Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) Exploration Webinar Series
Explore the 5 ELDS core areas and find ECE Resource Hub strategies to foster learning in each area
Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS), Birth-5 Learning Guidelines articulate the skills and knowledge children need to demonstrate by the end of preschool in order to be successful in kindergarten. The standards are intended to help early childhood educators understand the basics of child development, implement effective classroom activities, and engage in high-quality teacher child interactions as measured by Virginia’s quality measurement and improvement system, VQB5.
The ELDS Exploration webinars will help early childhood professionals become familiar with each developmental area, explore resources, and learn strategies that support implementation. To learn more, visit Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) Early Childhood Standards & Instructional Supports. You can also view the VDOE’s ELDS Overview, Structure, and Implementation Refresher 2024.
ELDS EXPLORATION SERIES
2025 Schedule
Jan. 14: Approaches to Play and Learning
Explore how to foster children's curiosity, initiative, creativity, imagination, and cognitive and behavioral self-regulation - key skills for all young learners
Feb. 11: Social and Emotional Development
Learn how you can foster children's relationships with others and support their ability to express, recognize, and manage emotions in positive ways
Mar. 11: Communication, Language, and Literacy Development
Get to know the foundational reading, writing, and communication skills that young children are developing in early childhood
Apr. 08: Cognitive Development
Learn how you can create a learning environment that support children's abilities to question, explore, describe, predict and share their thinking.
May 13: Health and Physical Development
Explore ways you can support learning through the senses and foster children's motor skills, physical health, and self-care
Current and Previous Webinars
FEBRUARY 2025
Social Emotional Development
Early care and education settings are social places where children begin to develop ideas about themselves and how they relate to other children and adults. Social and emotional skills allow children to successfully participate in the learning environment and set a strong foundation for developing positive relationships with others. Learn how you can foster these critical skills in positive, caring, and responsive ways.
JANUARY 2025
Approaches to Learning
Approaches to Play and Learning is all about the skills and habits that young children need to engage in learning. These include curiosity, initiative, creativity, imagination, and cognitive and behavioral self-regulation. Learn how you can support these skills and help young children develop a love of learning.
The Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) Exploration Webinar Series is created by the The Virginia Department of Education in partnership with the University of Virgina’s ECE Resource Hub.
