Glossary
Key terms used throughout the Primary Competencies.
A
- academic vocabulary
- Language characterized by complex narrative, sentence structure, and word choice that is acquired through opportunities to practice, repeated exposure, and intentional interactions.
- adult-led play
- Structured learning led by an adult, in which the goals, materials, and activities are planned to teach specific skills or concepts. Adults provide clear instructions, model behaviors, and guide children’s learning toward the specific learning goals (e.g., using number cards to teach number recognition).
- adversity
- Difficult or stressful experiences that challenge a child’s well-being and development. Such conditions can include family instability, exposure to violence, financial hardship, housing instability, neglect, or other significant disruptions.
- assistive technology
- Tools or devices designed to help children with disabilities or learning differences participate more fully in learning activities, everyday communication, and daily activities (e.g., a child with vision challenges uses books or printed materials containing high-contrast colors).
- augmentative or alternative communication tools
- Methods and devices used to help children who have difficulty or delays with spoken communication to express their needs, ideas, and emotions.
C
- child-directed play
- Play that is initiated and led by the child. The child chooses what to play, how to play, and what materials to use. The role of the adult is to provide a safe and nurturing environment that allows the child to take the lead in play, and support the child’s interests without directing the play.
- chronic stress
- Stress that continues over an extended period of time and is experienced frequently or constantly. It can result from ongoing challenges such as financial strain, unsafe environments, or family difficulties. Over time, chronic stress can affect a person’s physical health, emotions, behavior, and ability to concentrate or learn.
- computational thinking
- A problem-solving approach that includes noticing patterns, organizing information, and following logical steps. Children use computational thinking in science when they sort and classify objects, look for patterns in nature, predict what might happen, or plan how to test an idea.
- conceptual knowledge
- Knowing what things mean and how they fit together. It is an understanding of the ideas, categories, or relationships behind things, rather than just knowing facts.
- constructive play
- When a child builds with toys or materials (e.g. blocks, sand). This type of play strengthens problem-solving skills and spatial awareness.
- cooperative play
- When children play play together toward a common goal, often with assigned roles (e.g. playing house).
- cueing
- Giving children subtle prompts or hints that help them use a skill or take the next step.
- culturally responsive teaching
- The teaching practices, interactions, and use of materials that recognize, respect, and build on the cultural backgrounds, experiences, and strengths of children and families.
- curriculum-based assessment
- A form of ongoing, authentic assessment that uses the child’s everyday learning activities, classroom tasks, and instructional materials to determine how well they are mastering specific skills and concepts aligned with the curriculum.
D
- decoding
- The ability to recognize written symbols, letters, letter patterns, and characters of a spoken language and connect them to their corresponding sounds and pronunciation to read the words.
- developmental milestones
- Key skills or behaviors most children can do by a certain age. They include things like crawling, walking, talking, smiling, or showing emotions, and help track a child’s growth in areas such as physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development.
- developmental monitoring
- The use of knowledge of child development across the domains to track the child’s growth and progress in a learning environment.
- developmental screening
- A standardized questionnaire or assessment administered by professionals to identify potential developmental delays and allow for early intervention and special education services.
E
- emergent multilingual learner
- Young child whose primary language at home is other than English and who has the potential to become multilingual in school.
- encoding
- The ability to represent spoken language in written form. It involves representing sounds, spoken words, using letters, characters, or spelling patterns in order to write.
- executive function
- A set of sophisticated brain skills that help individuals plan goals, remember instructions, juggle tasks and control behaviors. These skills help individuals from infancy through adulthood solve problems, organize, adapt to new environments or experiences. Stress, trauma and certain brain conditions can affect how well these skills work.
F
- focused instruction
- Targeted teaching that helps children develop skills, concepts, or understandings.
- formal representation
- In early mathematics, the use of conventional mathematical symbols, numbers, and notations to express mathematical ideas in written form (numerals, graph, number lines, equations, etc).
- funds of knowledge
- The skills, know-how, and cultural knowledge that children and their families have, which help them manage daily life and thrive.
G
- guided play
- An approach that mixes direct teaching and free play. It sets a learning goal and shapes the environment to help children explore, while still letting them make most of their own choices and lead their own learning.
H
- high-level thinking
- Cognitive processing that goes beyond memorization or basic understanding. It engages children in exploring relationships, comparing and contrasting, predicting outcomes, explaining reasoning, and generating new ideas.
I
- imitation play
- A type of play where children copy the actions, words, or behaviors of others — such as adults, peers, or characters they’ve observed.
- inclusion
- An approach to assure that all people access opportunities to engage in meaningful experiences and interactions to build meaningful relationships. This value means integrating children with developmental delays or disabilities in the least restrictive environments possible and making accommodations and adaptations to teaching practices and learning environments as needed.
- individualized instruction
- Teaching tailored to the individual learner, rather than using a one- size-fits-all approach. The educator observes and assesses each child’s progress, then plans and adjusts activities to support that child’s next steps in learning.
- informal representation
- In early mathematics, the different ways children express mathematical ideas using everyday language, drawings, gestures, signs, or objects (e.g., using fingers, saying or signing ‘more’, ‘little’, ‘small’, ‘big’, ‘so many’, etc)
- inquiry-based learning
- An approach in which children learn by asking questions, exploring materials and ideas, investigating problems, and discovering answers through hands-on experiences. Rather than the teacher delivering information directly, the teacher’s role is to guide and support children’s curiosity while extending learning.
L
- language acquisition
- Process by which children learn to understand and use language. This includes learning words, grammar, and how to communicate effectively with others, usually beginning from birth and continuing as they grow.
- learning progressions
- The general trajectories for how children develop dispositions, construct knowledge, and build skills in each content area.
- linguistically responsive
- The practices, interactions, and learning environment that recognize, value, and build on the languages that children bring with them.
M
- multitiered instruction system (MTSS)
- A way to plan instruction and supports for children. It provides different levels (tiers) of teaching, with more targeted or intensive support when needed. Educators use assessment and progress monitoring to decide what support works best.
O
- open-ended materials
- Items that children can use in multiple ways to explore, create, and problem-solve. They do not have a single “correct” use, which allows children to make their own choices, experiment, be creative, and develop their ideas (e.g. a child uses sticks, shells, and playdough to make a ‘forest’ for their toy animals).
P
- parallel play
- When children play side-by-side with similar toys or in similar ways but do not interact with each other directly.
- perceptual features
- The sensory (visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, and taste) attributes that help individuals identify, categorize, and differentiate objects or experiences. Visual features include color, shape, size, pattern, and brightness. Tactile features include texture, temperature, and smoothness. Auditory features include pitch, volume, rhythm, and tone. Olfactory and taste feature distinct smells and flavors.
- phonological awareness
- Recognizing and producing the sound structures of spoken words, rhymes, identifying syllables, and manipulating different sounds.
- print concepts
- The foundational knowledge that symbols, characters, or letters represent ideas or spoken language. It also involves knowing how to handle a book, turn pages, and follow text/characters across a page.
- professional identity
- How an educator views themselves in their work while reflecting on who they want to be in their role, including their values, beliefs, skills, and approach to teaching and learning.
- project-based learning
- Children investigate a real-world topic in depth over an extended period of time. Projects grow from children’s interests and questions, and the learning unfolds through hands-on exploration, problem-solving, and collaboration.
- protective factors
- Conditions in families and communities that provide a buffer or help mitigate risks and help with well-being. Some examples are strong family bonds, healthy and trusting relationships with friends and family, community resources, and support, etc.
- psychological safety
- When children or adults feel comfortable and safe sharing their thoughts, attempting challenging tasks, or acknowledging mistakes without feeling judged or criticized.
R
- reflective practice
- Regularly thinking about and evaluating one’s own actions, instructional decisions, and interactions to improve future learning experiences for children.
S
- scaffolding
- Strategy in which the teacher provides temporary support and guidance to help children learn new skills or concepts just beyond their current ability level. As children gain understanding and competence, the teacher gradually reduces the support, allowing them to become more independent learners.
- self-regulation
- The ability to monitor and manage one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors in response to situations or demands of the environment (e.g. children waiting for a turn, staying engaged in activities, recovering from frustrations).
- sensory integration
- The processes in the brain that allow us to take information from our body (the five senses, balance, body position, etc) and the environment, and how it organizes this information to help us respond appropriately.
- solitary play
- Independent play where children play alone with a toy or object, focusing on exploration and sensory experience.
- spatial awareness
- The ability to understand our body’s position in relation to surroundings, objects, or people in the environment. It involves judging distances, depth, managing personal space, and navigating obstacles in the environment (e.g., avoiding jumping from tall heights or bumping into furniture).
- structural/systemic inequities
- Unfair differences in opportunities, resources and outcomes that are built into social systems, policies and institutions. These inequities are not caused by individual choices, but rather by how systems are designed or operate, e.g., community conditions that affect safety, transportation, or environmental quality; access to healthcare, and high-quality early learning programs.
T
- temperament
- A child’s natural and individual ability to experience and express emotions, adapt to change, or respond to people and things in the environment. Temperament is present early in life and is influenced by biology.
- tiered progress monitoring
- Regularly assessing children’s learning to see how well they respond to instruction and supports. This process helps educators decide if adjustments or additional interventions are necessary.
- transdisciplinary evaluation team
- A group of professionals from different areas (like general or special education, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology) who work together to assess a child’s development.
- translanguaging
- Communication practices that encourage the use of all languages flexibly and access to one’s full linguistic repertoire.
- trauma
- A result of repeated or prolonged exposure to adverse experiences such as abuse, neglect or broken or disrupted relationships, especially during childhood. They can severely affect a child’s development ( emotional well-being, behavior, and learning) and often lead to chronic stress.
- trauma-informed practice
- Recognizes how stressful or traumatic experiences can affect children’s feelings, behaviors, learning, and relationships. The approach features an emphasis on supporting educators’ well- being, building strong trusting relationships, safe, predictable environments, and the use of strength-based support strategies. This approach recognizes that caring for children with trauma histories requires reflection and self-care.
U
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- A pedagogical framework driven by the three core principles of engagement, representation, action/and expression. It is a holistic, inclusive neuroscience-based approach to support the range of learners in any classroom by fostering internal motivation, curiosity, and child success through teacher responsiveness.
- universal desired outcomes
- The skills, knowledge, and dispositions all children should develop. They guide teaching, curriculum, and assessment and help ensure children are ready for school, able to keep learning, and supported in their overall well-being.
- universal screening
- The administration of screening tools to assess all children in a program, regardless of whether a concern has been shared or observed. The purpose is to identify early signs of possible developmental, health, social and emotional and learning concerns so that timely supports or interventions can be provided.
Z
- zone of proximal development
- The range of skills or knowledge that a child cannot yet do or acquire alone but can accomplish with the guidance of an adult or caregiver.