The Texas Early Learning Guidelines are designed to improve the quality of care for young children inside and outside the home by supporting appropriate caregiver practices. They describe expectations about what children should know and be able to do across domains of learning during specific age ranges, as well as what steps caregivers should take to support healthy development.
The Guidelines are intended to positively influence the design of professional development strategies, parent engagement, administrative planning, key class materials, and curricula. Above all else, however, the Guidelines are a learning tool for caregivers.
Early childhood educators can use the guidelines to learn more about how young children develop at different stages, to implement strategies to support learning and development, to assist in planning learning experiences and selecting curriculum, to assist in choosing play materials to support the learning environment, to individualize care and create individual lesson plans, and to inform professional practice in working with young children.
The Guidelines themselves are organized into four domains: Physical Health and Motor, Social and Emotional, Language and Communication, and Cognitive. The domains are separated by components with broad indicators of development and by examples of child behaviors that demonstrate appropriate progress by age on the indicators. The child behaviors are then paired with caregiver strategies to support healthy development in a responsive manner.