Language Development and Communication (LDC)

Other South Carolina Early Learning Standards sets

• Approaches to Play and Learning (APL)
• Cognitive Development (CD)
• Emotional and Social Development (ESD)
• Health and Physical Development (HPD)
• Mathematical Thinking and Expression (MTE)

Pat and chew on tactile books.LDC-8a

Look at pictures of faces and simple objects. LDC-8b

Listen to simple and repetitive books, stories, and songs.  LDC-8c

Engage in reading behaviors independently (choose books, turn pages but not always in order, tell the story).LDC-8d

Show interest in books (e.g., tactile and picture books).  LDC-8e

Listen to simple and repetitive books, stories, and songs for a brief time.LDC-8f

Carry books around, “name” them, and select books for adults to read out loud.LDC-8g

Engage in reading behaviors independently (choose books, turn pages but not always in order, tell the story).  LDC-8h

Listen for short periods of time to storybooks, informational books, stories, poetry, songs, and finger plays.LDC-8i

Engage in reading behaviors independently (choose books, turn pages but not always in order, tell the story). LDC-8j

Show an interest in books, other print, and reading related activities.  LDC-8k

Listen to and discuss storybooks, simple information books, and poetry.LDC-8l

Engage in reading behaviors independently with increased focus for longer periods of time. LDC-8m

Use and share books and print in their play. LDC-8n

Listen to and discuss increasingly complex storybooks, information books, and poetry. LDC-8o

 Explore books and paper by tasting, mouthing, crumpling, banging, and patting.LDC-9a

Look at pictures while cuddling with caregiver.  LDC-9b

Turn pages (but not always in the right order); point to and label pictures in books; sometimes treat pictures as real (licking a picture of ice cream, rubbing “fur” of a cat in a book).LDC-9c

Identify some environmental print and logos (favorite cereal box, a sign for a familiar store). LDC-9d

Hold a book upright, turn some pages front to back (but not always in the right order), close book, and say, “done” or “the end.” LDC-9e

Demonstrate understanding of the need for and the uses of print (pretend to read a “grocery list” during play; say, “I want chicken” when looking at a menu). LDC-9f

Demonstrate an understanding of realistic symbols such as photographs, and later, abstract symbols such as signs and environmental print (know which pictures stand for which activities on a daily schedule; say, “That means light” when looking at a symbol of a light bulb located over the light switch).LDC-9g

Hold a book upright while turning pages one by one front to back, but not always in order.  LDC-9h

With prompting and support, recognize print occurs in different forms and is used for a variety of functions (sign naming block structure, “message” on card for family member).LDC-9i

Demonstrate an understanding that print and symbols can tell people what to do (to organize classroom activities—where to store things, when they will have a turn). LDC-9j

Hold a book upright while turning pages one by one from front to back. LDC-9k

Recognize print in different forms for a variety of functions (writing a message to friend, pointing to print and saying, “Those words tell the story,” or reading familiar signs in the environment).LDC-9l

Recognize print and symbols used to organize classroom activities and show understanding of their meaning (put toys in box with correct symbol and name; check sign-up sheet for popular activity; check schedule to learn next activity).LDC-9m

With prompting and support, run their finger under or over print as they pretend to read text.LDC-9n

Demonstrate an understanding of some basic print conventions (the concept of what a letter is, the concept of words, directionality of print).LDC-9o

Identify their name and the names of some friends when they see them in print.LDC-9p

Emerging

Listen to and repeat parts of simple and repetitive books, stories, songs, and finger plays.  LDC-10a

Allow entire short book to be “read” with willingness to look at most pages.LDC-10b

Make appropriate sounds when looking at pictures (say, “Quack, quack” when looking at a duck, “Vrrrrooom” when looking at a car).  LDC-10c

Chime in on a repeated line in a book while being read to by an adult. LDC-10d

Pretend to read familiar books from memory; repeat familiar phrases while looking at a book.  LDC-10e

Begin to relate personal experiences to events described in familiar books. LDC-10f

Answer simple questions about stories. LDC-10g

Imitate the special language in storybooks and story dialogue (repetitive language patterns, sound effects, and words from familiar stories). LDC-10h

Imitate the special language in storybooks and story dialogue with some accuracy and detail.  LDC-10i

With prompting and support, use books and other media that communicate information to learn about the world by looking at pictures, asking questions, and talking about the information. LDC-10j

Use their knowledge of the world (what things are, how things work) to make sense of stories and informational texts. LDC-10k

Relate personal experiences to events described in familiar books, with prompting and support. LDC-10l

Ask questions about a story or the information in a book.  LDC-10m

With prompting and support, discuss storybooks by responding to questions about what is happening and predicting what will happen next. LDC-10n

Imitate the special language in storybooks and story dialogue with accuracy and detail.LDC-10o

Use informational texts and other media to learn about the world, and infer from illustrations, ask questions and talk about the information.LDC-10p

Use knowledge of the world to make sense of more challenging texts.LDC-10q

Relate personal experiences to an increasing variety of events described in familiar and new books. LDC-10r

Ask more focused and detailed questions about a story or the information in a book.LDC-10s

Discuss storybooks by responding to questions about what is happening and predicting what will happen next. LDC-10t

Discuss storybooks by responding to questions about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. LDC-10u

Imitate and take turns with caregivers making different sounds.  LDC-11a

Focus on and enjoy playing with repetitive sounds, words, rhymes, and gestures. LDC-11b

Vocalize familiar words and sounds.  LDC-11c

Participate in rhyming games. LDC-11d

Notice sounds that are the same and different. LDC-11e

Participate in experiences using rhythmic patterns in poems and songs using words, clapping, marching, and/or using instruments. LDC-11f

Participate in experiences with songs, poems, and books that have rhyme and wordplay, and learn words well enough to complete refrains and fill in missing words and sounds. LDC-11g

Repeat rhythmic patterns in poems and songs using words, clapping, marching, and/or using instruments.LDC-11h

Play with the sounds of language and begin to identify rhymes (make up silly-sounding words, repeat rhyming words).LDC-11i

Distinguish between similar sounding words (e.g. tree and three). LDC-11j

Enjoy rhymes and wordplay with songs, poems, and books and sometimes add their own variations. LDC-11k

Repeat a variety of rhythmic patterns in poems and songs using words, clapping, marching, and/ or instruments to repeat the rhythm or beat syllables. LDC-11l

Play with the sounds of language, identify a variety of rhymes, create some rhymes, and recognize the first sounds in some words.  LDC-11m

Associate sounds with specific words, such as awareness that different words begin with the same sound. LDC-11n

Emerging

Emerging

Demonstrate an interest in letters by asking about and/or naming some of them. LDC-12a

Demonstrate an interest in learning the alphabet. LDC-12b

Recognize letters of the alphabet as a special category of print, different from pictures, shapes, and numerals.LDC-12c

Recognize and name some letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name. LDC-12d

Demonstrate an interest in learning the alphabet. LDC-12e

Show they know that letters function to represent sounds in spoken words.LDC-12f

Recognize and name many letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name and in the names of others who are important to them.LDC-12g

Make some sound-to-letter matches, using letter name knowledge (notice the letter B with picture of ball and say, “Ball”; say, “A-a-apple.”).  LDC-12h

Associate sounds with the letters at the beginning of some words, such as awareness that two words begin with the same letter and the same sound.  LDC-12i

Emerging

Make marks, scribble, and paint (e.g., cover easel paper with big crayon or paint marks, make marks with marker or crayon).  LDC-13a

Pretend to write in ways that mimic adult writing (e.g., scribble on paper while sitting with caregiver who is writing, hold phone to ear and make marks with pencil).LDC-13b

Represent thoughts and ideas through marks, scribbles, drawings, and paintings (draw a picture of something they did during the day, indicate what they want for lunch with a mark under the picture of the food they want).LDC-13c

With prompting and support, communicate their thoughts for an adult to write. LDC-13d

Engage in writing behaviors that imitate real-life situations (e.g., make marks to take food order during pretend restaurant play).  LDC-13e

Represent thoughts and ideas in drawings and by writing letters or letter-like forms.  LDC-13f

Incorporate representations of signs, logos, or other commonly used symbols into their drawing or writing to communicate the messages that they convey.  LDC-13g

Communicate their thoughts for an adult to write. LDC-13h

Independently engage in writing behaviors for various purposes (e.g., write symbols or letters for names, use materials at writing center, write lists with symbols/ letters in pretend play, write messages that include letters or symbols). LDC-13i

Engage in discussions regarding different purposes (enjoyment, information) and forms of writing (narrative, informational, and opinion).LDC-13j

Emerging

Emerging

Emerging

Begin to use letters and approximations of letters to write their name.LDC-14a

Distinguish letters from different kinds of drawings/graphics. LDC-14b

Show they know that written words are made up of particular letters (point to the first letter of their own name, find the first letter of their own name in a list of letters).LDC-14c

Use known letters and approximations of letters to write their own name and some familiar words.LDC-14d

Try to connect the sounds in a spoken word with letters in the written word (write “M” and say, “This is Mommy.”). LDC-14e

Emerging

Hold marker or crayon with their fist.LDC-15a

Dot or scribble with crayons, may progress to vertical lines.  LDC-15b

Explore a variety of tools that can be used for writing.LDC-15c

Scribble and/or imitate an adult’s marks with markers, crayons, paints, etc.  LDC-15d

Transition from holding a crayon or marker in their fist to holding it between thumb and forefinger. LDC-15e

Use a variety of writing tools and materials with purpose and control (pencils, chalk, markers, crayons, paintbrushes, finger paint, computers).  LDC-15f

Make marks they call “writing” that look different from drawings (vertical series of marks for a “grocery list,” horizontal line of marks for a “story”). LDC-15g

Play with writing letters and make letter-like forms.LDC-15h

Use a variety of writing tools and materials with increasing precision.LDC-15i

Imitate adult writing conventions that they have observed (write groups of letter-like forms separated by spaces, try to write on a line, press Enter key on computer after typing a series of “words”). LDC-15j

Use some conventional letters in their writing.LDC-15k