Language begins with the very first cries at the moment of a child’s birth and signals the beginning of communication. A baby’s early reflexive sounds develop into purposeful speech when she has a communication partner who listens and responds to her by opening and closing circles of communication, also known as “serve and return”.

Serve and return refers to what happens when children make a sound or express a need or idea, and adults respond with eye contact, words, and physical warmth to communicate “you are important and I want to connect with you”. Speech sound patterns, consisting of vowel and consonant combinations, eventually become functional words. 

Language includes the expression of ideas, feelings, wants, and needs; equally important is the ability to listen, understand another person, and follow directions. It also includes communicating with a social purpose in socially appropriate ways. Children increase their language and communication skills by engaging in meaningful experiences that build their general knowledge about the world. 

Children with language disorders, compromised hearing, or other developmental delays may use tools other than the spoken word to learn to communicate. Pictures, symbols, gestures, American Sign Language, assistive technology’ and other augmentative and alternative communication systems may be needed on the way to developing, or instead of, using typical speech. We want the same goals for children whose language and communication develop differently, although their pace and pathways may vary from children who are developing typically. 

The Vermont Early Learning Standards for Language Development include six Elements: Receptive Language, Expressive Language, Social Rules of Language, Dual Language Learners, Speaking & Listening, and Language. The latter two are taken directly from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts. The relevant indicators of the 2015 Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Ages Birth to Five are aligned with these Vermont Early Learning Standards.

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While our human brains are wired for language and communication, we become literate through a much more intentional learning process. Literacy includes the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and using print to make sense of the world.

Exposure to oral language, storytelling, and book reading are essential experiences in the infant-toddler and preschool years and they lay the foundation for learning to read and write in kindergarten and the primary grades. Exposure to language and the written word gives children experience hearing and distinguishing between letter sounds, rhyming, word recognition, and concepts about print. They gain access to text and build content knowledge through read alouds and verbal interactions about text. As children enter the primary grades, literacy skills allow them independent access to content knowledge.

Very young children are gaining book appreciation skills and developing concepts about print when they are read to, allowed to turn the pages, and bring a book to a trusted adult who will read it with them. They learn that letters and words have meaning when adults point to a sign and say, “Oh look, it says EXIT. We can go out through that door”, or “Let’s make a list so we don’t forget what to buy at the store”. Older children use books and other print to gain information, and are exposed to increasingly more complex text delivered through simple technologies (e.g., pencil) and new technologies.

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The domain, Creative Arts and Expression, is included within the Communications area of learning and development to emphasize the focus on the arts as an opportunity for children’s self-expression, exploration, improvisation, and another way for them to communicate their thoughts and feelings.

Vermont’s Creative Arts and Expression Standards for young children from infancy to third grade are focused on a process rather than a product approach. Adults facilitating children’s learning of the creative arts should focus on the process; so put away the patterns, the samples, the coloring pages, the step-by-step instructions, and instead provide materials and time for open-ended exploration of art materials, pretend-play scenarios, music, and movement experiences. Adults should acknowledge the child’s creative processes and emphasize the joy in these activities. Art materials should be available for visual and spatial learners; movement should be used as a learning tool as so many children are bodily-kinesthetic and physical learners at this developmental level; imagination and improvisation should be fostered to promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills; music can be in the background or at the forefront at various times of the day and can simply set the stage for the classroom atmosphere or be focused specifically on a skill such as building vocabulary.

Young children are holistic learners; the Creative Arts are an integral part of how children come to learn about their world. The creative arts are an often left-out segment of the curriculum for a variety of reasons, including financial constraints, the lack of confidence of the classroom teacher, or the prioritization of other areas of learning especially in grades K-3. There is evidence showing that the creative arts can support all areas of learning and should be employed as an instructional strategy across the continuum. Preschool children may use art materials to create a menu in a pretend restaurant scenario. Second grade children may communicate their understanding of simple math problems or scientific discoveries by drawing their processes and results. Children may communicate their understanding of a book through the visual arts or dramatization. Opportunities for creative arts and expression should be part of a young child’s daily routine; the arts allow children to communicate beyond the spoken word.

Vermont’s Creative Arts and Expression domain includes the Elements of: Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, and Dance. This domain is aligned with the 2015 Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Ages Birth to Five ; Vermont Grade Expectations (i.e., PreK-K, 1-2, 3-4), and informed by the National Core Arts Standards (i.e., PreK, Grade1, 2, 3). The Vermont Grade Expectations (GEs) for the Arts are presented in two grade level clusters (e.g., PreK-K, 1-2, 3-4) with the understanding that children meet the “expectation” at the conclusion of the higher grade level..

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