of social and emotional development. Self-regulation refers to children’s ability to become aware of their emotions in order to help them understand what they need and want, and how to get it in socially acceptable ways.


4. Communication, language, and literacy (IELS content areas 4 & 11) – Through interactions with caring and nurturing adults, children acquire both listening and speaking vocabulary. The ongoing support and development of a child’s home language serves as a foundation for learning English. Literacy skills include vocabulary development, showing an interest in and understanding of books, and using drawing or writing materials. Literacy skills are developed through conversations with adults and peers, shared book experiences with caring adults, manipulating a variety of age appropriate materials, and experiences with writing materials. When adults talk with children during play and daily routines, children build vocabulary that will assist them when they begin to recognize letters and start reading (Hart & Risley, 1999). Children develop skills in using writing instruments as they manipulate and explore a variety of materials during play and routine experiences.

5. Mathematics and science (IELS content areas 5 & 12) – Math and science are everywhere. Children build their mathematical and scientific skills through manipulating a variety of materials as caring adults label their actions and provide descriptions of the materials. Math skills include counting, comparing, patterns, shapes, spatial reasoning, and measurement. Science skills include observing, describing, and predicting the world around us, as well as investigating and problem solving. Science is an active process and includes earth, physical, and life science. Children need time to think about problems, permission to experiment and make mistakes, and encouragement to try a variety of strategies within play and learning to develop math and science skills (Charlesworth & Lind, 1999).

6. Creative arts (IELS content areas 6 & 13) – Creative arts include music, pretend play, and art

experiences. Pretend play is a term to describe play that involves pretending or the use of materials to represent something real. Through the arts, children can learn to communicate ideas, make choices, practice motor skills, and explore physical properties of materials. It is important to support the creative process in young children, opposed to focusing on an end product. Through repeated exposure to art materials, children gain control of their fine motor skills and begin to intentionally plan and direct their use of materials (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1987). Simple, rhythmic songs with repeated phrases and rhymes help children learn language and sound patterns (Carlton, 2000). Moving to music helps children develop large muscle control and dexterity. Pretend play helps children learn to communicate, control and compromise, assume different roles, and use their understandings to act out a variety of emotions and social relationships.

7. Social studies (IELS content areas 7 & 14) – Social studies include developing children’s

awareness of belonging to a family and community. In order to function as a member of a family or community, children must learn to communicate, participate, and interact with other members of a group. This socialization process begins with the family and continues as children move in and out of social groups. Membership in a family contributes to a child’s identity, which sets the stage for his/her confidence in interacting with others. Social studies also include building a child’s awareness of culture and diversity. Every individual is rooted in culture and culture influences every aspect of human development. Children acquire cultural knowledge as they develop language, learn concepts, and experience being cared for by their parents, family members, teachers, caregivers, and other people around them (Office of Head Start, 2008).


Handout 4.4

Adult Strategies to Support Children’s Learning Source: Bredekamp & Copple. (2009). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.

ACKNOWLEDGE what children do or say. Adults let children know that they have noticed by giving children positive attention, sometimes through comments, sometimes through sitting nearby and observing. Example – “Thanks for your help, Keri.” “You found another way to show 5.”

ENCOURAGE persistence and effort rather than just praising and evaluating what a child has done. Example – “You’re thinking of lots of words to describe the dog in the story. Let’s keep going.”

GIVE SPECIFIC FEEDBACK rather than general comments. Example – “The beanbag didn’t get all the way to the hoop, James, so you might try throwing it harder.”

MODEL attitudes, ways of approaching problems, and behavior toward others, showing children rather than just telling them. Example – “Hmm, that didn’t work and I need to think about why,” “I’m sorry Ben, I missed part of what you said. Please tell me again.”

DEMONSTRATE the correct way to do something. This usually applies to a procedure that needs to be done in a certain way. Example – using a wire whisk or writing a letter P.

CREATE or ADD CHALLENGE so that a task goes a bit beyond what a child can already do. Example – When an adult removes several chips from a set, asks how many are left, and finds the child can count the remaining chips accurately, he may then add difficulty by hiding the remaining chips. Figuring out how many are left just from knowing the number that were removed is more challenging. In other cases, REDUCE CHALLENGE to meet children where they are. Example – simplifying a task.

ASK QUESTIONS that provoke children’s thinking. Example – “If you couldn’t talk to your partner, how else could you let him know what to do?” or “What do you think would happen if we put the water in the freezer?”

GIVE ASSISTANCE, such as a cue or hint, to help children work on the edge of their current competence. Example – “Can you think of a word that rhymes with your name, Matt? How about bat…Matt, bat. What else rhymes with Matt and bat?”

PROVIDE INFORMATION, directly giving children facts, verbal labels, and other information. Example – “This one that looks like a big mouse is called a rat.”

GIVE DIRECTIONS for children’s actions or behaviors. Example – “Touch each block only once as you count them.” “Click on it and keep holding down, then drag the icon to wherever you want.”



Handout 4.5

Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 4 Approaching Learning through Play






1 2 3 4 I can describe how children use play for learning. 1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can give examples of how the IELS can be recognized in play. 1 2 3 4






Module 5 Script – The Role of Relationships and Routines in Supporting

Children’s Development


Module 5 – The Role of Relationships and Routines in

Supporting Children’s Development Building Instructor Knowledge:

Young children—infants, toddlers, and preschool age children—develop knowledge and skills as

they interact with familiar, consistent, and caring adults. Nurturing and responsive adults play a

critical role in establishing the foundation for healthy growth and development. They help

children develop a sense of security and trust, which are necessary for children to be ready to

learn. Infants and toddlers learn through reciprocal communication and interactions with adults

in the context of routine care, play, and an appropriate developmental environment.

Preschoolers learn when caring adults are available to guide and facilitate play, as well as

provide investigative experiences within large and small group experiences. Each early learning

standard includes examples of adult supports that guide children’s development through

timely, responsive, and appropriate interactions.

Development and learning within the routines of our days unfold within the contexts of

relationships. Through nurturing, consistent relationships in the first three years of life children

are able to develop a sense of trust in others to keep them safe and cared for, develop the

confidence and abilities to follow their own interests as they learn and explore, build a sense of

identity, and establish the structure of their brains (Zero to Three, 2008). When young children

are in care or education settings outside of the home, it is best to set up caregiving and

relationship routines that are rooted in the familiar cultural context of the family.

Adults play a key part in creating routines for the children in their lives and may not understand

the role routines play in supporting children’s learning (Zero to Three, 2008). Consistent

routines or activities that happen at about the same time and in about the same way each day,

provide comfort and a sense of safety to young children. They allow children to predict what

will happen next, which builds their confidence and allows them to feel a sense of control over

the events in their lives. Routines also provide opportunities for building self-control, curiosity,

and learning in all areas of development (Zero to Three, 2008). As children come into contact

with more people and learn patterns for social interaction within their routines, they build their

social skills. These interactions also support the development of language skills.


Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper



Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape

Iowa Early Learning Standards (one for each participant or one for each table group) participants may be interested in bringing a laptop to access the standards on the ECI



Article – Developmentally Appropropriate Practice and Play (included in handouts) or online at http://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/DAP%20and%20Play%20Handout.pdf

Article – Play in the Early Years (included in handouts) or online at http://www.blcelmhurst.org/PlayintheEarlyYears.pdf

Certificates Learning Objectives: As a result of attending this training, participants will be able to do the following:

1. Give examples of how daily routines support children’s growth and development, and 2. Describe the role of relationships in children’s development and learning.

References Used with Module 5: Cryer, D., Hurwitz, S., & Wolery, M. (2001). Continuity of caregiver for infants and toddlers

in center-based child care: Report on a survey of center practices. Early Childhood

Research Quarterly, 15(4), 497-514.

Gestwicki, C. (2007). Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Curriculum and Development in

Early Education. 3rd Ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Howes, C., & Smith, E. (1995). Relations among child care quality, teacher behavior,

children’s play activities, emotional security, and cognitive activity in child care. Early

Childhood Research Quarterly, 10, 381-404.


http://www.blcelmhurst.org/PlayintheEarlyYears.pdf


Howes, C., Hamilton, C. E., & Phillipsen, L. C. (1998). Stability and continuity of child-

caregiver and child-peer relationships. Child Development, 69(2), 418-426.

Hyson, M. C. (2003). Putting early academics in their place. Educational Leadership, 60 (7),

20-23.

Raikes, H. (1993). Relationship duration in infant care: Time with a high-ability teacher and

infant-teacher attachment. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 8(3), 309-325.

Saarni, C., Mimme, D. L., & Campos, J. J. (1997). Emotional development: Action,

communication, and understanding. In W. Damon, & N. Eisenberg, N. (Eds.).

Handbook of child psychology. Vol. III: Social, emotional, and personality development

(pp. 237-310). New York, NY: Wiley.

Thompson, R. (1991). Emotional regulation and emotional development. Educational

Psychology Review, 3, 269-307.

Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., Zepeda, M., & Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2005). Bridging cultures

in early care and education: A training module, West Ed R&D Alert, 7(3). Retrieved

from http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/feat/178.

Zero to Three. (2008). Caring for infants and toddlers in groups: Developmentally

appropriate practice (2nd Ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/feat/178


MATERIALS NEEDED


Chart paper Markers Articles – Develop- mentally Appropropriate Practice and Play and Play in the Early Years


Welcome. Last week we recognized the role of play in children’s learning and

development and that the Iowa Early Learning Standards recommend the use

of play in building the skills reflected within the standards.

Activity – Talking with Families about Play (20 minutes)

As homework, you were to find an article on play. Share the

articles at your tables. Choose one to explore in depth and write

key messages to share with families about play on a piece of chart

paper.

- In the handouts, there are two articles on play that can be used if

participants forgot to bring an example.


- Let participants share key messages; 10 minutes.

Play is the medium through which children develop each area of development

most appropriately. Through play, children express their ideas and

understandings as they practice skills in communication, social play, and

problem solving. Child-initiated play experiences give young children the

opportunity to explore and practice motor, cognitive, communication, and

social skills. Having a variety of play experiences with a variety of materials

builds children’s brains. When adults interact with children and materials

during play, the brain continues to build. The more a child experiences a play

activity the stronger the connections in the brain (Gestwicki, 2007).

LEARNING WITHIN ROUTINES (60 MINUTES TOTAL)

Play is one of the most valuable routines of a child’s day. Other daily routines

include meals, changing diapers or going to the restroom, getting ready for a

nap or bedtime, and cleaning up. Many times these routines are often

thought of as just "maintenance" activities. However, these everyday routines

are rich opportunities to support children’s learning and development.


Handout 5.1 5 pieces of paper; one routine on each

Activity – Routines (5 minutes)

I would like you to take a moment and jot down your morning

routine as you prepare for work.

- Allow for reflection; 2 minutes.

What happens when this routine is interrupted or changed? How

do you feel?

- Allow for responses; 2-3 minutes. Responses should include

frustration, grumpy, rushed, or upset.

Just as you have preferred ways for completing your daily routines, so do

children. When these routines are not respected or unexpectedly changed,

children are affected. We can recognize this by their behaviors including

confusion, frustration, anger, crying, screaming, or not doing what you tell

them.

Young children learn from everything they experience, which means there is

value to each routine of their day. When planning our schedules and

routines, it is important to be knowledgeable of children’s development and

needs. For instance, with infants and toddlers it is important to follow the

cues of the children to determine when they need to eat or sleep. Putting

them on a rigid schedule of only eating every three hours might not work for a

child and they may become very fussy and hard to soothe because their need

to eat is not being met. We must learn to be careful observers to determine

how to respond to children during the routines of our days. Let’s explore the

value of routines in children’s development and learning.

Activity - Standards and Daily Routines (45 minutes)

Please find Handout 5.1. At your tables, you have a piece of paper

labeled with one of the following routines; feeding/eating,

diapering/bathroom, dressing/undressing, and naptime/bedtime. List

this routine in the middle of your handout. You are then going to

create a web to represent what a child may be learning during this

routine. You will sort this learning into the content areas of the Iowa

Early Learning Standards as shown on the handout.


Handout 5.2 Handout 5.3 Handout 5.1 Chart paper Markers Handout 5.2 Handout 5.3 Handout 5.1

Handouts 5.2 and 5.3 include the content areas and standards to

refresh your memory. As you sort the learning into content areas, also

try to assign a standard to each skill you identify. As you complete this

activity, I want everyone to record their thoughts on Handout 5.1

because we will be sharing these with each other. You have a blank

copy of Handout 5.1 on the back side should you want to use a form

such as this in the future for planning or sharing with families

Let’s do part of a routine together; hello’s and goodbye’s. When a

child is being taken to a different caregiver or to an early care and

education program, the routine for dropping off the child and then

reuniting with the child is very important in helping children adjust

during this routine. As you think about dropping off a child and then

reuniting a child what can be learned in the area of social and

emotional development?

- Allow for answers; 5 minutes. They may include the following;

understanding feelings of sadness and happiness, learning to

adjust to changes, recognizing familiar caregivers, and showing

affection.

You will do this for the routine assigned to your table in each content

area. After you brainstorm your list of skills being learned and used,

remember to tie it to a specific standard or benchmark using Handouts

5.2 and 5.3.


Now, I’d like you to stand. You will take Handout 5.1 with you. I want

you to find a person who is wearing a same color as you. Go to that

person, introduce yourself, and share the skills that are learned within

the routine that you focused on with Handout 5.1.


Now I would like you to find someone with the same color hair as you.

Again, go to that person, introduce yourself, and share the skills that

are learned within your routine.



Iowa Early Learning Standards

You may return to your seats.

As you can see, the Iowa Early Learning Standards are evident throughout our

daily routines. As you become more and more familiar with the standards,

you will easily recognize them throughout the routines of your days. The web

activity can be used to share with families the value of daily routines in

supporting their child’s learning.

THE ROLE OF RELATIONSHIPS IN LEARNING (55 MINUTES TOTAL)

An important component that contributes to the success of our routines is

building relationships with children. Development and learning unfold within

the contexts of relationships. Through nurturing, consistent relationships

children are able to develop a sense of trust in others to keep them safe and

cared for, develop the confidence and abilities to follow their own interests as

they learn and explore, build a sense of identity, and establish the structure of

children’s brains (Zero to Three, 2008).

Nurturing relationships build children’s social and emotional skills and

contribute to overall mental health. Nurturing relationships also help children

develop respect for others and learn to demonstrate caring behaviors. Caring

behaviors are also known as pro-social skills and include behaviors such as

helping, comforting, showing respect, sharing and turn taking, and recognizing

as well as regulating emotions. The IELS reflect the role of relationships

within the social and emotional standards, as well as social studies.

Activity – Building Relationships (45 minutes)

In this activity, I will assign a social/emotional or social studies

standard to each group. In your group, you will review the

information within the standard assigned to you.

On chart paper, you will create two lists of information. One list

will contain what adults can do to build healthy and nurturing

relationships with children. You can find this content in the

rationale and the adult supports section. The other list should

include the skills that children gain from having healthy and

nurturing caregivers; this information will be found in the rationale

and the benchmarks.


Chart paper Markers

As you review the information, remember to look at both the

infant/toddler standard and the preschool standard. Let’s number

off by sixes.

- 6 groups; (Group 1) 3.1/10.1 – self; (Group 2) 3.2/10.2 – self-

regulation; (Group 3) 3.3/10.3 – relationships with adults; (Group

4) 3.4/10.4 – relationships with children; (Group 5) 7.1/14.1 –

awareness of family and community; and (Group 6) 7.2/14.2 –

awareness of culture.


- Large group sharing; 30 minutes.

- Answers across the groups should include the following for what

adults can do to build relationships:

o respond to children’s needs

o provide stable and compassionate environments

o use children’s names

o adapt to children’s temperaments or individual

characteristics

o allow for child choice of materials

o talk positively about children’s families and culture

o express enjoyment when with children

o provide physical contact and affection

o recognize and discuss children’s feelings

o form strong attachments with children

o limit caregiver and classroom changes

o practice primary caregiving and continuity of care

o play frequently with children

o model empathy

o talk to children in positive ways

o model relationship skills

o provide play environments that encourage children to play

together

o assist children in making friendships

o listen attentively to children

o model sharing and turn taking

o create welcoming environments for families

o use a child’s home language


o respect cultural differences

o communicates positively with other adults

o guide children’s behavior in positive ways

o assist children with problem solving

o provide comfort

o give children words to use to communicate needs

o express emotions in socially appropriate ways, and

o build relationships with children’s families.

- Answers across groups should include the following for the skills

children learn from having healthy and nurturing relationships with

caregivers:

o expresses joy

o makes choices

o responds to caregivers

o comforts self

o responds positively to emotions expressed by others

o recognizes feelings

o regulates behavior

o seeks contact with others

o shows discomfort with separations

o seeks help when needed

o forms friendships

o demonstrates empathy

o plays with adults and peers

o positive social skills

o freely explores and plays

o learns communication skills

o shows respect to others

o demonstrates responsibility

o helps others

o follows rules and routines

o demonstrates a sense of belonging

o problem solving

o uses appropriate and respectful language

o accepts guidance and assistance from adults

o persists with tasks


o displays a positive sense of self

o demonstrates trust

o transitions successfully and

o chooses to participate in experiences.

Nurturing relationships in the lives of children and adults assists in the

formation of attachments. Attachment is the strong, emotional bond that is

formed between a child and a nurturing adult. Research suggests that secure

attachments to adult caregivers are related to optimal social and cognitive

growth (Howes & Smith, 1995). Attachments help children regulate their

emotions and learn to interact with objects and people. Children are less

likely to form attachments when frequent caregiver changes occur such as

frequent classroom or caregiver changes that can occur in child care settings

(Raikes, 1993; Cryer, Hurwitz, & Wolery, 2001). The loss of a particular

caregiver with whom a child has established a trusting relationship can affect

the child's feelings of security and can also affect the development of

cognitive and social skills (Howes, Hamilton, & Philipsen, 1998; Howes &

Smith, 1995). This is due to valuable learning time being lost during the time

between when one caregiver leaves and the adjustment to a new caregiver.

When children have frequent adjustments, their energy is consumed with

establishing security rather than with exploration and learning (Cryer,

Hurwitz, & Wolery, 2001).

Attachments and nurturing relationships also help children learn to regulate

their behaviors and emotions. During early childhood, children learn that

everyone has emotions and that they can learn how to tell how others are

feeling by observing their expressions of emotions (Hyson, 2003). They also

learn that emotions occur in response to different situations and that

emotions can be expressed in different ways. While young children’s

understanding of emotions may be restricted to “mad, sad, glad” at first, they

gradually develop more differentiated understandings of emotions such as

fear, surprise, and disappointment. Through adult modeling and feedback,

young children learn how and when to express emotions in ways that are

socially appropriate (Thompson, 1991). Children also learn from adults how to

show empathy and display concern over the emotional expressions of peers.


Young children are preferred as playmates when they can recognize the

emotions of others and show their own emotions in socially appropriate ways

(Saarni, Mimme, & Campos, 1997).

Acceptance, emotional attachment, and ongoing nurturing relationships are

the primary basis for a positive sense of self. The way caring adults relate to

children influences the way they grow up to view themselves. Adults can

foster the development of a positive sense of self by respecting children’s

choices and their home culture. Culture is “a set of values, beliefs, and ways

of thinking about the world that influences everyday behavior” (Trumbull,

Rothstein-Fisch, Zepeda, & Gonzalez-Mena, 2005, p. 3). Every individual is

rooted in culture and culture influences every aspect of human development.

Culture is acquired through the repeated, daily interactions children have with

the people around them. Children acquire cultural knowledge as they develop

language, learn concepts, and experience being cared for by their parents,

family members, teachers, and other people around them (Office of Head

Start, 2008).


Young children develop knowledge and skills as they interact with familiar,

consistent, and caring adults. Nurturing and responsive adults play a critical

role in establishing the foundation for healthy growth and development. They

help children develop a sense of security and trust, which are necessary for

children to be ready to learn. Infants and toddlers learn through reciprocal

communication and interactions with adults in the context of routine care,

play, and an appropriate developmental environment. Preschoolers learn

when caring adults are available to guide and facilitate play, as well as provide

investigative experiences within large and small group experiences. Each early

learning standard includes examples of adult supports that guide children’s

development through timely, responsive, and appropriate interactions. In

addition, daily routines provide valuable opportunities to build relationships.

Children play a key part in the design of your routines and adults must take

time to observe and get to know children to be able to respond appropriately

to their needs. For more information on the role of routines in children’s

lives, I would recommend the Program for Infant/Toddler Care or PITC and

then PBIS which stands for Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports.



Homework

Choose a daily routine to create a poster or handout to describe

the learning that takes place within the routine. Be sure to

reference the skills within the IELS that children learn within these

routines and the role of relationships in supporting children’s skills

and needs. Also, include adult behaviors that are necessary for the

healthy development of children within these routines.

Bring this poster or handout to our next class.

Please find Handout 5.4 to reflect on today’s session. I’ll give you your

certificate when you are finished. Thank you so much for your hard work

today. We will see you next week.




organization




Module 5 Participant Handouts - The Role of Relationships and Routines in Supporting

Children’s Development



















Handout 5.1

Approaches to Learning Physical Well-Being and

Development

Social and Emotional

Development

Communication, Language,

and Literacy

Math and Science Creative Arts

Routine:

Social Studies


Handout 5.1

Approaches to Learning Physical Well-Being and

Development

Social and Emotional

Development

Communication, Language,

and Literacy

Math and Science Creative Arts

Routine:

Social Studies


Handout 5.2

Infant and Toddler Early Learning Standards – 2012


Infants and toddlers participate in healthy and safe living practices. 1.5 Large Motor Development

Infants and toddlers develop large motor skills. 1.6 Small Motor Development

Infants and toddlers develop small motor skills. Area 2: Approaches to Learning

2.1 Curiosity and Initiative Infants and toddlers express curiosity and initiative in exploring the environment and learning new skills.

2.2 Engagement and Persistence Infants and toddlers purposefully choose, engage, and persist in play, experiences, and routines.

2.3 Reasoning and Problem Solving Infants and toddlers demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

2.4 Play and Senses Infants and toddlers engage in play to learn.


3.1 Self Infants and toddlers display a positive sense of self. 3.2 Self-Regulation


3.3 Relationships with Adults Infants and toddlers relate positively with significant adults. 3.4 Relationships with Children Infants and toddlers respond to and initiate interactions with other children.

Area 4: Communication, Language, and Literacy 4.1 Language Understanding and Use


4.2 Early Literacy Infants and toddlers engage in early reading experiences.

4.3 Early Writing Infants and toddlers engage in early writing experiences.


Area 5: Mathematics and Science

5.1 Comparison and Number Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of comparisons and amount, including use of numbers and counting.

5.2 Patterns Infants and toddlers begin to recognize patterns.

5.3 Shapes and Spatial Relationships Infants and toddlers show increasing understanding of spatial relationships.

5.4 Scientific Reasoning Infants and toddlers observe, describe, predict, and explore the world around them.

Area 6: Creative Arts 6.1 Art

Infants and toddlers participate in a variety of sensory and art-related experiences. 6.2 Music, Rhythm, and Movement


6.3 Dramatic Play Infants and toddlers engage in dramatic play experiences.



7.2 Awareness of Culture Infants and toddlers demonstrate a strong sense of self within their culture.

7.3 Exploration of the Environment. Infants and toddlers explore new environments with interest and recognize familiar places.

A poster of the infant/toddler standards can be found on the Early Childhood Iowa website: http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/files/early_learning_standarda/InfantAndToddlerStandardsPoster11x17.pdf




Handout 5.3

Preschool Early Learning Standards – 2012


Children understand healthy and safe living practices. 8.5 Large Motor Development

Children develop large motor skills. 8.6 Small Motor Development

Children develop small motor skills. Area 9: Approaches to Learning

9.1 Curiosity and Initiative Children express curiosity, interest, and initiative in exploring the environment, engaging in experiences, and learning new skills.

9.2 Engagement and Persistence Children purposefully choose and persist in experiences and play.

9.3 Reasoning and Problem Solving Children demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving.

9.4 Play and Senses Children engage in play to learn.


10.1 Self Children express a positive awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

10.2 Self-Regulation Children show increasing ability to regulate their behavior and express emotions in appropriate ways.

10.3 Relationships with Adults Children relate positively with significant adults. 10.4 Relationships with Children

Children respond to and initiate interactions with other children, and form positive peer relationships.

Area 11: Communication, Language, and Literacy

11.1 Language Understanding and Use Children understand and use communication and language for a variety of purposes.

11.2 Early Literacy Children engage in early reading experiences.

11.3 Early Writing Children engage in early writing experiences.




12.2 Patterns Children understand patterns.

12.3 Shapes and Spatial Reasoning Children understand shapes and spatial relationships.

12.4 Scientific Reasoning Children observe, describe, and predict the world around them.

12.5 Scientific Investigations and Problem Solving Children plan and carry out investigations to answer questions and test solutions to problems.

12.6 Measurement Children understand comparisons and measurement.

Area 13: Creative Arts

13.1 Art Children participate in a variety of art and sensory-related experiences.

13.2 Music, Rhythm, and Movement Children participate in a variety of music and movement experiences.

13.3 Dramatic Play Children engage in dramatic play experiences.


Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of belonging to a family and community.

14.2 Awareness of Culture Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of culture and diversity.

14.3 Awareness of the Relationship between People and the Environment in Which They Live Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of the environment in which they live, especially how people (including themselves) relate to that environment.

14.4 Awareness of Past Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of past events and how those events relate to one’s self, family, and community.

A poster of the preschool standards can be found on the Early Childhood Iowa website: http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/files/early_learning_standarda/PreschoolStandardsPoster11x17.pdf


Handout 5.4

Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 5 The Role of Relationships and Routines in Children’s Development






1 2 3 4 I can give examples of how daily routines support children’s growth and development.

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can describe the role of relationships in children’s development and learning.

1 2 3 4






Module 6 Script – A Seamless Continuum from Birth through 12th Grade


Module 6 – A Seamless Continuum from Birth to 12th Grade


The Iowa Core describes academic expectations for all Iowa's Kindergarten to 12th grade

students. In Section five of the IELS, you will find the alignment of the Iowa Early Learning

Standards and the Iowa Core for English Language Arts and Mathematics. The alignment

provides a broad illustration of the connections between early learning and school-age

expectations for children in Iowa. The alignment demonstrates that multiple content areas and

benchmarks of the IELS serve as precursory learning for achieving the skills expected at the end

of kindergarten. The alignments link the learning of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to

knowledge that children should acquire by the end of kindergarten.

Understanding the skills children will be working toward in kindergarten provides guidance to

early care and education practitioners and knowing what young children have learned prior to

school provides insight to kindergarten educators. In all, the alignment of the IELS and the Iowa

Core establishes a seamless framework for a birth to grade twelve educational system for all of

Iowa’s learners.

For more information on the Iowa Core, visit the following links:

Iowa Core Literacy Standards

www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=

2328&Itemid=4340

Iowa Core Mathematics Standards

www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=

2243&Itemid=4341

A child’s readiness for transitioning into the K-12 schools should be measured and addressed

across five distinct but connected domains: physical well-being and motor development, social

and emotional development, approaches to learning, language development, and cognition and

general knowledge (Rhode Island Kids Count, 2007). These domains are addressed in the IELS.

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=%20%202328&Itemid=4340

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=%20%202328&Itemid=4340

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=%202243&Itemid=4341

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=%202243&Itemid=4341


School readiness includes the readiness of the individual child, the school’s readiness for

children, and the ability of the family and community to support optimal early child

development (High, 2008). School readiness is ensured by the efforts of family members,

teachers or child care providers, community members, and policy makers. School readiness

cannot be determined by looking at the child alone nor should school readiness be measured

only by knowledge of math and literature. Gathering pertinent information with respect to

readiness includes a comprehensive, developmentally, and educationally important set of

goals, rather than a narrow set of skills (NAEYC, 2003). To have rewarding and successful daily

experiences, as well as to prepare for successful, responsible experiences both in school and in

a democratic society, every child needs the following:




caring adults in their lives who have the skills, understanding, and resources to foster

development.

Families and communities need to provide each child with safe, nurturing, nourishing, and

healthy environments that are developmentally, individually, and culturally appropriate.

Furthermore, early care and education settings, including kindergartens, must be ready to serve

a population of children and families from diverse cultures and with diverse abilities.

Materials Needed:


Pens or pencils


Chart paper



Timer

Post-it notes

Highlighters

Scissors

Tape







Materials to make a house picture - 8.5 x 11 paper, brown paper rectangles for doors,

light blue small squares for windows, large squares in various colors, and triangles for

roof in various colors

Glue

Variety of art materials – construction paper, glue, crayons, Bingo markers, foam

shapes, scissors

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Eric Carle

You Tube video clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTsIB2IWdU (from High

Scope; titled “Building Playdoh Towers”)

Math and science materials such as pinecones, counting bears, stacking rings, shape

sorters, plastic animals, small bucket of sand, or seashells, small wooden blocks

Certificates


As a result of attending this training, participants will be able to do the following:

1. Give examples of play and learning experiences that build school readiness skills, and

2. Summarize the alignment between the IELS and the Iowa Core.

References Used in Module 6: Charlesworth, R., & Lind, K. K. (1999). Math and science for young children (3rd ed.).

New York, NY: ITP.

Epstein, Ann S. (2007). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young

children’s learning. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young

Children.

High, P. C. (2008). School readiness. Pediatrics, 121(4), e1008-e1015.

National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC]. (2003). Position

statement: Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. Retrieved

from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf.

Rhode Island Kids Count. (2007). Preparing Rhode Island’s children to succeed in school:

Selected school readiness indicators. Benchmarks for Progress. Retrieved from

http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/documents/RI%20SRI%20Booklet.pdf.

http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/documents/RI%20SRI%20Booklet.pdf


MATERIALS NEEDED


Handout 6.1


Welcome to our last session of Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning

Standards. Last time, we discussed the role of relationships and routines in

supporting children’s development. The routines of the day provide great

opportunities for building relationships with children and creating opportunities

for learning. As homework, you were to design a poster or handout focused on a

daily routine that could be used with families to build understanding on the value

of daily routines.

- Ask for volunteers to share the posters or handouts created; 10

minutes.

- If participants did not bring a handout, you can walk through Handout

6.1.

Thank you for sharing. I hope you will use your handout or poster with families

to encourage their role in supporting the healthy development of their children.

Just as children need nurturing relationships, so do families. Parents or guardians

are the most important people in children’s lives. They know what their child can

do, as well as their likes and dislikes. They can provide insight into family

routines and cultural practices. Relationships with families should be built on

trust, respect, and cooperation.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILIES (25 MINUTES TOTAL)

When relationships are formed with families, we can provide them the support

needed to support their children’s development. When healthy relationships are

formed, families may be more receptive to the knowledge early care and

education, health, mental health, and family support practitioners can provide. It

is our responsibility to help families understand the standards and the impact

that their relationships and home environments have on preparing their children

for school.


Chart paper written with messages labeled at right Markers

Activity – Building Relationships with Families (20 minutes)

- Prior to this activity, write the following messages, each on its own

sheet of chart paper:

o We will build your understanding of children’s learning.

o We will work with you when conflicts arise.

o We will support your relationship with your child.

o We will appreciate the culture of your family.

o We will communicate with you often.

Posted around the room are messages we want to convey to families.

These are messages that will assist you in building a relationship with each

family. Everyone, please grab a marker. I want you to visit each of the

charts and write down at least one thing that you do to support this

message in your role with children and families. Feel free to do this

activity with a partner.

- Allow for work; 10-15 minutes. As people finish, encourage them to

visit each chart again to learn about ways they can build relationships

with families. Answers may include the following:

o We will build your understanding of children’s learning – share

pictures taken while children play, talk with you about how

children learn, provide examples of how to support learning at

home, send home printed information in your home language.

o We will work with you when conflicts arise – talk with you during a

time and method that is convenient to you, call you immediately

when a concern arises, listen to your concerns and find solutions

together.

o We will support your relationship with your child – talk positively

about family members with children, show interest in the activities

of the family, talk with you about activities to do with your child.

o We will appreciate the culture of your family – listen to your

wishes for your child, learn about your culture, encourage the use

of your home language, learn words from your home language,

provide printed materials in your home language.

o We will communicate with you often – use a variety of methods to

communicate with you, use an interpreter as needed, provide

materials printed in your home language, listen to your concerns

and desires.


Just as children need to feel welcome and that they belong, so do their families.

Practitioners who get to know families and appreciate their differences begin

building partnerships aimed at supporting each child’s development. In getting

to know families, we understand that each family differs in its structure,

personality, temperament, life experiences, and cultural differences. Recognizing

these differences enables practitioners to communicate with and involve each

family in their program in ways that meet their needs and the needs of their

children.

GETTING CHILDREN SCHOOL READY (90 MINUTES TOTAL)

The Iowa Early Learning Standards address seven content areas of child

development: physical; social/emotional; cognitive or approaches to learning;

communication, language, and literacy; math and science; creative arts; and

literacy. As we have discovered, daily routines, play experiences, and

interactions with children and adults helps children to become “school ready”.

However, school readiness cannot be determined by looking at children alone

nor should school readiness be measured only by knowledge of math and

literature. School readiness includes the readiness of the individual child, the

school’s readiness for children, and the ability of the family and community to

support optimal early child development (High, 2008). School readiness is

ensured by many adults. These adults include the following: family members;

early care and education, health, mental health, and family support practitioners;

community members; and policy makers. To have rewarding and successful daily

experiences, as well as to prepare for successful, responsible experiences both in

school and in a democratic society, each child needs the following:




caring adults in their lives who have the skills, understanding, and

resources to foster development.

For the next part of our training, we are going to explore the content of children’s

play and learning experiences that will contribute to children’s school readiness.


Construction paper, shapes cut out to make a house – square shapes in a variety of colors, light blue small squares for windows, small brown rectangles for doors, large triangles in a variety of colors for the roof, glue Paper, crayons, bingo markers, foam shapes, glue, and scissors

Activity – Process vs. Product (30 minutes)

Let’s start with the arts. I need 6 volunteers.

- Set the volunteers up in two groups. On one table, have the shapes

available for doing the house project as well as three glue bottles or

glue sticks; have these materials spread out to each person. On one

table, have an assortment of materials; such as paper, crayons, bingo

markers, foam shapes, glue, and scissors.

- Have the remainder of the participants gather around these two

tables.

In this experience, one group is going to do an art project while the

other group is going to create their own project. Let’s start with the

group that is going to make a house.

On your tables, you will find paper and shapes that are cut out. We

are going to make a house, but you must follow my directions. First, I

would like you to choose a piece of paper that you will glue your

house on. Put that piece of paper in front of you. Next, you need to

find a big square. Glue your square onto your piece of paper. Next,

find a triangle. This is the roof of your house so it needs to sit on top

of the big square. Now, find a brown rectangle. This is the door to

your house. Should we put the door at the top of the house, near the

roof? (NO) We need to put the door at the bottom. Now find two

small squares. These are your windows. Put your windows wherever

you like on your house. Now everyone has a house. Show your house

to your neighbor.

- Ask these three participants to share their thoughts on this

experience.

What were your feelings as you made your house?

- Allow for answers; 5 minutes. Answers should include the following;

sad, frustrated, wanted to do my own thing, upset, or uncomfortable.

What were your feelings as you looked at your neighbor’s work?

- Allow for answers; 5 minutes. Answers may include: they all look

the same, there’s no creativity, or this person didn’t follow directions.


In many settings, art experiences such as this are used too often with

young children. Many, who use art activities such as this, argue that

the children are still learning or that they allow the children to place

items where they choose on the project. However, once again, the

creative process is being stifled by the materials being all prepared for

them and use is limited to those items.

Young children need opportunity to explore and create their own

ideas. We want to support the process of creating not an end product

that looks similar to everyone else’s. So let’s watch the next group.

Volunteers, please use the materials at your table to create your own

masterpieces.

- Allow for work; 5-10 minutes. Be prepared that participants will

want to finish their work.

Now, I recognize that with children time should not be limited and

hurried. Children should have the opportunity to keep working on an

art experience as long as they want and to repeat the experience if

they choose. Those of you who were creating, how did you feel as

you worked on your project?

- Allow for answers; 5 minutes. Answers should include: happy,

great, I wanted more stuff, I was overwhelmed by all the options, I

wanted to keep working, or I’m proud of my creation.

Some children may be overwhelmed with too many materials so you

will want to limit the options available. Some children will pile all the

materials on top of each other. Some children will want to explore

the glue. With art experiences, children should be able to focus on

the process of creating. This means that they choose the materials to

work with and adults should focus on providing materials, supervision,

and conversation about their work. Art experiences provide

opportunities for children to explore a variety of materials, practice

fine motor skills, build confidence, and make choices. With

experience, young children gain skills in using the tools and materials,

as well as skills and muscle development needed for learning to write.


Book – Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle

It is important to make sure that art materials are age appropriate and

non-toxic. Supervision is key to ensuring children do not put items in

their mouth. For infants and toddlers, watch for cues that they are

ready to explore art. Crayon use usually starts around one year of

age. Playdough, markers, paint, and glue can follow as children are

able and not putting the materials in their mouths.

Art materials are not the only items that support creativity. Block and pretend

play also support the imagination as children build and recreate what they see in

the real world. Music is also a creative outlet that not only supports imagination

but fine and large motor skills as children use instruments and move to music.

Now, let’s move our focus to literacy skills.

Literacy skills include language development, reading and writing experiences,

recognizing letters and sounds, and comprehending information. Children

acquire language and literacy as they interact with materials, peers, and adults.

Exposure to print and reading in the early years builds reading readiness, which is

essential for success in literacy as children enter school (Epstein, 2007). Adults

can assist children in understanding letters and sounds by talking about print that

is found in their environment such as reading stories together, writing a child’s

name on an art creation, talking about letters or words on signs within the

community, and labeling letters on clothing. Listening to and singing child

appropriate songs also build letter and sound awareness.

Activity – Reading for Learning (25 minutes)

Books are a great way for exposing children to print, building their

vocabulary, and building the foundational skills for learning to read.

I would like to read you a story. I’m not going to talk about the story

or the pictures. I’m just going to read. As I read I would like you to

think about how my example might NOT be the best way to approach

reading with children.

- Read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle. Try

to read it with no voice fluctuations or animation. Read the book

straight through, asking no questions and allowing for no comments.


Tell me why this might not be the best way for reading to children.

- Allow for answers; 5 minutes. Answers may include the following:

no opportunity for involvement of the children, just sitting and

listening is hard for young children, no discussion on the colors or

sounds of the animals, no opportunity to talk about new vocabulary

words, learning is limited, or it is not fun.

At your tables, I would like you to discuss how you would make

reading this book more interesting and interactive for children.

Choose a spokesperson and one idea you would like to share with the

large group.


- Allow for sharing; 10 minutes. Ideas should include talking about

each page of the book such as the colors and animal sounds, using

voice variation, counting the animals in the book, asking questions

about the story, letting the children read as you read, stopping mid-

sentence to let the children finish the sentence, asking children to

predict what will happen next.

It is important for us to understand the best ways for reading to children. In

preschool, many times a book is read to the entire group of children. However,

for infants and toddlers it is best to read to individual children or small groups,

and according to their interest level. When books are available in the

environment, children can choose the books they are interested in and this is a

cue to adults to read the book with them. It is not necessary to read every word

on a page, it is okay to skip pages, and it is okay to just label the items in the

pictures of the book. Follow the cues of the children to determine how long to

read the story and to also allow them to look at the same pages over and over

again. For more information on reading with children, I would recommend the

training series, Every Child Reads.


Math and

science

materials such

as counting

bears,

pinecones,

seashells,

stacking rings,

shape sorters,

plastic

animals, small

bucket of

sand, small

wooden

blocks

The last content area we are going to focus on is math and science. To support

the learning of math and science concepts, we need to capitalize on children’s

natural inclination to learn about their world. Children build their mathematical

and scientific skills through manipulating a variety of materials as caring adults

label their actions and provide descriptions of the materials. Math skills include

counting, comparing, patterns, shapes, and measurement. Science skills include

observing, describing, and predicting the world around us, as well as investigating

and problem solving. Children need time to explore materials, think about

problems, permission to experiment and make mistakes, and encouragement to

try a variety of strategies within learning (Charlesworth & Lind, 1999).

Math and science are everywhere. Adults can support the development of

mathematical and science skills through modeling a sense of wonder and asking

children lots of questions. For instance, while playing with blocks you might say,

“I wonder how many blocks it would take to be as tall as you”, you is referencing

the child. Or when exploring snow, you might say, “I wonder what would happen

if we put this snow in the microwave.” Modeling a sense of wonder supports

children’s curiosity, a necessary component for learning.

Activity – Supporting Math and Science (20 minutes)

At your tables, you have an item to explore. Write down what

questions you might ask a child to encourage thinking. Also write

down math and science concepts that might be learned as the child

explores the item. You can use the IELS to help you with the types of

skills that can be learned in the math and science content area.

- You can have materials already on the tables, pass them out, for the

activity, or have a variety on a table that participants can choose from.


- Ask for volunteers to share a question that they might ask, a math

skill that can be focused on, or a science skill that can be supported;

10 minutes.

- Answers for skills should include the following: counting,

measuring, sorting, and patterns. Questions might include: how many

pinecones do you have, let’s line up the shells from smallest to

biggest, let’s see how many red bears we have to blue bears, what can

we do with the animals.


Looking for opportunities to build children’s knowledge can happen throughout

the routines and experiences in each day. As we interact with children, support

their curiosity, and encourage exploration we are building the skills necessary for

children to be ready for school.

THE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE IOWA CORE AND THE IELS (20 minutes)

To help adults see the connection between learning in the early years and school

readiness, the Iowa Early Learning Standards includes an alignment between the

Iowa Core for English Language Arts and Mathematics. This alignment is found in

Section five of the IELS; it starts on page 150. The Iowa Core describes academic

expectations for all Iowa's K-12 students. The alignment provides a broad

illustration of the connections between early learning and school-age

expectations for children in Iowa. The alignment demonstrates that multiple

content areas and benchmarks of the IELS serve as precursory learning for

achieving the skills expected at the end of kindergarten. The alignments link the

learning of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to knowledge that children should

acquire by the end of kindergarten.

Activity – Exploring the Alignment (15 minutes)

I would like you to take a few minutes to explore the alignment. It

starts on page 150. Talk with your tablemates about what you

discover as you explore the alignment. As you review the alignment,

look for skills across the alignment that represent the work we just

experienced in creative arts, math and science, and language and

literacy.

- Allow for exploration of the alignment; 10 minutes.

- Ask each table to name something they discovered in their

exploration of the alignment. Add the following information:

o The alignment provides an illustration of how learning at

the earliest ages cumulatively builds to support academic and

social success for children as they enter the K-12 educational

system.


o Two alignment documents represent how the IELS serve as

precursory learning for the expectations of the Iowa Core in

kindergarten. One document illustrates an alignment of the

IELS with Iowa Core English Language Arts Standards for

kindergarten, and the other document illustrates an

alignment with Iowa Core Mathematics Standards for content

and practices in kindergarten.

o The math and language arts elements are identified by

headings at the top of applicable pages. The mathematics

standards include counting, math operations, number,

measurement, and geometry. The English language arts

standards include reading fiction and non-fiction literature,

foundational skills such as print concepts, writing, grammar

usage, speaking, and listening. The skills within each of these

elements are identified in the column representing

kindergarten.

o Three columns represent the two age groups of the IELS

and the kindergarten standards of the Iowa Core. The left

column provides the infant/toddler standards, the middle

column provides the preschool standards, and the right

column provides the kindergarten standards from the Iowa

Core.

o In the kindergarten column, you probably discovered blank

pages as you explored the alignment. The Department of

Education considered doing a 1:1 alignment between each

early learning standard and each kindergarten standard.

However, the document became too cumbersome. The blank

spaces signify that many IELS contribute to the learning of the

language and math skills in kindergarten. Let’s look at pages

152 to 154. The six standards listed in the kindergarten

column are supported by all the Iowa Early Learning Standards

listed on pages 152-154. To help demonstrate this

connection, you can draw a downward arrow from

underneath the kindergarten standards listed on page 152

continued through the bottom of page 154.


The next arrow would start on page 155 under the

kindergarten standards and go to the bottom of page 156. I

would recommend that you do this for each section after

class.

o In addition to the Standards for Mathematical Content, the

Iowa Core also identifies Standards for Mathematical

Practices; these start on page 201. The eight mathematical

practices represent abstract knowledge that children acquire

through repeated learning opportunities with problem

solving, reasoning, and communication skills. They do not

result in a product but are represented in children’s language

and behaviors. The Standards for Mathematical Practices are

provided in a table format at the end of the alignment

document. The table illustrates how the Iowa Early Learning

Standards are embedded within each of the Standards for

Mathematical Practices. Examples are also provided as to

how the mathematical practices might be demonstrated by

infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

In all, the alignments of the IELS and the Iowa Core establish a seamless

framework for a birth to grade twelve educational system for all of Iowa’s

learners. The skills that children learn in the first five years help children to be

“school-ready” and lay a foundation for learning throughout the educational

system.


The past several weeks we have participated in a variety of activities to build our

understanding of Iowa’s Early Learning Standards. The Iowa ELS were designed

to serve as a guide for children’s learning across various environments, which will

provide a foundation to support a seamless transition as children enter Iowa’s

educational system. The Iowa Early Learning Standards help to ensure that we

meet Early Childhood Iowa’s vision that “Every child, beginning at birth, will be

healthy and successful”.


Handout 6.2

Handout 6.3

Certificates

Thank you for your time and effort these past few weeks. You can use Handout

6.2 for your reflection. Handout 6.3 I need you to turn in to me and then I will

give you your certificate when you turn in the evaluation.



Module 6 Participant Handouts - A Seamless Continuum from Birth through 12th Grade



Love, Learning, and Routines Handout 6.1 Source: ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families.

For most of us, our lives involve a series of patterns—routines we perform almost every day, like stopping at the same place each day for coffee on the way to work. This is also very true for young children. While we play a part in creating routines in our children’s lives, we may not fully realize the role they play in young children's development.

Routines help children learn self-control. Consistent routines, activities that happen at about the same time and in about the same way each day, provide comfort and a sense of safety to young children.

Routines can bring you and a child closer together and reduce power struggles. Stable routines allow children to anticipate what will happen next. This gives young children confidence, and also a sense of control,

Routines guide positive behavior and safety. Routines are like instructions—they guide children’s actions toward a specific goal. Routines can be used for many reasons, but two of the most important are ensuring children's health and safety, and helping children learn positive, responsible behavior.

Routines support children’s social skills. As children grow, they come into contact with more people and begin to learn patterns and routines for social interaction. Greetings, good-byes, and chatting with others are examples of routine interactions that teach social skills. These interactions are also opportunities to help our children develop language skills.

Routines help children cope with transitions. Depending on your child's temperament, transitions between activities may be easy or more difficult. Going from play to lunch, lunch to the store, the store to home...and especially transitioning to bed time, can be challenging. Routines (like bedtime routines) can help make transitions easier. Some parents use a timer or a "5-minute warning" to prepare their children for a change in activity. Others use a book, song, or special game.

Routines are satisfying for parents, too. Not only do routines and rituals make transitions easier for children—they also help ease adults into parenthood. The early stages of becoming a parent can be overwhelming and sometimes put a strain on marriage. Continuing a ritual from your early marriage years (like an evening out or a special vacation spot) can help.

Routines are an important opportunity for learning. Daily routines are often thought of as just "maintenance" activities: meal time, running errands, getting ready for bed, taking baths. But these everyday actions are rich opportunities to support your child’s learning and development, while having fun. Routines offer the chance to build self-confidence, curiosity, social skills, self control, communication skills, and more. Routines provide the two key ingredients for learning: relationships and repetition. So enjoy these “ordinary” moments with your child. If your child is having fun with you, he or she is learning, too.



Handout 6.2

Iowa Early Learning Standards – Reflection for Module 6 A Seamless Continuum from Birth to 12th Grade






1 2 3 4 I can give examples of play and learning experiences that build children’s school readiness skills.

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4 I can summarize the alignment between the IELS and the Iowa Core. 1 2 3 4


List the types of assistance needed to implement the concepts presented in this training module.




Handout 6.3

Final Evaluation – Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards

Participant Name____________________________ Email/Phone______________________________ Please evaluate your knowledge after attending Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards. Circle the number that corresponds with your evaluation.

1 = Strongly disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Uncertain 4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree

I can describe the content and organization of the Iowa Early Learning Standards. 1 2 3 4 5

I can summarize the essential considerations included within the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

1 2 3 4 5

I can discuss the NAEYC’s 12 principles of child development. 1 2 3 4 5

I can describe the seven content areas within the Iowa Early Learning Standards. 1 2 3 4 5

I can summarize early learning theories. 1 2 3 4 5

I can describe developmentally appropriate practice. 1 2 3 4 5

I can describe how children use play for learning. 1 2 3 4 5

I can give examples of how the Iowa Early Learning Standards can be recognized in play. 1 2 3 4 5

I can give examples of how daily routines support children’s growth and development as described in the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

1 2 3 4 5

I can describe the role of relationships in children’s learning and development. 1 2 3 4 5

I can give examples of play and learning experiences that build children’s school readiness skills.

1 2 3 4 5

I can summarize the alignment between the Iowa Early Learning Standards and the Iowa Core.

1 2 3 4 5

Circle the number that corresponds with your evaluation. Circle the number that corresponds with your evaluation.

Describe the aspects of the Iowa Early Learning Standards training series that have been easy to apply in your work with children and families.

Describe the obstacles you have encountered in using the information gained from the Iowa Early Learning Standards training series.


Please evaluate the quality of the training and the Instructor for Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards. Circle the number that corresponds with your evaluation.

1 = Strongly disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Uncertain 4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree

The Instructor was knowledgeable of the Iowa Early Learning Standards. 1 2 3 4 5

The Instructor was prepared for each class session. 1 2 3 4 5

The Instructor focused on building relationships with each participant. 1 2 3 4 5

The Instructor communicated respectfully with each participant. 1 2 3 4 5

The content of the training met my personal or professional needs. 1 2 3 4 5

The content of the training was adequate to build my knowledge of the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

1 2 3 4 5

The content of the training was applicable to my work with children and/or families. 1 2 3 4 5

I would recommend this training to others. 1 2 3 4 5

Write a brief description or definition of the Iowa Early Learning Standards.

Describe three ways you plan to use the Iowa Early Learning Standards. 1. 2. 3.

Provide any additional comments related to the content presented in the training series or the skills of the instructor.

Documents

Getting to Know the Iowa Early Learning Standards