The Developmental Domains of Learning

A t Lowell, we recognize that social, emotional, and academic growth are very much intertwined and mutually reinforcing. Teachers pay close attention to each child's well-being across all domains of development to ensure that all children reach their full potential as students and as contributing members of the community within and beyond Lowell.

Teachers purposefully and thoughtfully plan for learning, taking cues from the children's interests and maintaining a steady focus on developmental domains, sub-domains, and age appropriate milestones.

To learn how Lowell addresses the five domains, click on the tabs above.

The Developmental Domains & Sub-domains

Social Emotional Development

Self-Identity
Emotional Development
Social Play
Pro-Social Behavior

Physical Development

Large Motor Skills
Small Motor Skills           
Self-help Skills

Language Communication           

Receptive Language           
Expressive Language
Pragmatic Language

Literacy           

Phonological awareness
Print knowledge
Book knowledge

Conceptual Development

Lowell teachers are acutely aware of young children’s social emotional development.  Through careful observations of social interactions and relationships, teachers support children individually and collectively. Teachers spend a major part of the day coaching children, helping them to help themselves, thereby working through social and emotional issues and building self-esteem. They also facilitate small and large group meetings and select literature to provoke conversations about feelings.

The social curriculum is built into all activities and routines in a way that promotes social skill development, multicultural understanding and engagement, and community-building. At the same time, our teachers explicitly explore and teach social curriculum topics such as friendship, caring for others, self-control, and conflict resolution.

Verbalizing, reading, and writing are intertwined and therefore simultaneously fostered. A major part of the school day is spent in formal and informal conversation among and between teachers and children. During Morning Meeting, children have time to think out loud and express what is important to them without competing with other speakers.  Respecting one another helps children to listen to and learn from their peers.  When conflict arises, teachers help children express their needs. Feelings, whether positive or negative, are always acknowledged. Thus, children feel free to express themselves.

Pre-Primary children at Lowell are also exposed to Spanish on a daily basis and practice listening to and using key words and phrases central to their lives at school.

Children move to different areas of the school environment throughout the day and the week, satisfying their basic need and desire to move. Outdoor time is scheduled daily on our spacious playground, which provides opportunities for climbing, running, riding vehicles, and playing unstructured and structured games. Children can connect with the natural environment, by digging through the soil, tracking insects, planting gardens, and watching things grow.

Inside, students continue their physical education in the Willow Room, which is equipped with materials for locomotion, balance, throwing, and catching. Work in the Willow Room strengthens core, hand, and arm muscles while encouraging cooperative play. Teachers make sure each session includes a warm-up and a cool-down. Music, from folk to classical, is selected to accompany the activities and suggest the pace.

Work with manipulatives and pegboards offers many opportunities for children to develop the fine motor skills—such as eye-hand coordination, finger dexterity, visual perception, memory, and handedness—that are prerequisites for writing and other learning in the primary school years.

Time is set aside each day for snack and relaxation.

C ognitive development involves the ability to learn, problem solve, make sense of information, and think on an abstract level. Thinking takes place on a concrete level with movement to a more abstract level as children mature. Mathematical and scientific thinking, as well as general knowledge about the world, curiosity, and imagination are included in this domain and encompass the ability to sort and classify, to comprehend number, time, and measurement, and to think critically, using reason and logic.

Children are natural scientists.  They observe, wonder, speculate, question, make theories, and then test and modify them. Teachers foster what already comes naturally without interrupting the child’s process of discovery with ready-made answers. Teachers ask children to notice patterns in the environment, in literature, and when working with materials. There are many opportunities in children's everdayness to notice similarities and differences and apply analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Teachers also provide materials such as manipulatives and puzzles that encourage children to sort, match, compare, and observe patterns. Working with puzzles and pegboards requires abstract reasoning and the ability to focus and solve problems.

T eachers recognize that literacy skills are comprehensive and involve listening, speaking, reading, and writing. For children three, four, and five, we say literacy skills are emergent—in the process of developing. Teachers consciously help children develop the tools they need to become fluent readers and writers and focus on three primary areas: phonological awareness, print awareness, and book awareness.

Children learn to write by dictating what they need to say. Teachers capture children’s feelings with pen and paper when they want those feelings conveyed to parents or peers. The desire to write or dictate “I miss you” to a family member or sending a “Thank you” note to a visitor are powerful motivations for developing literacy skills. Children also practice writing during dramatic play. Rhymes and rhythm games are also part of story-time.

Careful looking is constantly encouraged to help children become aware of written language. Signs, written in words and drawn in rebuses, indicate where materials are stored. During the daily read-aloud, teachers talk about the author and illustrator and ask students to predict what the story might be about by looking at the cover, reading expressions on the characters’ faces, and analyzing different aspects of the story. Books by the same author or on the same subject are read for comparison.