1. Early Years
  2. Understanding the World
  3. Developmental Milestones

Developmental Milestones

Birth to Three Years Old - babies, toddlers and young children will be learning to:

  • Repeat actions that have an effect.
  • Explore materials with different properties.
  • Explore natural materials, indoors and outside.
  • Explore and respond to different natural phenomena in their setting and on trips.
  • Make connections between the features of their family and other families.
  • Notice differences between people.

 

3 and 4-year-olds will be learning to:

  • Use all their senses in hands-on exploration of natural materials.
  • Explore collections of materials with similar and/or different properties.
  • Talk about what they see, using a wide vocabulary.
  • Begin to make sense of their own life-story and family’s history.
  • Show interest in different occupations.
  • Explore how things work.
  • Plant seeds and care for growing plants.
  • Understand the key features of the life cycle of a plant and an animal.
  • Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things.
  • Explore and talk about different forces they can feel.
  • Talk about the differences between materials and changes they notice.
  • Continue developing positive attitudes about the differences between people.
  • Know that there are different countries in the world and talk about the differences they have experienced or seen in photos.

 

Children in reception will be learning to:

  • Talk about members of their immediate family and community.
  • Name and describe people who are familiar to them.
  • Comment on images of familiar situations in the past.
  • Compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
  • Draw information from a simple map.
  • Understand that some places are special to members of their community.
  • Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
  • Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
  • Explore the natural world around them.
  • Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside.
  • Recognise some environments that are different from the one in which they live.
  • Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them.