1. Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards The Storks Nest Child Academy Inc. Family Friendly Guide to Understanding the Standards

2. What are the RI Early Learning and Development Standards? The Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards represent the expectations for childrens learning and development and are to serve as a guide for selecting curriculum and assessment tools. 3. Welcome! Come on in and see a high-quality standards- based classroom in action! 4. Here at The Storks Nest Child Academy Inc., our classrooms and curriculum reflect our strong belief in the important role of play in how children learn. Through play, children enhance their learning skills, knowledge and dispositions that guarantees success in later schooling. 5. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT A well planned learning environment, where children and teachers participate as co- learners, promotes a childs willingness to try new experiences by exploring objects and materials in different ways. 6. Children demonstrate curiosity when participating in a variety of activities, while enhancing their ability to pay attention to and think about the world around them. 7. Children show initiative, accept help, develop and follow through with plans until completion. 8. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT Children demonstrate a strong and positive self-concept, appropriate self-control and growth in their awareness of their responsibilities when interacting with others. Healthy social and emotional development depends on positive interactions with educators and family members who understand and appreciate each childs individual temperament. 9. Teachers provide children with an environment filled with a variety of individual and group play experiences. They learn to use materials purposefully, respectfully and safely. 10. By playing, working, and interacting with one or more children and adults, children gain self esteem, confidence and trust in relationships. Although the goals for all children are the same, the road and the pace of reaching those goals may be different for each child. 11. Through a vibrant learning environment, teachers expose children to a community, based upon kindness, equality and justice. 12. Language Development Children develop skills in listening and in understanding language through conversations, turn taking, and by communicating their needs and thoughts. Children participate in conversations around classroom topics and learn to use verbal and non verbal language to express information. They will learn to represent stories and experiences through play. 13. LITERACY Literacy is the foundation for creating a well-educated and responsible citizen. Through natural exposure to books and print, and through conversations that prompt children to discuss the people and important events in their lives, children discover that written words are another way to share ideas. 14. Teachers provide opportunities for children to use writing tools and materials in all areas of the learning environment. Children use scribbles, shapes, letter like symbols and letters to write and represent words or ideas and begin to dictate ideas, sentences and stories. 15. Children listen to and talk about a variety of types of literature and learn to hear and discriminate sounds, recognize patterns and identify the sounds of language. 16. Teachers provide opportunities to explore and investigate books and other forms of print and learn that it carries a message. The children show an awareness of how books are organized, recognize some letters and words in books and the environment, and recognize their own name in print. 17. MATHEMATICS Mathematics help young children make sense of the world around them and understand their physical world. Children learn to organize information into categories, quantify data and solve problems helping them learn about time, space and numbers. 18. Our teachers design the classroom environment for learning opportunities in patterning, measurement, and the organization of materials as a natural part of play. 19. Children describe and name common shapes found in the natural environment and begin to use numbers and counting as a means for solving problems, predicting and measuring quantity. 20. SCIENCE Children are captivated by the natural world and by physical events. By cultivating their sense of wonder, our teachers help children to become scientific thinkers. Children learn to use the scientific method in their everyday life. 21. Children use their senses and scientific tools to observe, collect and interpret data and draw conclusions. Communicating their findings informally in conversations or through the documentation of results, lead children to ask new questions and to continue the cycle of scientific investigations. 22. CREATIVITY Investigating and appreciating the arts allow children to integrate a number of different skills essential to a childs development. Music, movement, drama, and visual arts stimulate children to use words, manipulate tools and media and solve problems in ways that simultaneously convey meaning and are aesthetically pleasing. 23. Our teachers create an environment that fosters the arts, where children learn to appreciate the contributions of other children and the works of others that reflect different experiences, cultures and views. 24. Children are given opportunities to express their feelings through movement and music, imaginative play and artistic expression. Children are taught to appreciate and demonstrate respect for the work of others. 25. PHYSICAL HEALTH AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT Children use their senses and bodies to explore their physical environment. Young childrens future health and well-being are directly related to strengthening their large and small muscles, using their sensory experiences and practicing healthy behavior. 26. Teachers provide opportunities for children to challenge their bodies in new ways. Children explore their environment demonstrating strength and stamina, body and space awareness, coordination and balance, and hand eye coordination. 27. Our teachers ensure that every child has the opportunity to take responsibility in directing their own learning. 28. All children, regardless of innate abilities or the presence of disabilities, are able to learn and be successful. 29. As children connect their learning each day to their life experiences, they learn how to take the initiative to carry their knowledge and skills to a new level of mastery. 30. Storks Nest teachers engage in Intentional Teaching: acting with knowledge and purpose to ensure that young children acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school and in life. 31. Power Point designed and created by Sherry Bowry 2014