(1) An early learning provider must be aware of and responsive to children's developmental, linguistic, cultural, and academic needs.

(2) An early learning provider must be aware of and responsive to children's needs by engaging in activities such as:

(a) Asking developmentally appropriate questions for the age group and allow children to answer without interruption from the provider;

(b) Circulating among the children during free choice activities and talking with children about what they are doing;

(i) Self-talk: When the provider talks about what they are doing, seeing, eating, touching, or thinking as they are involved in that activity;

(ii) Parallel-talk: When the provider talks about what the child is doing, seeing, eating, or touching as the child is engaging in those activities; or

(iii) Language expansion: When the provider adds detail or new words to build on ideas that children are expressing.

(d) An early learning provider working with preschool and school-age children must use language to develop and encourage reasoning skills by using techniques such as:

(i) Talking about logical relationships or concepts during the day including, but not limited to, the daily schedule, the differences and similarities between objects, or people in the classroom;

(ii) Introducing concepts using guiding questions that encourage children to figure out cause and effect relationships;

(iii) Providing opportunities for reading and writing activities; and

(iv) Asking open ended questions to help children improve skills and acquire knowledge.

(e) An early learning provider working with non-English speaking children must encourage language development and acquisition by using techniques such as:

(i) Using words in various languages to talk about the routines;

(ii) Reading books out loud or using audio books; and

(iii) Playing games in different languages.

PDFWAC 110-300-0315

Language modeling and reasoning.