Home / Educators / Professional Development (3 - 5 YEARS) / Supporting Older Toddlers’ Learning
- Introduction
- Engage Children in Conversations that Go Beyond the Here and Now
- Help All Children Participate in Language-Building Conversations
- Use Math Talk Throughout the Day
- Try It
- Wrap Up
- Learning Guidelines and Standards
- elaborated reminiscing: helping a child tell and retell the story of a past event, adding more details with each retelling
- interactive reading: stopping at many points during the reading to engage children in related conversation that helps them follow the story, draw connections between the book and their own experiences, and learn more; also called dialogic reading
- math talk: talk about number, amount, order, size, shape, pattern, direction, sequence, and other mathematical concepts as well as mathematical questions such as “How many altogether?” “What’s missing?” “How many more do we need?”
- number sense: an intuitive understanding of numbers and how they relate to each other, as well as how they are affected by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
- Picture Communication System (PECS): a picture-based communication intervention that teaches children with autism spectrum disorder and related challenges to initiate communications
- scaffold: to provide a support or boost that helps a child master a new challenge or concept or take a skill to a new level
- STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as integrated fields of inquiry
Try It
It’s time to practice what you’ve learned. In this activity, you’ll apply the strategies and techniques you’ve learned to your program’s learning environment.
Include Me
Download and print the Include Me (PDF). Plan ways to ensure that all children gain the benefits of language-building conversations with peers and adults.
- Think of a child in your program whose language you are concerned about, one whose primary language is different from that of other children in the group, or one who is less likely than others to participate in group discussions and pretend play with peers. Reflect upon that child’s strengths as you complete the questions below.
- What is the child especially good at?
- Who does the child like to play with or near?
- What does the child investigate?
- What pretend themes does the child explore?
- What questions does the child ask—with or without words, in any language?
- What books and songs does the child most enjoy?
- Does the child have a special interest or expertise, such as dinosaurs or pets?
- What can you add to the environment to build on the child’s interests or showcase her strengths?
- How can you help the child share her interests and strengths with others?
- How can you find out more about the child’s strengths and interests, especially if her primary language is different from yours?
- Brainstorm additional things that you might do to help the child participate more fully in group discussions, book-related conversations, math and STEM play, and pretend play.