Art Forms: The four components of art education — dance, music, dramatic play and visual arts.

Cause/Effect: Understanding how action creates a change in the environment.

Comprehension: Understanding the meaning of spoken and written languages.

Cooperative Play: Physical activities in which children play with each other rather than against each other to master challenges.

Curriculum: The framework for the philosophy, goals and expectations for guiding children’s learning and engaging families in their children’s development.

Data: Information used as a basis for making decisions and drawing conclusions.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice: The manner in which children are provided opportunities to learn and practice newly acquired skills, offering challenges just beyond their present level of mastery and taking place in a setting where children are safe, valued and where physical and psychological needs are met.

Discriminate: Use of senses to compare and note differences between objects.

Documentation: The way in which information is recorded by practitioners, children and families to capture events and child progress.

Empathy: The ability to recognize the feelings of others and respond appropriately.

Ethnicity: Ethnic affiliation or distinctiveness; belonging to a particular group by descent, language or culture rather than by nationality.

Expressive Language: Having the ability to convey ideas and feelings using words and expanded sentences.

Fine Motor Tasks: Using and coordinating the small muscles in the hands and wrist with dexterity.

Large Motor Tasks: Moving the large muscles in the body, especially the arms and legs, consciously and deliberately.

Learning Environment: The structure of the setting that makes it possible for practitioners to guide children in their development and learning.

Literacy: Using vocabulary, oral language, phonological awareness, letters, words, print, comprehension, books and other print materials to help children explore, expand and participate in their world.

Order/Classify: Methods of data collection, organization and representation. Others include sorting, graphing, counting, measuring and comparing.

Phonological Awareness: Hearing and understanding the different sounds of spoken language including hearing and understanding the different ways oral language can be broken down into individual parts (phonemes).

Play: A dynamic process that develops and changes becoming more varied and complex, allowing children to practice skills they will need later in life. Play is the vehicle for learning and development across domains, reflecting the social and cultural contexts in which children live.

Practitioner: Professional charged with guiding children’s learning including teachers, caregivers and assistants.

Predict: Use of prior knowledge to guess what an outcome will be.

Scientific Method: How children put facts together to make sense of the world around them including observing, questioning, experimenting, manipulating, predicting and demonstrating understanding of concepts.

Sensory Experiences: Providing objects and materials that children can explore using all their senses.

Symbols: Scribbling, scribble writing, letter like forms, letters, numbers and pictures used to represent sounds, words, ideas and feelings.

Visual Arts: Painting, drawing, collages, modeling and sculpting with various materials.