Early childhood resource refresh
Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS), Birth-Five Learning Guidelines
What are the ELDS?
The Virginia Department of Education released a new set of unified early learning and development standards for young children ages birth to age five. The new standards focus on five areas of development:
- Approaches to Play and Learning
- Social and Emotional Development
- Communication, Language and Literacy Development
- Health and Physical Development
- Cognitive Development
Where can I find the ELDS?
The ELDS are available in both English and Spanish. You can download a copy at the links below.
Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS), Birth-Five Learning Guidelines (English)
Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS), Birth-Five Learning Guidelines (Spanish)
Why are the ELDS important?
Early education in Virginia aims to ensure that all children are prepared to enter kindergarten. Recognizing that the early years of a child’s life lay the foundation for future schooling, the ELDS were created to assist early childhood educators in understanding how children develop in order to implement high-quality classroom activities and interactions.
How do I use the ELDS?
The ELDS are “the ‘bottom line’ of what we should aim for each child in Virginia” (Virginia Board of Education, n.d., p. 9). They were created as a reference to help early childhood educators understand how children build skills across time and areas of development and determine if a child is learning according to general expectations. The ELDS are not intended to be used as a developmental checklist, assessment, or curriculum.
How can I learn more?
If you would like to learn more about Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards, you can complete the ELDS Micro-credential training. The training is available to all publicly-funded early childhood professionals. The training is no-cost, non-credit-bearing, online, and self-paced. By participating in the Micro-credential training, early childhood caregivers and educators will:
- Describe the factors that shape and promote child development and learning.
- Use the ELDS to prepare every child to enter Kindergarten ready to thrive.
- Describe the learning and development standards and how they relate to school readiness strategies.
- Understand the open-source Early Childhood Education resources that promote school readiness for children including resources like Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (Virginia Department of Education, n.d.).
References
Virginia Department of Education. (n.d.). Virginia’s early learning and development standards (ELDS), Birth-five learning guidelines. https://bit.ly/48KK9g4
Virginia Department of Education. (n.d). Early childhood standards & instructional support. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/early-childhood-care-education/early-childhood-standards-instructional-supports
For more information, contact Nora Bryant ([email protected]), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.