Stages of Development
There is growing national interest in how and what children learn, both in terms of learning process and learning outcomes.
Early education truly makes all the difference
Research now tells us that 85% of a child's social, emotional, and intellectual skills are in place by the age of five.
“High-quality early childhood education can promote intellectual, language, physical, social, and emotional development, creating school readiness and building a foundation for later academic and social competence. By defining the desired content and outcomes of young children’s education, early learning standards can lead to greater opportunities for positive development and learning in these early years.”
(NAEYC and NAECS/SDE)
Social & Emotional Development
Strong, positive relationships help children develop trust, empathy, compassion, and a sense of right and wrong.
Language
Children enter the world ready to communicate. They begin by using sounds, facial expressions, and movement to tell us what they need. They learn to respond to our words and begin to say words of their own. A child’s abilities to listen, speak, read, and write are all connected, regardless of what language is heard.
Health & Physical Development
During the first few years of life, the human body changes continuously and dramatically. These changes are not simply a matter of growing taller or gaining more weight; they also involve a complex series of changes in body composition, proportion, and motor development.
Children’s physical well-being, health, and motor development are cornerstones of early development and learning – and key dimensions of school readiness.
Approaches to Learning
Children seek out activities and become increasingly involved in their play. They increase the time they spend on each activity and take pleasure in following through on tasks and completing them.
Literacy
Young children develop knowledge of the world around them through listening and speaking, phonological awareness and alphabetic knowledge, print awareness, comprehension, and writing.
Developmental Milestones
Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move (crawling, walking, etc.).