Child-development knowledge
Which parts of development matter from birth to age 5?
Begin with your child's current age, an ability you care about, or a question from everyday family life. Age is a reference; Growth Paths help explain change.
By age
Begin with important foundations for this age
Explore a four-domain picture, Milestone references, what to notice, and interactions you can try in everyday life.
undefinedAt 2 months, your baby is beginning to take a more active part in the world through their gaze, sounds, and body movements. Start with foundational Mi→undefinedAt 4 months, your baby may be more eager to lift their head, reach toward things, and answer familiar people with sounds. This stage is not only about→undefinedAt 6 months, your baby may reach, shift their body, explore objects, and enjoy familiar backandforth exchanges with greater purpose. Movement, attenti→undefinedAt 9 months, your baby is gaining more ways to move independently, handle objects, and communicate an intention. Whether or not crawling has appeared,→undefinedAt 12 months, your baby is using movement, object play, imitation, and communication for more real purposes. Independent walking is only one part of t→undefinedAt 15 months, many children are moving from cruising toward independent walking and from gestures toward a small set of everyday words. Different abil→undefinedAt 18 months, your child takes part in daily life through walking, handling objects, imitation, and a growing set of words. Variation can be wide at t→undefinedAt 2 years (24 months), your child is beginning to combine movement, words, imagination, and social observation. Rather than only counting words or ac→undefinedAt 2½ years (30 months), your child can connect more life experience across pretend play, negotiation, expression, and problemsolving. An adult's role→undefinedAt 3 years (36 months), your child increasingly uses language, movement, and imagination to do things with other people. Wholechild development at thi→undefinedAt 4 years (48 months), your child can use more complete plans, language, and cooperation to carry out something they enjoy. Development is visible no→undefinedAt 5 years (60 months), your child is preparing for more independent learning and group life. The most useful question is whether they can bring movem→
By ability
Browse 31 sub-domain Growth Paths
Follow how skills change from birth to age 5, understand a child's current position, and find useful interaction priorities.
Movement
Cognitive
Initiative and CuriosityInitiating action, approaching what is new, and asking questions
MemoryRetaining and reusing past experience
Imitation and Symbolic Representation and PlayImitating actions and gradually using objects, pictures, or actions to stand for something else
Exploration and DiscoveryActing on things and continuing to explore from the result
Cognitive Self-Regulation (Executive Functioning)Holding a goal, shifting attention, and managing cognitive interference
CreativityGenerating ideas and bringing them into play and expression
Emergent Mathematical ThinkingExperiencing quantity, space, and object attributes in real life
Reasoning and Problem-SolvingFinding and adjusting ways to pursue a goal or work through difficulty
Geometry and Spatial SenseUnderstanding shapes, positions, directions, and spatial relationships
Counting and CardinalityCounting in sequence and understanding that the final number represents the total
Operations and Algebraic ThinkingUnderstanding adding, taking away, combining, and patterns
MeasurementComparing, measuring, organizing, and interpreting information
Scientific InquiryAsking, predicting, observing, testing, and explaining discoveries
Reasoning and Problem-SolvingUsing relationships, evidence, and strategies for more complex problems
Social/Emotional
Relationships with AdultsBuilding trust through stable, responsive relationships
Emotional FunctioningExperiencing, recognizing, expressing, and understanding emotion
Emotional & Behavioral Self-RegulationRecovering and continuing when emotion interferes
Relationships with Other ChildrenJoining play, taking turns, negotiating, cooperating, and handling conflict
Sense of Identity and BelongingUnderstanding who I am, what I can do, and which relationships and groups I belong to
Language
Attending and UnderstandingUnderstanding sounds, words, directions, and other people's meaning
Communicating and SpeakingInitiating and participating in communication through sounds, gestures, and increasingly complex language
VocabularyUnderstanding and using an increasingly rich and precise range of words
Emergent LiteracyDeveloping interest in books, pictures, print, and writing experiences
Phonological AwarenessAttending to sounds, syllables, and rhyme in words
Print and Alphabet KnowledgeDiscovering that print has stable forms and gradually recognizing letters and words
Comprehension and Text StructureUnderstanding, retelling, and discussing stories and information
WritingGradually using marks, symbols, and print to communicate meaning
By question
Begin with a specific family question
Find the situation, a direct answer, what to notice, and interactions you can try.
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