Purpose and limits
This appendix supports observation and planning for preschool children, approximately ages 3–5 before kindergarten. The former age-band tables have been removed because their individual items were not adequately sourced as developmental norms.
The prompts below are authored classroom examples, not CDC milestones, an ELOF checklist, an ordered progression, or a scored assessment. There is no 5–6-year band, vocabulary quota, waiting-time target, or gender-identification requirement. Children do not need to demonstrate every example.
Keep three uses separate
| Purpose | Use | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and observation | Describe participation, strengths, opportunities, and adult support in meaningful routines. | Use the prompts below to choose a response; do not assign a developmental age or readiness group. |
| Developmental monitoring | Use the current CDC checklist for the child’s actual age, in conversation with the family and healthcare provider. | CDC checklists support monitoring; they do not replace validated screening. |
| Screening and evaluation | Use validated tools and qualified personnel according to tool guidance and applicable program requirements. | Refer concerns through established pathways; these appendix forms cannot establish eligibility or diagnosis. |
Preschool observation and planning prompts
Source relationship: The domain labels refer to the Head Start ELOF. ELOF is professional learning guidance and explicitly is not a curriculum, assessment, or checklist. Each row below is an author-created planning example linked to a domain, not a paraphrased milestone with an implied age norm.
| Area | What to notice | Illustrative example | Possible adult response | Domain connection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relationships and belonging | Notice how a child seeks connection, joins others, or communicates a boundary. | A child watches a game, points to a role, or asks an adult to help them join. | Offer an entry role or communication support; record whether access improves. | Social and Emotional Development |
| Co-regulation and emotions | Record the situation, the child’s cues, and the support available. | During cleanup, a child covers their ears and moves away; a quieter cue helps them return. | Change the demands or sensory conditions and offer calm support. Do not assign a waiting-time norm. | Approaches to Learning; Social and Emotional Development |
| Movement and physical access | Notice how the child moves, reaches, handles materials, and uses adaptive equipment. | A different container, tool, or seating arrangement lets the child participate. | Offer accessible options and consult relevant professionals about individualized supports. | Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development |
| Language and communication | Notice communication across languages, gestures, signs, pictures, and devices. | A child retells an experience using a home language, drawings, or AAC. | Invite family interpretation and respond to meaning. An English vocabulary count is not a measure of the child’s full repertoire. | Language and Communication |
| Literacy and representation | Notice how children engage with stories, symbols, print, sounds, and mark-making. | A child makes a sign for a pretend shop, using drawings or letter-like marks. | Offer meaningful materials and model writing when useful; do not require a single alphabet or writing direction for all languages. | Literacy |
| Mathematical thinking | Notice comparison, quantity, pattern, shape, and spatial reasoning in play. | Children try different block arrangements to bridge a gap or compare collections. | Ask about their strategy and offer materials to investigate. Do not rank later success from a classroom counting task. | Mathematics Development |
| Scientific inquiry | Notice questions, observations, explanations, and attempts to test an idea. | Children compare what happens when water is poured onto different surfaces. | Invite predictions and revisiting; document their ideas without treating a particular explanation as an age benchmark. | Scientific Reasoning |
| Approaches to learning | Notice initiative, flexible strategies, attention in context, and ways of seeking help. | A child changes a plan, returns to an investigation, or invites a partner. | Adjust challenge and access; do not equate persistence with compliance or impose timed endurance targets. | Approaches to Learning |
| Creative expression | Notice the meanings children create through art, movement, music, and pretend play. | A child changes a story with a puppet, invents a movement, or chooses an unexpected color. | Ask about meaning and provide varied media. Realism, coloring inside lines, or fixed products are not quality criteria. | Cross-domain planning connection; not a separate ELOF arts milestone scale |
CDC milestones: use the original age-specific source
CDC’s February 2022 revision placed milestones at ages by which at least 75% of children would be expected to demonstrate them. That is not an average-age schedule or a classroom grading standard. The links below lead directly to the current checklists; this appendix does not reproduce a blended milestone list or assign new ages to CDC items.
| Age-specific source | How to use it |
|---|---|
| CDC: Milestones by 3 years | Read the complete original checklist and its instructions. Keep the source and age attached to any item you discuss; do not turn selected items into a new screening instrument. |
| CDC: Milestones by 4 years | Read the complete original checklist and its instructions. Keep the source and age attached to any item you discuss; do not turn selected items into a new screening instrument. |
| CDC: Milestones by 5 years | Read the complete original checklist and its instructions. Keep the source and age attached to any item you discuss; do not turn selected items into a new screening instrument. |
See CDC’s explanation of the 2022 revision and checklist limits and Zubler and colleagues’ 2022 evidence-informed milestone methodology. Sources checked October 3, 2026.
If a family or educator has a concern, or a child loses a previously acquired skill, raise it promptly with the family and appropriate healthcare or developmental service. Do not wait for concerns to span several domains or for the next routine portfolio review.
A brief observation record
Use Appendix E for fuller documentation. In a brief note, record:
- Date, routine, materials, and opportunities to participate.
- The child’s actual actions or words, including language or communication mode.
- Support provided and what changed afterward.
- Family knowledge and alternative explanations still to explore.
- One next adult action and when to check its usefulness.
“Not observed” means the evidence is missing, not that the child lacks a skill. Offer different ways to participate. Group children by a meaningful shared activity, interest, or support need that can change, rather than by a fixed readiness label.
Professional guidance and further reading
- Office of Head Start: Interactive ELOF — domain-level planning guidance and explicit limits on assessment use.
- NAEYC: Developmentally Appropriate Practice position statement (2020) — professional guidance for contextualized teaching and observation.
- CAST: UDL Guidelines 3.0 (2024) — guidance on participation, communication, and access.
- CDC: Key points about milestone checklists — developmental monitoring and the 75% criterion.
These sources have different purposes. None validates the authored observation prompts as an assessment instrument.