How will a teacher know if my child is meeting the Early Learning Benchmarks?
A teacher may be able to tell whether or not a child has met some of the Benchmarks simply by watching or talking to the child. For instance, if Sarah is able to express ideas using paints, pencils, and clay, her teacher will know that she meets one of the Fine Arts Benchmarks. If you visit a program that uses the Illinois Early Learning Standards, you might see the Early Learning Benchmarks posted in the hallway, the office, or the classrooms. The teachers will probably collect children’s work that shows they are meeting Benchmarks. A teacher might keep a folder for each child, so parents can see during conferences how their children are doing in school. For example, to show Amaya’s parents that their daughter knows that pictures and symbols have meaning (Benchmark 1.A.ECa), the teacher hands them some pieces of Amaya’s work. One item is a folded page of invented letters that Amaya called “My Newspaper.” Another is a photograph of Amaya holding a book open, turning pages while telling
