Kansas Early Learning Standards: A Comprehensive Overview
Over the last decade, strengthening early childhood education and supporting greater accountability for child outcomes has seen significant progress. Developing early learning standards for individual states has been the backbone of these initiatives. Early learning standards build consensus about crucial educational outcomes and approaches, outline expectations, and help focus curriculum development.
Understanding Early Learning Standards
According to the Office of Early Childhood Development, early learning standards are frameworks for defining children’s developmental goals at specific milestones. These standards are based on research pertaining to what children should understand and do-their abilities and skills-in different areas of learning and development. They describe the desired results, outcomes, and learning expectations of children, from birth to pre-kindergarten age. Early learning standards vary from state to state, meaning that each state is responsible for defining them. It is often a collaborative effort of state agencies. While the state is responsible for setting the standards, educators, childcare staff, and families need to work together to ensure that children meet their goals. Early learning standards promote holistic growth in children. These standards focus on curriculum development to help teachers and caregivers provide a holistic, developmentally appropriate education for children. All children are unique and require a defined early education approach. Each state is responsible for its own early childhood education program and for setting its early learning standards.
A comprehensive tool like brightwheel's lesson plan feature comes pre-loaded with the learning standards of each state, making it easier for you to plan lessons.
Kansas Early Learning Standards (KELS)
The Kansas Early Learning Standards (KELS) serves as a comprehensive guide for early childhood providers and educators, encompassing those in the early primary grades. Spanning from birth to kindergarten, it delineates the developmental trajectory of learning. These standards outline the knowledge and skills young children should acquire through interactions with nurturing, knowledgeable caregivers, evidence-backed curricula, and activities tailored to their developmental stage. The Kansas Early Learning Standards (KELS) is a document designed for providers, teachers, and parents of children ages birth through kindergarten. It provides information and guidance on the developmental progress of learning. The KELS was developed by a core team of early childhood experts from across the state. Using resources from national, state, and local agencies and organizations, the KELS are evidence-based and developmentally appropriate educational practices. Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities offers a course on the KELS. The course is approved for KDHE clock hours.
This fourth iteration of the Kansas Early Learning Standards is the result of collaborative efforts among various early childhood stakeholders in Kansas. Originating in 2006, subsequent revisions took place in 2009 and 2013. The Kansas Early Learning Standards were recently revised by a team of experts from state agencies and early childhood organizations across the State of Kansas. The link above is this most recent version. Standards are in black and IXL language arts skills are in dark green.
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Key Components of the Kansas Early Learning Standards
The KELS are structured around several key domains of development and learning:
Approaches to Learning: This domain focuses on how children engage with learning experiences, including their persistence, engagement, and attention skills.
- Benchmark: Persistence and Engagement in Learning: Engagement and Attention
- Indicator ATL.p3.1: Sustains attention to task, especially when adults offer suggestions, comments, and questions as a means of support. Activities like "Celebrate Learning," "My Age," "Shape Changers," "Sink or Swim," and "Taking Turns" can support this indicator.
- Benchmark: Persistence and Engagement in Learning: Engagement and Attention
Physical Development: This area encompasses children's gross and fine motor skills, as well as their understanding of personal hygiene and safety.
- Benchmark: Personal Hygiene
- Indicator PHD.p3.6: Follows basic health practices (e.g., puts dirty tissues in trash, washes hands, covers mouth when sneezing) with occasional reminders. Activities like "Rub a Dub Counting" can support this indicator.
- Benchmark: Safety
- Indicator PHD.p3.8: Knows common safety rules that have been discussed or taught. Activities like "My Address" can support this indicator.
- Indicator PHD.p3.9: Alerts adults to potentially harmful situations. Activities like "My Address" can support this indicator.
- Benchmark: Personal Hygiene
Social and Emotional Development: This domain addresses children's ability to understand and manage their emotions, form relationships, and make responsible decisions.
- Benchmark: SED.CD.CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
- Indicator SED.CD.p3.1: Responds to positive and negative feedback from familiar adults.
- Indicator SED.CD.p3.2: Becomes increasingly aware of effects of own behavior on others.
- Indicator SED.CD.p3.3: Shows awareness of feelings of others with adult guidance and support.
- Benchmark: SED.R.RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
- Indicator SED.R.p3.1: Begin to understand consequences of own actions with adult support.
- Indicator SED.R.p3.2: Follows predictable classroom routines and manages transitions positively most of the time when supported by an adult.
- Indicator SED.R.p3.3: Demonstrates confidence by participating in familiar classroom routines.
- Indicator SED.R.p3.6: Manages (i.e., expresses, inhibits or redirects) emotions, impulses and behaviors with support from an adult.
- Benchmark: SED.PD.PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Indicator SED.PD.p3.1: Recognizes and identifies own emotions and starts to recognize and identify the emotions of others, with adult support.
- Indicator SED.PD.p3.3: Describes self by using several basic characteristics.
- Indicator SED.PD.p3.6: Makes known personal needs and desires.
- Indicator SED.PD.p3.8: Recognizes own positive and negative feelings when an adult labels them.
- Indicator SED.PD.p3.9: Completes own goal directed activity and recognizes accomplishments while learning rules and values of family and culture.
- Benchmark: SED.SD.SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
- Indicator SED.SD.p3.1: Expresses concern for the needs of others and people in distress.
- Indicator SED.SD.p3.3: Compares own characteristics with those of others.
- Indicator SED.SD.p3.4: Follows rules and simple directions (1-2 steps).
- Indicator SED.SD.p3.7: Shows interest in having a friend.
- Indicator SED.SD.p3.8: Begins to resolve conflicts with peers, given adult assistance.
- Benchmark: SED.CD.CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Communications and Literacy: This domain covers children's language development, reading readiness, and early writing skills.
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- Benchmark: CL.L.LITERATURE
- Indicator CL.L.p3.1: With prompting and support, asks and answers simple questions about the story content.
- Indicator CL.L.p3.3: Asks and answers questions about unknown words/pictures in a book.
- Indicator CL.L.p3.6: With prompting and support, makes connections between self, illustrations and the story when taking a “picture walk” of the book.
- Indicator CL.L.p3.7: With prompting and support compares and contrasts the adventures and experiences of the characters to self (e.g., “I have a red cape just like Goldilocks!”).
- Indicator CL.L.p3.8: Actively engages in small group reading activities with purpose and understanding (e.g., asks for a favorite book to be read, giggles when hears something funny read in the story).
- Benchmark: CL.IT.INFORMATIONAL TEXT (NON-FICTION)
- Indicator CL.IT.p3.1: With prompting and support, asks and answers simple questions about the text.
- Indicator CL.IT.p3.6: With prompting and support, engages in a picture walk to make connections between self, illustrations and the information presented.
- Indicator CL.IT.p3.8: With prompting and support identifies similarities between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions or procedures).
- Indicator CL.IT.p3.9: Actively engages in small group reading activities with purpose and understanding (e.g., asks for a favorite book to be read, says “I have a car like that” or responds when appropriate to text, with a comment about “my house”).
- Benchmark: CL.F.FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
- Indicator CL.F.p3.1: Demonstrates understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
- Indicator CL.F.p3.1a: Demonstrates an understanding of how print is read (i.e., left to right, top to bottom, front to back).
- Indicator CL.F.p3.1b: Demonstrates an understanding that print conveys meaning (i.e., environmental print).
- Indicator CL.F.p3.2: Plays with the sounds of language.
- Indicator CL.F.p3.2a: Differentiates between sounds that are the same and different (e.g., environmental sounds, animal sounds, phonemes).
- Indicator CL.F.p3.3: Knows and applies age-appropriate word analysis skills.
- Indicator CL.F.p3.3a: Begins to identify own name in print.
- Indicator CL.F.p3.3b: Begins to recognize and “read” familiar words or environmental print.
- Indicator CL.F.p3.4: Displays emergent reading behaviors with purpose and understanding using a familiar book (e.g., pretend reading).
- Indicator CL.F.p3.1: Demonstrates understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
- Benchmark: CL.W.WRITING
- Indicator CL.W.p3.1: Uses drawing, scribbling, letter like forms, random letter strings and/or dictation to express thought and ideas.
- Benchmark: CL.L.LITERATURE
How the KELS are Used
The KELS are designed to be a resource for a variety of stakeholders:
- Educators: The standards provide a framework for curriculum development and lesson planning, ensuring that instruction is developmentally appropriate and aligned with the needs of young children.
- Parents: The KELS help parents understand what their children should be learning and how they can support their development at home.
- Policymakers: The standards inform the development of early childhood policies and programs, ensuring that all children have access to high-quality early learning experiences.
Examples of State Standards
Early learning standards vary from state to state, reflecting the unique needs and priorities of each state's early childhood education system. Here are a few examples:
- Alabama: Alabama Developmental Standards for Preschool Children
- Alaska: Alaska Early Learning Guidelines, Birth to Five
- Arkansas: Arkansas Child Development and Early Learning Standards: Birth through 60 Months
- Connecticut: Connecticut’s Early Learning and Development Standards, Birth through Age 5
- Delaware: Delaware Early Learning Foundations (Infant/Toddler) and (Ages 3-5)
- District of Columbia: DC Common Core Aligned Early Learning Standards
- Georgia: Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS)
- Illinois: Illinois Early Learning Guidelines
- Maine: Supporting Maine’s Infants and Toddlers: Guidelines for Learning and Development and Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards (MELDS)
- Maryland: Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards and Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Birth to Kindergarten
- Minnesota: Minnesota's Early Childhood Indicators of Progress
- Nebraska: Nebraska’s Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs)
- New Hampshire: The New Hampshire Learning Standards: Birth through Five
- New York: New York State Early Learning Guidelines
- North Dakota: North Dakota Early Learning Standards Birth to Kindergarten
- Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards
- South Dakota: South Dakota Early Learning Guidelines
- Texas: Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three Year Old Early Learning Guidelines and Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines
- Utah: Utah’s Early Learning Guidelines for Birth to Age Three and Utah’s Core State Standards for Early Learning for Ages 3 to 5
- Vermont: Vermont Early Learning Standards
- Wisconsin: Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards
Utilizing ReadyRosie to Support KELS
ReadyRosie is a valuable tool that aligns with the Kansas Early Learning Standards. It provides resources and activities that support children's development in various domains. For example:
- Social and Emotional Development: ReadyRosie offers videos and activities that help children recognize and manage their emotions, such as "Funny Faces," "If You're Happy & You Know It," and "Talking About Your Feelings."
- Communication and Literacy: ReadyRosie provides resources to enhance literacy skills, such as "Asking Wh- Questions," "Book Bag Descriptions," and "Reading Routines for Early Readers."
- Approaches to Learning: Activities like "Celebrate Learning," "My Age," and "Taking Turns" encourage engagement and attention, supporting children's approaches to learning.
Read also: The University of Kansas explained
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