Maya's progress report

Language is talking and understanding: words, sentences, questions, and telling you what happened. It carries friendships, feelings, and every subject that gets talked through out loud.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Tells you about something that happened earlier today? … Easily

• Asks why and how questions, and stays on topic when you answer? … Easily

• Tells a whole little story with a beginning and an end? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya tells a whole little story with a beginning and an end.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Hustad et al. 2021 (JSLHR), objective intelligibility growth, ages 30 to 119 months
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Crowe & McLeod 2020 (AJSLP), US English consonant acquisition review
• ASHA school-age speech and language milestones
• Applebee, The Child's Concept of Story, narrative development stages
• Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts (incl. Reading Foundational Skills)

Phonics is hearing the sounds inside words: rhymes, first sounds, then sounding out print. It is what makes reading and spelling new words possible.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Claps the beats in a word, like ba-na-na? … Easily

• Tells you whether two words rhyme (cat, hat)? … Easily

• Says the first sound in a spoken word (mmm for milk)? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya says the first sound in a spoken word (mmm for milk).

Sources we used

• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts (incl. Reading Foundational Skills)
• UFLI Foundations scope and sequence (University of Florida Literacy Institute)

Science is noticing and finding out: asking why, guessing what will happen, and checking. It builds the habit of looking closely at the world and wondering how it works.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Sorts things into groups: big vs small, animals vs plants? … Easily

• Makes little predictions, like 'I think it will sink!'? … Easily

• Knows living things grow and change: seed to plant, caterpillar to butterfly? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya knows living things grow and change: seed to plant, caterpillar to butterfly.

Sources we used

• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Next Generation Science Standards, K to 2 performance expectations

Social-emotional is feelings and friendships: naming emotions, taking turns, playing with others, and settling after upsets. Learning of every kind sits on top of it.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Plays WITH other kids: takes turns and shares, with reminders? … Easily

• Gets that someone else can believe something that isn't true: the heart of hiding games and surprises? … Easily

• Says why they feel a way ('I'm mad because...')? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya says why they feel a way ('I'm mad because...').

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• CASEL five social-emotional competencies + state SEL standards
• Wellman, Cross & Watson 2001, theory-of-mind (false belief) meta-analysis

Math is number sense: what numbers mean, how amounts compare, and how patterns work. Each skill stacks on the last, from counting to fractions to algebra.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Counts 5 objects one at a time and tells you how many there are? … Easily

• Counts past 20 without getting stuck? … Getting there

Why this is interesting

Maya counts past 20. Try this: count past 20 together.

Sources we used

• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Clements & Sarama, early mathematics learning trajectories
• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Common Core State Standards, Mathematics

Social studies is their sense of people and place: family, community, maps, and the past. It grows from knowing who is in the family into history, geography, and how the world fits together.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Names family members and how they connect (grandma is mommy's mom)? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya names family members and how they connect (grandma is mommy's mom).

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• NCSS C3 Framework for Social Studies + Core Knowledge Sequence (PreK to 2)
• Council for Economic Education + Jump$tart national economics and personal finance standards

Art is making things their own way: drawing, painting, building, pretending. It works small-hand control and imagination at the same time, and it is often where kids first show you what is on their mind.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Names the main colors while drawing or painting? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya names the main colors while drawing or painting.

Sources we used

• National Core Arts Standards (incl. NAfME music standards)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Lowenfeld, Creative and Mental Growth, drawing development stages
• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)

Music is rhythm, singing, and listening closely. Feeling a steady beat and playing with sounds runs right alongside early reading skills like hearing the parts of words.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Claps or taps along to a steady beat? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya claps or taps along to a steady beat.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• National Core Arts Standards (incl. NAfME music standards)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5

Gross motor is big-body movement: running, jumping, balancing, throwing. It is how kids build the strength and coordination the rest of their day leans on.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Gallops, one foot leading the other? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya gallops, one foot leading the other.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• SHAPE America national PE standards + pediatric motor milestone references
• American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) chores + independence guidance

Self-care is everyday independence: dressing, eating, washing, and keeping track of their own things. Every skill here hands the child a little more of their own day.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Uses the toilet during the day, with only the occasional miss? … Getting there

Why this is interesting

Maya uses the toilet during the day. Try this: practice using the toilet during the day.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) chores + independence guidance
• CASEL five social-emotional competencies + state SEL standards
• Harvard Center on the Developing Child, executive function milestones
• NCSS C3 Framework for Social Studies + Core Knowledge Sequence (PreK to 2)

Executive function is focus, memory, and follow-through: holding a plan in mind, waiting a turn, switching gears, finishing. It is what turns knowing into doing, and it keeps growing all the way through the teen years.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Waits a short turn without falling apart (with support)? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya takes a short turn with support.

Sources we used

• Harvard Center on the Developing Child, executive function milestones
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• CASEL five social-emotional competencies + state SEL standards
• Dawson & Guare, Smart but Scattered executive skills progressions

Coding and computers follows what your family actually does with technology: giving step-by-step instructions, building small projects, fixing what misbehaves. No ages attached here; it simply follows what is part of your home.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Gives exact step-by-step instructions during play and follows yours? … Easily

Why this is interesting

Maya gives exact step-by-step instructions during play and follows yours.

Sources we used

• CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017 revision; 2026 update tracked)

Literacy is the road to reading: enjoying books, learning how print works, then reading and understanding on their own. It feeds every other subject, because so much learning arrives through reading.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Recognizes the letters in their own name? … Easily

• Names more than half of the uppercase letters? … Not yet

Why this is interesting

Maya recognizes the letters in their own name. Try this: name uppercase letters on book covers. Use books.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• ASHA school-age speech and language milestones
• Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts (incl. Reading Foundational Skills)

Fine motor is small-hand control: grip, drawing, scissors, buttons. It is the muscle work underneath handwriting, dressing, and making things.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Strings large beads or threads laces? … Not yet

Why this is interesting

Try stringing large beads or threading laces. Try this: string large beads onto a lace. Use large beads and a lace.

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Handwriting Without Tears / Zaner-Bloser handwriting + keyboarding progressions
• SHAPE America national PE standards + pediatric motor milestone references
• American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) chores + independence guidance
• National Core Arts Standards (incl. NAfME music standards)
• Next Generation Science Standards, K to 2 performance expectations

Writing is getting thoughts onto paper: scribbles, then letters, then sentences and stories. It uses hand control and language at the same time, so it often comes together a little after reading.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Holds a crayon with their fingers, not a fist? … Not sure

Sources we used

• CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestone checklists (2022 revision)
• Handwriting Without Tears / Zaner-Bloser handwriting + keyboarding progressions
• Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), ages 3 to 5
• Common Core State Standards, English Language Arts (incl. Reading Foundational Skills)

A second language follows what your home does, not milestones: hearing it, playing with it, using words from it. No ages attached here; any amount counts.

Questions I asked · your answers

• Understands common everyday words in that language (water, milk, more)? … Skipped

Sources we used

• ACTFL proficiency guidelines, novice range
• Hoff & Core 2015, bilingual development in early childhood