How to Use the Guidelines

The Guidelines begin with The Newborn Period, which discusses the first four months of children’s lives and the experiences that are unique to this time. The first of the six sections, Self-Regulation: Foundation of Development, focuses on children’s develop­ment of self-regulation, which is essential for overall healthy development and learning. Self-Regulation refers to children’s emerging ability to regulate or control their attention, thoughts, emotions and behaviors.⁸ Next, Domains of Development are specific areas of growth and development. The Guidelines consist of four developmental domains: Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development and Health; Language Development, Communication, and Literacy; and Cognitive Development. The final section, Approaches to Learning, focuses on specific methods by which children engage with the world around them in order to make meaning and build understanding of their experiences. These six sections are each structured in the same manner and are further broken down into Sub-Domains/Sub-Sections, Standards, Age Descriptors, Indicators for Children, and Strategies for Interaction.

These six sections include five different components:

1. Sub-Domains/Sub-Sections are detailed components of each developmental domain or section, such as “Empathy” under Social & Emotional Development (domain 1).
2. Standards are the general statement of what children should know and be expected to do by the time they reach 36 months of age.
3. Age Descriptors describe the progression of development for each of four particular age groups across the birth-to-three age range. These four distinct and overlapping groups are: Birth to 9 months, 7 to 18 months, 16 to 24 months, and 21 to 36 months (see Figure 1 above). These age groupings are used in order to reflect chil­dren’s bio-behavioral shifts, which are changes in behavior triggered by biological changes in the brain. These shifts allow children to grow and gain new skills.
4. Indicators for Children are some of the observable skills, behaviors, and knowledge that children demonstrate to “indicate” progress toward achieving the standard.
5. Strategies for Interaction are specific activities, practices, and interactions in which caregivers can engage with children to support healthy development.

Real World Stories are real-life examples that demonstrate the specific concepts of development in action.

Keep in Mind lists behaviors that can be used to identify possible concerns for development and are found at the end of the Self-Regulation section, and the four developmental domains section.

Interconnections

Since development occurs across multiple, inter-related areas, readers will see a short list of other, closely related sub-domains/sub-sections in every sub-domain/sub-section introduction and in each real world story. While every sub-domain and sub-section can relate to the others, the Guidelines highlight those most relevant to each particular one. Below is a sample of these references.