Praxis PLT: Early Childhood (5621)

Category I of the exam begins with a basic question: how do young children come to know things? Test items describe a preschooler at the water table or a first grader struggling with subtraction and ask which learning theory explains the behavior or which teacher response fits that theory. To answer well, a candidate must recognize the three major families of learning theory, the vocabulary attached to each, and the signs that a child's development is outside the typical range.

Three Views of How Learning Happens

Behaviorism treats learning as a change in observable behavior produced by the environment. The learner's inner thinking is set aside; what matters is the stimulus, the response, and the consequence that follows. Behaviorist ideas show up in classroom routines, praise, token systems, and the way teachers shape new skills in small steps.

Cognitive (information-processing) theory compares the mind to a system that takes in, stores, and retrieves information. Attention moves information from the senses into working memory, which in young children holds only a few items at once; rehearsal and meaningful connections move it into long-term memory. Teachers apply this view when they limit the number of new ideas in a lesson, use songs and chants to aid recall, and connect new content to what children

Constructivism holds that children build knowledge actively by acting on objects, testing ideas, and making sense of results. Piaget emphasized the child's own exploration (cognitive constructivism), while Vygotsky emphasized learning through interaction with more skilled people (social constructivism). Hands-on centers, open-ended questions, and play- based investigation in pre-K and kindergarten all rest on constructivist assumptions.

Behaviorist Responses are strengthened or weakened by their consequences

Arrange cues and Praising a kindergartner the consequences; reinforce moment she lines up quietly desired behavior

Cognitive Information is attended to, processed in (information working memory, and stored in long- processing) term memory

Direct attention, chunk Teaching letter sounds in small content, give practice and sets with a daily review chant retrieval

Constructivist Learners build understanding through exploration, reflection, and social interaction

Design rich experiences, Pre-K children test which objects question, and scaffold sink or float and explain their predictions

Several terms from the blueprint apply across all theories and appear frequently in answer choices. Each one names a process the teacher can observe and support, even in very young learners.

an organized mental framework for a concept or event, such as a child's idea of what happens at a birthday party; new experiences are fitted into or change existing schemas.

Metacognition

thinking about one's own thinking, such as a second grader noticing that a sentence did not make sense and rereading it; it can be taught through think-alouds.

applying knowledge or a skill learned in one setting to a new setting, as when a child uses counting-on from math centers to count snack items.

Self-efficacy

a child's belief that he or she can succeed at a specific task; it grows from past success, watching similar peers succeed, and encouragement.

Self-regulation

the ability to manage attention, emotions, and behavior to reach a goal, such as waiting for a turn or returning to a task after a distraction.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range of tasks a child cannot yet do alone but can do with guidance; it is treated in detail in the Vygotsky section.

Classical and Operant Conditioning in the Classroom

Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with one that already produces an automatic response until the neutral stimulus alone triggers the response. Pavlov demonstrated it with dogs that salivated to a tone, and Watson showed that fear could be conditioned in a young child. In a preschool, a child who was frightened during a loud fire drill may become anxious whenever the hallway bell rings, and a calm cleanup song can come to signal relaxation.

Operant conditioning concerns voluntary behavior and its consequences. Thorndike's law of effect states that behaviors followed by satisfying results are more likely to be repeated. Skinner extended this idea into reinforcement and punishment, shaping (reinforcing successive approximations), and schedules of reinforcement. Behavior-specific praise, sticker charts, and loss of a privilege are all operant tools.

Positive Something pleasant is added Increases reinforcement

A child who cleans up quickly earns the job of line leader

Negative Something unpleasant is Increases reinforcement removed

When a child starts cleanup promptly, the teacher's repeated reminders stop, so the child starts cleanup faster the next day

Positive Something unpleasant is Decreases punishment added

A child who throws blocks receives a firm verbal reprimand

Negative Something pleasant is removed Decreases punishment

A child who pushes in line loses a few minutes of recess

Extinction Reinforcement that maintained Decreases a behavior is withheld over time

The teacher stops reacting to calling out and responds only to raised hands

Negative reinforcement is not punishment. Both kinds of reinforcement increase a behavior; "negative" only means something unpleasant is taken away. If the behavior is meant to decrease, the answer is punishment or extinction.

Development follows a generally predictable sequence, but timing varies widely among typically developing children. A four-year-old who is not yet writing letters is within the typical range; a four-year-old who speaks only in single words is not. Teachers use developmental milestones as reference points rather than deadlines and observe children over time in several settings before drawing conclusions.

Concern is warranted when a child shows a significant delay in one or more domains, loses skills he or she once had (regression), or shows patterns such as very limited eye contact, no pretend play, or extreme difficulty with transitions. The appropriate teacher response is to document specific observations, share them with the family, and follow school procedures for developmental screening. Under IDEA's child find obligation, schools must locate and evaluate children who may need special education, including preschoolers.

Teachers do not diagnose. Their role is to notice, document, communicate, and refer, and then to implement the supports a team recommends. An exam answer that has the teacher label a disability or tell parents a diagnosis is almost always

RESPONDING TO A POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTAL CONCERN

Observe the child across settings and days

Record dated, objective notes on specific behaviors

Compare observations to typical milestones

Share observations with the family and listen to their view

Refer for screening through school or district procedures

When a question asks for the best first step about a developmental concern, choose collecting objective observations or contacting the family over immediate labeling, retention, or waiting a year to see what happens.

Jean Piaget proposed that children think in qualitatively different ways at different ages and pass through four stages in a fixed order. For an early childhood teacher, the two stages that matter most are the preoperational stage (about ages 2 to 7) and the early part of the concrete operational stage (about ages 7 to 11). Exam items often present a child's response to a task and ask what it shows about the child's thinking.

How Children Adapt: Schemas and Equilibration

Piaget described learning as adaptation, which has two complementary processes. Assimilation fits a new experience into an existing schema, as when a toddler who knows "dog" calls a cow "doggie." Accommodation changes the schema or creates a new one, as when the child learns that cows are a different animal. The drive to resolve the mismatch between old schemas and new information is equilibration, and the uncomfortable state of mismatch is disequilibrium.

Teachers create productive disequilibrium on purpose. A kindergarten teacher who asks children to predict whether a large wooden block or a small metal washer will sink, and then tests both, confronts the common belief that big things sink. Children who see a surprising result are motivated to revise their thinking.

Do not confuse Piaget's accommodation (changing a schema) with an accommodation for a student with a disability (a change in how a student accesses instruction or shows learning). Read the context of the question.

The Four Stages at a Glance

Ages are approximate. Piaget stressed the order of the stages, not exact ages, and children may show features of two

PIAGET'S STAGES AND THEIR MEANING FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS

Early childhood implications

Learns through senses and actions; develops object permanence and the beginnings of mental

Infant and toddler rooms provide safe objects to mouth, drop, stack, and hide

Symbolic thought and language expand; thinking is egocentric, centered, and tied to appearances

Pre-K and kindergarten rely on concrete materials, dramatic play, and talk

Logical thought about concrete objects;

Grades 2 and 3 move to more structured reasoning while still using manipulatives

Abstract and hypothetical reasoning; systematic

Beyond the early childhood range; do not expect abstract reasoning in grades K to

Sensorimotor Highlights for Toddler Teachers

Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six substages. Three ideas from it reach into toddler and young preschool classrooms. Object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight, emerges in the second half of the first year and is refined into the second year; peekaboo and hide-the-toy games exercise it. Circular reactions are repeated actions: primary ones involve the child's own body, secondary ones produce an interesting effect on an object (shaking a rattle), and tertiary ones, around 12 to 18 months, are deliberate experiments, such as dropping different objects from a high chair to see what happens.

Deferred imitation, copying an action observed earlier, appears near the end of the stage and shows that the child can hold a mental representation. A two-year-old who pretends to stir a pot the way a parent did the day before is using deferred imitation, the bridge to pretend play.

The preoperational child's great achievement is the symbolic function: using words, drawings, and pretend objects to stand for other things. A block becomes a phone, and scribbles become a grocery list. The limits of this stage are equally testable, because they explain many classroom behaviors that adults misread as stubbornness or carelessness.

difficulty taking another person's point of view; a preschooler may hold a picture facing herself while "showing" it to the group.

attributing life, feelings, or intentions to objects, such as saying the sun went to bed or the chair is sad.

focusing on one striking feature of a situation and ignoring others, such as judging amount by height alone.

Irreversibility

inability to mentally reverse an action and return to the starting point, such as pouring water back into the original glass.

Lack of conservation

not understanding that quantity stays the same when only appearance changes; it results from centration and irreversibility together.

Transductive reasoning

linking two events because they occur together, as in "I didn't take a nap, so it isn't afternoon."

Piaget's conservation tasks are the classic way to assess this stage. The table shows the most frequently cited versions and the typical preoperational response.

Number Two equal rows of counters; one row is spread out

The longer row has more

Equal water in two identical glasses; one is poured into a tall, thin glass

The tall glass has more

Mass Two equal clay balls; one is rolled into a snake

The snake has more clay

Length Two equal sticks aligned; one is shifted ahead

The shifted stick is longer

Transition to Concrete Operations in Grades 1 to 3

Between about ages 6 and 8, most children begin to conserve, usually number first and then mass and liquid, with volume later. They show reversibility (understanding that 8 minus 3 undoes 5 plus 3), decentration (considering height and width together), classification (grouping by more than one attribute and understanding that a class can contain subclasses), and seriation (ordering objects by length or weight). These operations underpin place value, fact families, and measurement in the primary grades.

Concrete operational thinking is still tied to real or easily imagined objects. A second grader can reason about ten-rods and unit cubes but may struggle with a purely verbal word problem with no picture or materials. This is why the concrete- representational-abstract sequence remains effective through grade 3.

Provide concrete materials, real objects, and hands-on investigation before symbols and worksheets.

Ask children to explain their reasoning, because their explanations reveal schemas and misconceptions.

Plan experiences that create disequilibrium, then give time for children to resolve it.

Accept egocentric and animistic statements as typical while modeling other viewpoints through stories and role play.

Researchers have found that young children are often more capable than Piaget's tasks suggested; simpler, familiar tasks reveal earlier perspective taking and number understanding.

Piaget gave less weight to culture, language, and social interaction, the gap that Vygotsky's theory fills, and development appears more gradual and domain-specific than strict stages imply.

The blueprint names a set of theorists whose ideas candidates must apply, not just identify. A typical item describes a teacher move, such as modeling a skill or posing a problem for children to explore, and asks which theorist's work it reflects. This section summarizes each theorist's core ideas and shows what they look like in a pre-K to grade 3

Lev Vygotsky argued that higher mental functions develop first between people and are then internalized by the child. Learning leads development: well-designed instruction pulls a child toward abilities that are just emerging. Language is the primary tool of this process.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

the distance between what a child can do independently and what the child can do with guidance from an adult or more capable peer; instruction is most effective when aimed here.

temporary, adjustable support, such as hints, modeling, or partially completed examples, that is gradually withdrawn as the child gains competence; the term was introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross to describe support within the ZPD.

More knowledgeable other (MKO)

anyone with greater skill for the task at hand, including a teacher, parent, or classmate.

Private speech

talk children direct to themselves to guide their actions, such as "First the blue one, then the red." It increases with difficult tasks and gradually becomes silent inner speech.

Make-believe play

dramatic play in which children follow the implicit rules of a role; Vygotsky saw it as a ZPD in which children behave beyond their everyday level and practice self-regulation.

Private speech is a sign of effortful thinking, not misbehavior. A kindergartner talking himself through a puzzle should not be told to work silently; the teacher can model useful self-talk instead.

THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

Beyond current reach: cannot do yet, even with help

Can do with scaffolding from an adult or peer

(actual developmental level)

Instruction is aimed at the middle region, where a child succeeds with support that is later withdrawn.

Jerome Bruner described three modes of representation: enactive (learning through action, such as counting by moving bears), iconic (learning through images, such as drawing the bears or using a ten-frame picture), and symbolic (learning through words and numerals, such as writing 3 + 2 = 5). He proposed a spiral curriculum in which key ideas are revisited at increasing depth across grades, and he promoted discovery learning, in which students find patterns and principles

John Dewey championed learning by doing and progressive education. He held that education should grow from children's experience and interests, that classrooms should function as small democratic communities, and that experience becomes educational only when children reflect on it. A class garden in which first graders plant, measure, record growth, and discuss results reflects Dewey's experiential approach.

Albert Bandura showed that children learn a great deal by watching others, without being reinforced directly. In observational learning, a child observes a model, and the behavior may or may not be performed later. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when a child sees a peer rewarded and becomes more likely to imitate that peer; vicarious punishment has the opposite effect. Bandura later expanded this work into social cognitive theory, which stresses self- efficacy and the interaction of person, behavior, and environment (reciprocal determinism).

The four processes explain why a demonstration sometimes fails. If children cannot see the teacher's hands while she models letter formation, attention breaks down; if the skill is too advanced, reproduction fails. Peer models who are similar in age and ability raise self-efficacy most.

BANDURA'S FOUR PROCESSES OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Attention: the child notices the model's behavior

Retention: the child remembers what was seen

Reproduction: the child has the skill to perform the behavior

Motivation: the child has a reason, such as expected reinforcement, to perform it

Lawrence Kohlberg, building on Piaget, studied how people reason about moral dilemmas and described three levels, each with two stages. Young children are generally at the preconventional level: in stage 1 (obedience and punishment) an act is wrong because it gets punished, and in stage 2 (individualism and exchange) children judge by self-interest and fair trades ("I'll share if you share"). Some children in the early grades begin to show the conventional level, stage 3 (good interpersonal relationships), in which they want to be seen as a good friend or helper. Later stages (law and order, social contract, universal principles) appear well beyond the early childhood years, if at all.

Carol Gilligan criticized Kohlberg's theory for relying on male samples and for valuing a justice orientation over an ethic of care focused on relationships and responsibility. Others note that the theory measures reasoning, which does not always

Bloom's Taxonomy and Mastery Learning

Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy classifies cognitive objectives from lower to higher order. The revised version uses verbs: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Even kindergartners can work at higher levels, for example comparing two versions of a fairy tale (analyze) or inventing a new ending (create). Bloom also developed mastery learning: content is divided into units, students take a formative check, those who have not mastered the unit receive corrective instruction while others receive enrichment, and all move on when they reach the mastery standard.

These theories complement rather than contradict one another. A single well-planned kindergarten lesson may use Bandura's modeling to introduce a skill, Vygotsky's scaffolding during guided practice, Bruner's progression from objects to pictures to symbols, and Bloom's levels to plan questions, all within Dewey's view that children learn best from

Piaget Children construct knowledge through action and pass through stages

Hands-on centers and conservation-style questions before abstract symbols

Vygotsky Learning is social and occurs in the ZPD

Teacher scaffolds a small reading group, then fades prompts

Bruner Enactive, iconic, symbolic modes; spiral curriculum; discovery

Counting with bears, then drawing dots, then writing numerals

Dewey Learning by doing in a democratic community

A class garden or a class store run by the children

What it looks like in pre-K to grade 3

Teacher thinks aloud while modeling; praises a peer who uses kind

Discussing why rules exist, not only what happens if they are broken

Kohlberg Moral reasoning develops through levels

Planning questions from recall to create; reteaching before moving on

Bloom Levels of cognitive objectives; mastery

If an item stresses a teacher modeling and children imitating, think Bandura; if it stresses support that is gradually removed, think Vygotsky and scaffolding; if it stresses children discovering a pattern on their own, think Bruner or

Physical development shapes almost everything young children do in school, from sitting at circle time to holding a pencil. The exam expects candidates to know typical motor milestones, the patterns that govern physical growth, the basics of brain development, and the classroom practices that follow from them. It also expects candidates to recognize when a physical difference may need a referral.

Brain Growth in the Early Years

The brain grows faster in the first years of life than at any later time and reaches roughly 90 percent of adult size by about age 5 or 6. Early growth comes largely from the formation of connections between neurons rather than from new neurons. Experience then determines which connections are kept, which is why early environments matter so much.

Synaptogenesis

the rapid formation of synapses, or connections between neurons, which produces far more connections in early childhood than the adult brain keeps.

Synaptic pruning

the elimination of connections that are rarely used, following a use-it-or-lose-it principle that makes the remaining networks more efficient.

the coating of nerve fibers with a fatty sheath that speeds signal transmission; it continues through childhood and adolescence, with motor and sensory areas maturing before the prefrontal cortex.

Executive function

the set of control skills (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) that let children plan, follow rules, and shift between tasks; it develops rapidly from ages 3 to 7.

Sensitive period

a window when the brain is especially responsive to certain experiences, such as language and sound discrimination in early childhood; learning is still possible later but usually requires more effort.

Lateralization

the specialization of the brain's two hemispheres for different functions, which becomes more pronounced during childhood and relates to hand dominance.

Because the prefrontal cortex matures slowly, young children have short attention spans and limited impulse control. Games such as Simon Says, freeze dance, and red light-green light build inhibitory control, while consistent routines reduce demands on working memory. Chronic stress, poor nutrition, and lack of sleep can interfere with brain development and with day-to-day learning.

Physical development follows two directional principles. Cephalocaudal development proceeds from head to foot: infants control their heads before their trunks and legs. Proximodistal development proceeds from the center of the body outward: children control their shoulders and arms before their wrists and fingers. A third pattern is gross to fine: large- muscle control generally precedes small-muscle precision.

The proximodistal pattern explains why a preschooler who cannot yet form small letters may need activities that strengthen the shoulder and arm, such as painting at an easel, climbing, or drawing on a vertical surface, before fine pencil work. Body proportions also change: preschoolers have relatively large heads and a higher center of gravity, which

Gross and Fine Motor Milestones Ages 3 to 8

Gross motor skills use large muscles for movement and balance, and fine motor skills use small muscles of the hands and fingers, coordinated with the eyes. The milestones below are typical approximations; individual timing varies, and practice opportunities strongly influence when skills appear.

Runs, jumps with both feet, pedals a tricycle, climbs stairs alternating feet

Copies a circle, strings large beads, snips with scissors, builds a tower of about 9 blocks

Hops on one foot, catches a bounced ball, gallops

Copies a cross and begins a square, cuts along a line, draws a simple person with a few parts

Skips, balances on one foot about 10 seconds, may jump rope

Copies a triangle, prints some letters and numerals, uses a tripod grasp, cuts out simple shapes

Rides a bicycle (often with training wheels removed by 6 or 7), throws with better aim

Ties shoes, copies a diamond, prints most letters with improving size and spacing

7 to Coordinated running, jumping, and ball skills used in organized games

Writes legibly with smaller, more consistent letters; begins cursive or keyboarding in some schools

Hand Dominance and Pencil Grasp

Children may switch hands freely as toddlers. A clear hand preference usually emerges between about ages 2 and 4 and is generally established by about 4 to 6. Teachers should not force a child to use one hand; they place materials at the child's midline and let the child choose. Left-handed children benefit from paper slanted the other way and from sitting where elbows will not bump a neighbor.

Short, thick crayons, broken chalk, and golf pencils naturally encourage a tripod grasp. Playdough, tweezers, clothespins, lacing cards, and tearing paper strengthen the small muscles needed for handwriting.

TYPICAL SEQUENCE OF PENCIL GRASP DEVELOPMENT

Palmar (fisted) grasp: whole hand wraps the crayon, arm moves from the shoulder

Digital pronate grasp: fingers point down the crayon, movement from the elbow

Static tripod grasp: thumb and two fingers hold the tool, but the wrist and hand move as a unit

Dynamic tripod grasp: fingertips make small movements, usually by about ages 4 to 6

Classroom Implications and Atypical Signs

Schedule movement breaks and brain breaks, because young children cannot sit still for long periods and movement

Protect daily outdoor play and recess; withholding recess as a consequence removes a key support for gross motor skills,

Offer fine-motor centers with manipulatives, art materials, and self-care practice such as buttoning and zipping.

Teach motor skills explicitly and in small steps, then give repeated practice with feedback.

Watch for possible concerns: persistent clumsiness or frequent falls, marked difference between the two sides of the body, loss of skills, inability to use a pincer grasp by preschool, or avoidance of drawing and cutting well past peers.

Share concerns with the family and the school team; an occupational therapist addresses fine motor and sensory needs, and a physical therapist addresses gross motor needs.

Physical, cognitive, and social development are linked. A child with weak motor skills may avoid ball games and lose opportunities for peer play, so supporting motor growth also supports friendships and confidence.

Gross and fine motor timing varies widely, and practice matters. A single missed milestone is not a diagnosis; a pattern of delay, asymmetry, or regression is a reason to document and refer.

Language is the foundation for literacy, social interaction, and self-regulation, and early childhood is the period of its fastest growth. The exam asks candidates to recognize stages of language development, name the components of language, distinguish typical errors from signs of delay, and choose teacher talk that builds oral language. It also expects respect for children's home languages.

Children around the world pass through similar stages, although the timing varies. Understanding the earlier stages helps preschool teachers interpret the speech of younger or language-delayed children in their rooms.

Prelinguistic Birth to about 12 months

Crying, cooing, then babbling ("ba-ba"); gestures such as pointing; understanding of some words before speaking them

Single words stand for whole ideas, such as "up" meaning "pick me up"

Holophrastic (one- About 12 to 18 months

Short phrases with content words and few function words, such as "Daddy go

Two-word and About 18 to 30 months

The naming explosion; children add many words a day through fast mapping

Rapid vocabulary About 18 months to 3 years

Questions, negatives, plurals, past tense, and joined clauses with "because" and "if"; growing narrative skill

Complex sentences About 3 to 8 years

Linguists divide language into five components. Each one can develop at a different rate in the same child, and each one connects to later reading and writing.

the sound system of a language and the rules for combining sounds; it underlies phonological awareness, such as rhyming and blending.

the structure of words from meaningful units called morphemes, such as the plural -s or the past-tense -ed.

the rules for ordering words into phrases and sentences, such as placing adjectives before nouns in English.

the meanings of words and sentences, including vocabulary knowledge.

the social use of language, such as taking turns in conversation, staying on topic, and adjusting speech for a listener.

Overgeneralization (also called overregularization) is the application of a grammatical rule to words that are exceptions, producing forms such as "goed," "foots," or "mouses." It is a positive sign: the child has learned the rule and is applying it. Overgeneralization also occurs in semantics, as when a toddler calls every four-legged animal "doggie." The best response is to repeat the correct form naturally ("Yes, you went to the park") rather than drilling or correcting sharply.

If a child says "I goed" or "two mouses," the exam usually wants you to identify overgeneralization of a morphological rule, a typical stage, and to respond by modeling the correct form in conversation.

Typical Milestones Ages 3 to 8

Receptive language is understanding; expressive language is producing language through speech, signs, or writing. Receptive skills usually run ahead of expressive skills, so a child may follow complex directions while still speaking in

Speaks in three- to four-word sentences; familiar listeners understand most speech

Answers who, what, where questions about a story; understands same and different

Uses four- to five-word sentences, tells simple stories; strangers understand most speech

Follows three-step directions; understands time words like before and after

Uses complex sentences; retells stories in order; most speech sounds clear

6 to Understands multiple meanings and simple jokes; follows classroom discussion

Explains ideas and gives reasons; later sounds such as r, l, s, and th become accurate

Understands figurative language and complex directions

Uses adult-like grammar; adjusts speech for different audiences; reads and writes to communicate

A speech problem involves producing sounds: articulation (substituting or omitting sounds, as in "wabbit" well past the expected age), fluency (stuttering), or voice. A language problem involves understanding or using the system of words and rules: a small vocabulary, very short or ungrammatical sentences, or difficulty following directions or telling a story. A child can have one without the other.

Some disfluency and some sound errors are typical in preschoolers. Teachers should consult the speech-language pathologist (SLP) when a child is hard for strangers to understand by about age 4, does not combine words by age 2 or uses very short sentences at 3 or 4, does not follow simple directions, loses language skills, or stutters with tension, frustration, or avoidance. Hearing should be checked whenever language seems delayed, because frequent ear infections can affect hearing during a sensitive period.

Supporting Oral Language and Home Language

Children learn language through frequent, responsive conversation with adults who follow their lead. Several specific teacher moves appear on the exam by name. They work in every part of the day, from arrival and snack to centers and read-aloud, not only during a scheduled language lesson.

*Extension:* adding new information or vocabulary to what the child said. Teacher: "The dump truck is carrying sand to

Open-ended questions such as "What do you think will happen?" or "How did you build that?" invite longer responses

Dialogic reading turns a read-aloud into a conversation: the adult prompts the child to talk about the book, evaluates and expands the response, and repeats the prompt, gradually letting the child become the storyteller.

Wait time of several seconds after a question gives young children and English learners time to form an answer.

Self-talk and parallel talk, in which the teacher narrates her own actions or the child's actions, build vocabulary during

A child's home language is an asset, and skills learned in it, such as vocabulary concepts and phonological awareness, transfer to English. Teachers should encourage families to keep talking, reading, and singing with children in the language they know best, and should never tell families to stop using their home language. Learning a second language is not a cause of language delay, although young English learners may go through a silent period of listening before speaking much English. During this period, teachers keep the child engaged with gestures, pictures, predictable routines, and simple yes-or-no or pointing responses, and they do not mistake the silent period for a language disorder. A referral is considered only when difficulties appear in the home language as well as in English.