WELCOME

1. WELCOME Parents Child Care Providers Preschool Teachers TO CK’S EARLY CHILDHOOD & SCHOOL READINESS MEETING

2. AGENDA • Welcome and Introductions (Dr. Hertica Martin, Elementary Director, Office of Teaching and Learning) • Introducing the WA State Voluntary Early Learning & Development Benchmarks (Gail Gillis, Curriculum Specialist) • Small Group Activity – Benchmarks exploration • Who Wants to be a Millionaire – Benchmarks Edition • Sharing/Questions (Dan King & Keith Lyum, Child Care Providers & Preschool Teachers)

3. What are Benchmarks and why do we need them? Benchmarks are used as a basis of comparison in measuring or judging capacity, quality, value, or quantity.

4. Benchmark Example: The weight a child should achieve at birth to be considered healthy.

5. What are Early Learning and Development Benchmarks? Define what children should know and be able to do. Example: Four-year-old children will be able to state name, where they live, parents’ names, and sibling names Note: These are usually observable in children’s behavior or verbal interactions

6. Five Dimensions (Domains) of Development In each, we specify what children know and are able to do • Physical Well-Being, Health, and Motor Development • Social and Emotional Development • Approaches Toward Learning • Language, Literacy, and Communication • Cognition and General Knowledge

7. What are the Washington State Benchmarks ? • Provides the basis for an integrated approach to learning/a source document • Describes some key expectations for what children should know and be able to do, birth to kindergarten entry • Addresses five domains of early childhood learning and development • Provides a voluntary guide to support all those who are raising, caring for, and teaching young children

8. What the Washington State Benchmarks are Not ! They are not designed to be: • an exhaustive guide to child development • a developmental checklist • a curriculum guide • the basis for teacher credentialing • an assessment tool to collect statewide information regarding children’s development • an assessment tool to make high stakes decisions about individual children’s placements or entry to kindergarten

9. How to Read the Document Domain:Language, Literacy, and Communication Sub-Domain:Language Domain Component:Oral Language Goal:Children use oral language for a variety of purposes 60 months to Kindergarten Indicator: Enjoys listening to stories from diverse cultures Strategies: When telling stories from different cultures, highlight aspects of the story that might be interesting for child Birth to 18 months Indicator: Enjoys listening to oral stories Strategies: Tell stories to child 18 to 36 months Indicator: Requests to hear stories Strategies: Set aside time daily to engage in storytelling with child 36 to 60 months Indicator: Tells a short make- believe story with assistance Strategies: Encourage child to create make-believe stories and write them down as child tells the story out loud

10. Small Group Activity Choose a Domain, Sub-Domain, & Goal: • Language of the domain: clear/accurate? • Items that you particularly like? • Items that you would like everyone to look at carefully? • Ideas for implementation?

11. WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE Early Learning & Development Benchmarks

12. Let’s play… WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE Early Learning & Development Benchmarks

13. $100 Are the Early Learning & Development Benchmarks Voluntary? • A Of course. • C Absolutely not! • B Maybe. • D Who cares?

14. $200 Who are a child’s first and most important teachers? • A Kindergarten • C Preschool • B Parents • D Peers

15. $300 Which of the following is NOT a Domain of the Early Learning Benchmarks? • A • C Financial planning for retirement Physical Well-Being, Health, and Motor Development • B • D Language, Communication, and Literacy Social and Emotional Development

16. $500 In addition to the previous three, what are the two remaining domains of the Early Learning Benchmarks? • A “Cognition and General Knowledge” AND “Approaches Toward Learning” • C • “Calculus” AND “Nuclear Physics” • B • D “Alphabet” AND “Counting” “Hopscotch” AND “Dodgeball”

17. $1,000 The Benchmarks are intended to… • A …link early development to later success in school and life by aligning the Benchmarks with the EALRs and K-3 GLEs • C …contribute to a unified vision for the early care and education system in Washington State …promote reasonable expectations and practical strategies for parents and those who care for and teach young children to support their learning and development. • B • D All of the above.

18. $2,000 What period of life is characterized by the most rapid development? • A Birth - 5 • C 10 - 15 • B 5 - 10 • D 15 - 20

19. $4,000 Which of the following is not the END of a critical stage of development in the Early Learning Benchmarks? Don’t forget your lifelines! • A 18 months • C 36 months • B 24 months • D 60 months

20. $8,000 Which of the following will the Early Learning Benchmarks NOT do? • A Provide some simple play and learning activities that adults can use to enhance children’s development. • C Provide teachers with a learning continuum that will help ease children’s transition from one stage of development to the next. • B • D Serve as an assessment tool to make high stakes decisions about individual children’s placements or entry to kindergarten. Help parents better understand what they can expect to see as their children develop.

21. $16,000 How is diversity acknowledged and celebrated within the Early Learning Benchmarks? • A • C The ages indicated for achieving each of the indicators are broad guidelines to when and how children will achieve the indicators. The indicators and strategies incorporate modifications for diverse children. • B • D Children with special learning needs may accomplish the indicators in a time span that is different from that indicated in the Benchmarks. All of the above.

22. According to the guiding principles, the content of the Benchmarksshould… $32,000 • A • C …acknowledge and respect children’s cultural and linguistic differences. …recognize that young children are active learners. • B • D All of the above. …recognize that children acquire skills from multiple teaching approaches and diverse environments.

23. $64,000 The Benchmarks should be aligned, where appropriate, to existing education benchmarks in Washington state, including… • A • C EALRs, GLEs, & Head Start Framework outcomes What’s a benchmark? • B • D ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP… SAT, ACT & AP

24. $125,000 For every goal within a Domain, Two types of information are provided under each age category. These items include… • A • C Indicators for children Recommended TV programs • B • D Strategies for caregivers A & B

25. $250,000 • Within Domain I, under Gross Motor Skills: • Put these indicators for children ofStrength And • Coordination Of Large Muscles in order of • Birth – 18 months • 18 months – 36 months • 36 months – 60 months • 60 months – Kindergarten Entry • A Hops forward on one foot • C Rolls over • B Walks backwards • D Skips with skill

26. $500,000 Which of the following is an example of a Strategy for Caregiverswithin a Domain in the Benchmarks? • A Signals own needs with sounds or motions • C Seeks peaceful resolution to conflict • B Establish a procedure for taking turns and explain that each child will have a turn. • D Begins to control impulses

27. $1,000,000 What role do the Early Learning Benchmarks play for child care providers? • A A guide for what children should know and be able to do at critical stages of development. • C Both A & B • B • D None of the above. A resource for play and learning activities targeted to specific stages of development.

28. Congratulations

29. THE END