Approaches to learning

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One-year-olds are in the act of discovering the world. They enthusiastically use their senses to purposefully explore everything they can. They find pleasure in causing things to happen and in completing basic tasks. They also enjoy sharing interesting learning experiences with adults, and may use gestures and simple sounds or speech to ask adults questions. Since language skills are still developing, one-year-olds rely more heavily on nonverbal, physical strategies to reach simple goals.

Initiative, engagement and persistence

• Indicates preferences nonverbally or with simple language (e.g. points to an apple and pushes banana away).
• Focuses attention on interesting sights or sounds, often in shared experiences with adults (e.g. sits on father's lap looking at a picture book).
• Shows pleasure in completing simple tasks (e.g. drops clothes pegs into a bucket and smiles and claps when all are inside).
• Increasingly tries to help with self-care activities (e.g. feeding, undressing, grooming). When reading with adults, may want to hold the book or try to turn the pages. Collects information about the world using the senses.

Curiosity and eagerness to learn

• Actively participates in a variety of sensory experiences (e.g. tastes, touches, pats, shakes).
• May seek information from adults by pointing to an interesting object, and then giving a questioning look, making a vocal sound, and/or saying a single word. In the second half of the year, children will be able to combine words to ask simple questions; for example, says, ‘What that?’ or ‘Who coming?’).
• Shows physical and vocal pleasure when exploring objects and other things. Finds pleasure in causing things to happen (e.g. picks up bells and rings them, then smiles broadly when each one sounds different).

Reasoning and problem-solving

• Tries a variety of physical strategies to reach simple goals (e.g. when a cart gets stuck while being pushed through a door, child turns the cart a different way and tries again).
• Uses gestures and (towards the end of the year) simple language to get help when stuck. For example, extends arms toward grandfather and says, ‘Up Up!’ when trying to get into large chair.
• Discovers aspects of the physical world using early language skills and purposeful exploration with the senses (e.g. turns a plastic bucket over and over, raising and lowering the handle thoughtfully).

Invention and imagination

• Pretends one object is really another with simple physical substitutions (e.g. picks up a wooden block and holds it to the ear like a phone).
• Uses objects in new and unexpected ways (e.g. puts saucepan on head, laughs uproariously).

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