Identify the Structure>Two's & Preschoolers: Domain Skills
Two's & Preschoolers: Domain skills
(for reference only)
DOMAINS WITH SKILLS/OBJECTIVES FOR 2’S AND PRESCHOOL
Large Motor:
__Locomotion
__Balance
__Rhythm
__Projectile Management
__Rebound & Airborne
__Coordination
__Eye-Hand Coordination & Eye-Foot Coordination
__Strength Enhancement
Fine Motor:
__Eye-Hand Coordination
__Finger & Hand Dexterity
__Palmar Grasp
__Pincer Grasp
__Finger & Hand Strength
Social:
__Parallel Play
__Associative Play
__Cooperative Play
__Sharing
__Turn-Taking
__Conversation
__Conflict Resolution & Negotiation
__Entering a Group
__Empathy
__Respect for others
Emotional:
__Attachment
__Coping with Separation Anxiety
__Coping with Fears
__Impulse Control
__Self Identity
__Independence
__Pride/Self-esteem
__Identification & Expression of Feelings
__Belonging
__Nurturing/Care-taking
Creative:
__Divergent Thinking
__New Use of Materials
__New Techniques
__Expression of Feelings or Ideas
__Exploration of Materials
__Imagination
__Creative Thinking
__Trying out Unconventional Ideas
Language:
__Spoken or Expressive Language
__Receptive Language
__Vocabulary Development
__Articulation or Phonology
__Grammar or Syntax
__Conversation Skills
__Rhyme
__Auditory Discrimination
__Story Awareness
__Written Language
__Invented Spelling
Cognitive:
__Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence
__Musical Intelligence
__Spatial Intelligence
__Logical-mathematical Intelligence
__Linguistic Intelligence
__Interpersonal Intelligence
__Intra personal Intelligence
__Naturalist Intelligence
__Memory
__Creative Thinking
__Reasoning
__Planning & Strategizing
__Problem Solving
Cognitive: Emergent Literacy:
__Language Skills
__Symbol Use & Knowledge
__Visual Discrimination
__Auditory Discrimination
__Left to Right Orientation
Cognitive: Science:
__Noticing a Problem
__Hypothesizing
__Experimenting
__Discussing the Results
__Learning Basic Concepts of Scientific Life
Cognitive: Math:
__Matching or 1-1 Correspondence
__Number & Counting
__Sets & Classifying
__Comparing
__Ordering & Seriating
Social
Social development refers to maturing relationships with others. Infants’ and toddlers’ primary relationship is with the caregiver. Relationships with peers become more important in the 2 to 5 year old age group. Social skills influence child’s ability to play and cooperate with another individual as well as in a group setting. Language skill and emotional development support growth in the social area.
Social Skills/Objectives
Parallel Play: playing next to others, but not with, often with the same materials. May speak to each other and be aware of others, but children do not share materials.
Associative Play: playing with other children, talking and sharing materials. Cooperative Play: playing with other children working toward a common goal, often playing different but complimentary roles to achieve a goal.
Sharing
Turn Taking
Conversation: responding to questions, asking questions, and following up on what another child says.
Conflict Resolution and Negotiation: learning how to peacefully negotiate a solution to social problems such as through compromise, turn taking etc…
Entering a Group: learning various strategies for entering an existing playgroup. This may include techniques such as asking, “What are you playing?”, observing until the rules of play are obvious, or offering a toy or idea to support the play theme already in progress. Empathy: being aware of another’s feeling and responding to their needs.
Respect for Others: respecting other’s rights and ideas, and exploring differences and similarities among people, including race and gender.
Cognitive
Cognitive refers to the mental process of knowing, including perception, awareness, reasoning, and judgment. Cognition includes literacy, science, and math knowledge as well as problem-solving ability. For preschool children, knowledge in these areas emerges through hands-on experiences, thus children are in the process of gaining the skills that are needed for future academic learning. In the classroom children explore while the teachers stimulate thought and conversation. Math knowledge is supported as children sort, classify, compare, and count materials, and solve problems in sharing and block building using these techniques. Science learning is supported through hands on experiments and exposure to plants, insects, reptiles, and other aspects of nature, as curiosity and the drive to seek out more information are nurtured. Language learning is closely linked with cognitive development, and children sometimes show creativity in the uniqueness of their problem-solving strategies, illustrating how their developmental areas are interdependent.
Cognitive Skills/Objectives
General
Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence: ability to use the body for athletics, dance, dramatics, sensing and fixing.
Musical Intelligence: sensitivity to musical properties of melody, pitch, rhythm, and poetry. Spatial Intelligence: ability in perception of the world and translating it into new forms such as through art, maps, photos.
Logical-mathematical Intelligence: conceptual thought patterns that allow for long chains of reasoning and pattern recognition.
Linguistic Intelligence: ability with oral and or written language.
Interpersonal Intelligence: ability with people and groups; often a leader.
Intra personal Intelligence: ability to understand and be sensitive to the inner self.
Naturalist Intelligence: interest in the natural environment.
Memory: ability to store and retrieve visual, oral, olfactory, and mental experiences.
Creative Thinking: creating new ideas or behavior.
Reasoning: using information to form conclusions, such as in “what if” statements.
Planning and Strategizing: creating a plan or strategy for play or for figuring out an answer.
Problem Solving: creating strategies for solving a problem.
Emergent Literacy
Language Skills: include oral language abilities like vocabulary and conversation, as well as written language abilities like printing and spelling words.
Symbol Use and Knowledge: preschool children use symbolic language, as in using the word cat to represent the real animal in speech. They also begin to experiment with scribble drawing which symbolizes grown up writing, experiment with letters which symbolize sounds, and finally spell words which represent real things.
Visual Discrimination: perceiving differences in shapes of objects, geometric shapes, puzzle pieces, and letters.
Auditory Discrimination: perceiving differences in sounds, such as in p and b sounds.
Left to Right Orientation: in the English language, the written word follows a pattern from left to right and from top to bottom. Children learn this through experience with print and storybooks.
Science
Noticing a Problem: noticing something is unusual or that there is a problem.
Hypothesizing: thinking and suggesting a cause or solution.
Experimenting: testing the hypothesis; trying out something new.
Discussing the Results: telling others about the problem, experiments, and answers.
Learning Basic Concepts of Scientific Life: such as “plants need water to grow, or fish live in water.”
Math
Matching or 1-1 Correspondence: matching one thing to another that is the same, similar, or different.
Number and Counting: having a general understanding that numbers have meaning.
Sets and Classifying: putting objects together, using a classification system to group objects. Comparing: describing objects in comparison terms, such as big/little, long/short.
Ordering and Seriating: putting things in order using criteria of size, shape, length, color, number, time, etc.
Large Motor
Large motor development refers to the movement and coordination of large muscle groups such as the arms, legs, and torso. Large motor skills are needed in everyday life to complete tasks such as walking, dancing, riding bikes, climbing a ladder, painting a house, digging a hole, etc…. Another name for large motor development is gross motor development. Preschool children require a schedule with plenty of opportunity for large motor activity, as it eases tension and relaxes, as well as offering many learning experiences.
Large Motor Skills/Objectives
Locomotion: walking, running, climbing, hopping, skipping, rolling, etc….
Balance: children practice balance as they stand on one foot, as they walk along a beam or stepping stone, and as they stay upright on a balance board, trampoline, or climbing structure.
Rhythm: as in dance, while swinging, or in repetitive movements.
Projectile Management: throwing and kicking objects such as balls, rings, beanbags, etc…
Rebound and Airborne: jumping techniques, such as jumping on mats, trampolines, over hurdles, etc…
Coordination: a general term for smooth, fluid, harmonious movements.
Eye-hand Coordination and Eye-foot Coordination: moving hands and feet in harmony with each other as directed by and in response to what the eyes see.
Strength Enhancement: building muscle strength to allow for greater duration or power.
Fine Motor
Fine motor development may also be called small motor development. It involves the use of small muscle groups found in the fingers and hands. Fine motor skills are necessary for self-help skills like buttoning and zipping, building with manipulatives such as legos, painting and writing. Activities like playdoh and manipulating sensory materials and small toys builds strength and coordination which support the ability to write, cut with scissors, and tie shoes as children grow.
Fine Motor Skills/Objectives
Eye-hand Coordination: coordinating the sense of sight with the sense of touch and movement of the hands and fingers.
Finger and Hand Dexterity: skill, grace, and accuracy of hands and fingers.
Palmar Grasp: grasping an object by placing palm on object and picking it up with the whole hand. Young children often use this grasp.
Pincer Grasp: Preschool children continue to grow in strength and coordination as they grasp markers, paintbrushes, and other utensils between the thumb and index finger. This forms the foundation for holding a pencil in an appropriate grip. Finger and Hand Strength: developing strength within the fingers and hands.
Emotional
Emotional development refers to the maturation, expression, and control of the affective/feeling part of the human being. This portion of development is very important and affects all other areas of development. Emotional control and self identity are developed largely through everyday activities including routines such as hand washing, eating, brushing teeth, and interactions with parents, peers, and teachers.
Emotional Skills/Objectives
Attachment: developing a healthy attachment to caregivers, appropriate to age. Preschool children develop attachment to extended family members and members of their peer group as well.
Coping with Separation Anxiety: being able to separate from the parent and/or caregiver in an age appropriate way.
Coping with Fears: demonstrating age appropriate responses to fears such as loud noises, storms, monsters, dark, dogs, snakes, etc… Impulse Control: developing control over immediate impulses.
Self Identity: developing a sense of who you are including appearance, strengths, personality; seeing oneself as separate from others and as an individual. Independence: developing a sense of being able to do things without the aid of parents or other adults. This leads to pride and self-confidence.
Pride/Self-esteem: feeling pride in one’s own work or self thus increasing self-confidence.
Identification and Expression of Feelings: being able to appropriately demonstrate in words or body language what one is feeling. A healthy, young child experiences a wide range of feelings, both positive and negative
Belonging: feeling confident of one’s value and place in a group. This can relate to family or another social group.
Nurturing/Care-taking: taking care of peers, pets, plants, or make-believe creatures. Taking care might refer to giving food, shelter, clothing, or affection.
Creative
Creativity in our classroom may be in the form of play, the arts, or unique thought process. Creativity can generally be seen in all areas of the classroom including, art, dramatic play, blocks, sensory, group time and even transition time. The expression of creativity is dependent on other skills. For instance creative expression through painting is dependent on motor skills. Creative expression through dramatic play involves language and social skills. Finding creative solutions to problems involve cognitive processes. The prime time in a child’s life to encourage uninhibited creativity is age 4 to 6.
Creative Skills/Objectives
Divergent thinking: children think divergently, when they come up with new or different solutions to problems or ways to accomplish a task. Teachers can support divergent thinking by asking open-ended questions.
New Use of Materials: using unusual materials during art projects, constructions, movement, or using familiar materials in new ways.
New Techniques: children may learn new techniques, such as sponge painting, painting with watercolors, using glue, etc. if offered a wide variety of art and creative activities.
Expression of Feelings or Ideas: the child feels free to express the self through the creative activity. Exploration of Materials: children should be free to use materials in any way they wish, encouraging visual and unique ideas.
Imagination: a variety of ideas are encouraged and respected.
Creative Thinking: a general term for encouraging original ideas.
Trying Out Unconventional Ideas: a general term for encouraging originality
Language
During the preschool years, children learn spoken and receptive language skills. The preschool years are an important time for language development. Language grows rapidly. By the time a child is five-years-old he or she is almost an equal language partner with adults.
Language can also be written. Therefore, language skills may also refer to reading and writing skills. During the preschool years, children are introduced to the concept that the spoken word can be symbolized in writing. The foundation for reading and writing is fostered through experience with words, conversation, songs, books, art and drawing materials, and by including literacy related props in the dramatic play area like note pads, pencils, and computer keyboards.
Language Skills and Objectives
Spoken or Expressive Language: speaking
Receptive Language: listening and understanding another individual.
Vocabulary Development: developing word meaning.
Articulation or Phonology: speech sounds or pronunciation.
Grammar or Syntax: refers to verb endings, pronouns, plurals, and sentence structure.
Conversation Skills: engaging in verbal interactions, taking turns speaking, speaking to socialize, telling stories, etc…
Rhyme: recognizing rhyme, lack of rhyme, or making up rhymes.
Auditory Discrimination: may refer to discrimination of speech sounds, or discriminating which sounds are intended for the self, such as looking up when called, especially when there are many other sounds present.
Story Awareness: Refers to the awareness and/or use of a story that has a plot with a beginning and an end, characters, and location. Children may be able to repeat an actual occurrence, repeat a story read to them, or make up fantasy stories.
Written Language: children progress from scribble writing to symbolize the written word, to writing words as they sound, to spelling and printing words.
Invented Spelling: spelling words by writing them just as they sound, a stage in early writing.