Principles
* Planning experiences that help children to develop autonomy and the disposition to learn (p28)
* Responding to both children's learning needs and their interests (p30)
* Promoting children's learning by planning experiences and activities that challenge them but are achievable (p30)
Early learning goals
* Continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn (p32)
* Respond to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate (p34)
* Have a developing awareness of their own needs, views and feelings and be sensitive to the needs, views and feelings of others (p34)
Stepping stones
* Have a strong exploratory impulse (p32)
* Show increasing independence in selecting and carrying out activities (p32)
* Show care and concern for others, for living things and the environment (p38)
COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Principles
* Providing time and opportunities to develop spoken language through conversations between children and adults, both one-to-one and in small groups (p44)
* Being immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication (p45)
Early learning goals
* Listen with enjoyment and respond to rhymes and songs (p50)
* Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences (p58)
* Attempt writing for different purposes, using features of different forms such as lists, stories and instructions (p64)
Stepping stones
* Question why things happen and give explanations (p50)
* Know information can be relayed in the form of print (p62)
* Draw and paint, sometimes giving meanings to marks (p64)
* Begin to use talk to pretend imaginary situations (p58)
MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT
Principles
* Children being confident and enthusiastic to join in with or talk about mathematical activities (p71)
* Making good use of opportunities to talk 'mathematically' as children play or take part in normal daily activities (p72)
Early learning goals
* Use developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems (p74)
* In practical activities and discussion, begin to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting (p76)
* Use language such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter' to compare quantities (p80)
Stepping stones
* Willingly attempt to count, with some numbers in the correct order (p74)
* Use size language such as 'big' or 'little' (p78)
* Order two or three items by length (p80)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD
Principles
* (Providing) an environment with a wide range of activities indoors and outdoors that stimulate children's interest and curiosity (p82)
* (Providing) activities based on first-hand experiences that encourage exploration, observation and problem-solving (p82)
Early learning goals
* Find out about and identify some features of living things, objects and events they observe (p86)
* Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change (p88)
* Find out about past and present events in their own lives and in those of their families and other people they know (p94) Stepping stones
* Show curiosity, observe and manipulate objects (p86)
* Show an interest in why things happen and how things work (p88)
* Begin to differentiate between past and present (p94)
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Principles
* Providing opportunities for regular and frequent physical activity indoors and outdoors (p102)
* Providing resources that can be used in a variety of ways or to support specific skills (p100)
* Children using and learning through their senses (p102) Early learning goals
* Move with control and co-ordination (p106)
* Recognise the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this (p110)
* Handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control (p114) Stepping stones
* Show increasing control over clothing and fastenings (p106)
* Persevere in repeating some actions/attempts when developing a new skill (p108)
* Engage in activities requiring hand-eye co-ordination (p114)
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Principles
* Giving sufficient time for children to explore, develop ideas and finish working at their ideas (p116)
* Valuing children's own ideas and not expecting them to reproduce someone else's picture, dance, model or recipe (p118) Early learning goals
* Explore colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions (p120)
* Use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role play and stories (p124)
* Respond in a variety of ways to what they sense physically (p126) Stepping stones
* Choose particular colours to use for a purpose (p120)
* Engage in imaginative and role play based on own firsthand experiences (p124)
* Show an interest in what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel (p126)
