Social and Emotional Development

Signals caregiver (e.g., cries) to meet basic needs.

Communicates comfort, discomfort, enjoyment, and displeasure through signals (e.g., crying, screaming, physical gestures, laughter, eye contact, or looking away). Signals will often be specific to families and cultures.

Attempts new challenges or activities with support/initiation from safe/secure individuals.

Seeks out and accepts support from trusted adults and caregivers, purposefully.

Demonstrates or describes personal skills, likes, and/or dislikes.

Seeks help from trusted adults and caregivers to solve problems.

Uses existing secure relationships to become familiar with and use social-emotional resources (e.g., books or singing).

Attempts new tasks and persists despite mistakes in familiar settings with predictable caregivers.

Demonstrates preferred social-emotional resources, such as adults, peers, or comfort objects, and uses them with increasing regularity for regulation needs.

Demonstrates increasing security in ability to communicate opinions, feelings, and ideas.

Engages in extended group-based activities and self-directed activities, when appropriate.

Tolerates corrective feedback, manages setbacks, and seeks adult support when needed.

Use feedback from the teacher. (2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Physical Education)

Demonstrate ways to tell a trusted adult if threatened or harmed. (National Health Standard)

Explores their environment and how things work with the support of familiar adults and caregivers.

Demonstrates awareness of self as separate from others in relationships with caregiving adults.

Identifies self as part of a family, ethnicity, culture, community, or group.

Begins to describe self, using labels such as physical characteristics (e.g., eye color, hair, or gender).

Demonstrates knowledge of family/caregiver celebrations, traditions, and expectations (e.g., verbally describes, reenacts in play, etc.).

Demonstrates increasingly accurate understanding of own strengths, preferences, limitations, and personal qualities.

Expresses understanding of and interest in similarities and differences between self and others.

Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly. (2020 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in English Language Arts)

Expresses emotions through facial expressions, sounds, and behaviors (e.g., crying, looking away, or startling).

Notices and responds to emotions displayed by caregivers.

Expresses feelings, needs, and wants with nonverbal communication and/or vocalizations to caregivers.

Understands that emotions can be demonstrated using words, signs, and expressions.

Recognizes and names some of their own emotions.

Shows some understanding of others' emotional expressions.

Uses words/signs to express and describe emotions common in their home culture.

Recognizes, describes, and responds to others' emotional expressions.

Demonstrates or describes an increasing understanding of cause and effect around their own emotional reactions.

Understands and anticipates emotional reactions of others based on their personal experiences and their own emotional reactions.

Uses sounds, facial expressions, sign language, or gestures to gain adult attention to reduce discomfort or distress.

Responds to a familiar caregiver's efforts to calm or soothe.

Seeks comfort from familiar caregivers actively, using sounds, facial expressions, sign language, gestures, or some words.

Uses existing safe relationships and the environment to cope with difficult situations or discomfort (e.g., cuddling, adult labeling emotions).

Tolerates brief delays in having needs met.

Uses a variety of coping/calming skills when heavily supported by caregivers and sometimes independently when in a safe and consistent environment.

Follows basic expectations to manage emotions and behaviors, with reminders or assistance.

Waits briefly to obtain a preferred item.

Accepts caregiver guidance and assistance when feeling strong emotions or discomfort.

Follows increasing expectations to regulate feelings and behaviors with necessary reminders or assistance.

Demonstrates the ability to delay gratification for longer periods of time.

Expresses feelings, needs, opinions, and desires more frequently through preferred communication methods.

Shows increasing understanding of changing expectations for behavior and emotional expression in different settings (e.g., home, school, or grocery store).

Shows ability to manage challenging feelings and behaviors, with caregiver support.

Shows increasing ability to understand the connection between actions and consequences, including the ability to stop and think in situations.

Demonstrate healthy ways to express needs, wants and feelings (National Health Standard)

Exhibits strong emotions in response to abrupt or unanticipated changes in activities (e.g., extended crying).

Exhibits, at times, strong emotions in response to changes in activities (e.g., temper tantrums).

Participates during changes in activities, with caregiver support.

Copes with change, then persists and moves ahead.

Approaches new tasks with confidence.

Anticipates changes and demonstrates the ability to adjust to changes.

Shows interest or reacts to others' emotions (e.g., responding to a familiar caregiver's voice or touch).

Responds to others' emotional tone and actions (e.g., smiles when someone smiles at them).

Imitates others' emotions and expressions (e.g., laughing when others are laughing).

Demonstrates individual responses to others' emotional tone or demeanor (e.g., reacts to a loud environment by crying, covering their ears, or getting excited).

Identifies others' basic emotional cues (e.g., learns when a peer is sad versus happy).

Shows concern for others through efforts to help or comfort (e.g., brings something or someone to a child that is upset).

Shows understanding, empathy, and compassion for others through words/signs or gestures (e.g., patting on the back, hugging, or sitting near a peer).

Labels others' emotions (e.g., tells the caregiver they look happy).

Attempts to label increasingly complex emotions in others (e.g., pride, embarrassment, or jealousy).

Acknowledges others' emotions (e.g., responds to peers' complex emotions).

Expresses curiosity and interest in others' perspectives when presented with different viewpoints.

Shows a preference for a familiar caregiver.

Notices or responds to others (e.g., reaches for a familiar caregiver).

Shows some awareness or caution with unfamiliar people or situations.

Shows preferences for one or more caregivers or children.

Uses familiar caregivers as a base from which to explore environments.

Seeks out familiar caregivers and children for conversation and play.

Manages routine separations with decreasing amount of distress.

Uses familiar caregivers for support across settings (e.g., in the classroom or outside).

Participates, verbally and non-verbally, in activities and conversations with caregivers and peers.

Builds friendships/peer connections through play, learning activities, and conversation with peers.

Express enjoyment when being physically active individually and with others. (2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Physical Education)

Responds to caregiver interactions (e.g., cooing and making eye contact).

Responds to caregivers' interactions in increasingly connected ways (e.g., taking turns babbling and listening).

Practices taking turns with familiar adults or peers (e.g., rolling a ball back and forth or handing a book to someone).

Plays alongside others. This skill is often referred to as "parallel play."

Seeks a preferred playmate.

Enters play groups using various strategies (e.g., asks to join with adult/caregiver support).

Recognizes similarities and differences between own preferences and others'.

Initiates and joins cooperative play and conversations with others.

Shows concern, respect, care, and appreciation for others and the environment.

Takes turns with adult support.

Shows flexibility in roles during play.

Shows increasing ability to initiate, engage in, and sustain positive interactions with peers and adults.

Takes turns without adult support.

Share equipment and space with others. (2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Physical Education)

Express enjoyment when being physically active individually and with others. (2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Physical Education)