[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR1304.21]

[Page 124-125]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
CHAPTER XIII--OFFICE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 1304_PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR THE OPERATION OF HEAD START 
 
        Subpart B_Early Childhood Development and Health Services
 
Sec.  1304.21  Education and early childhood development.

    (a) Child development and education approach for all children. (1) 
In order to help children gain the skills and confidence necessary to be 
prepared to succeed in their present environment and with later 
responsibilities in school and life, grantee and delegate agencies' 
approach to child development and education must:
    (i) Be developmentally and linguistically appropriate, recognizing 
that children have individual rates of development as well as individual 
interests, temperaments, languages, cultural backgrounds, and learning 
styles;
    (ii) Be inclusive of children with disabilities, consistent with 
their Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized 
Education Program (IEP) (see 45 CFR 1308.19);
    (iii) Provide an environment of acceptance that supports and 
respects gender, culture, language, ethnicity and family composition;
    (iv) Provide a balanced daily program of child-initiated and adult-
directed activities, including individual and small group activities; 
and
    (v) Allow and enable children to independently use toilet facilities 
when it is developmentally appropriate and when efforts to encourage 
toilet training are supported by the parents.
    (2) Parents must be:
    (i) Invited to become integrally involved in the development of the 
program's curriculum and approach to child development and education;
    (ii) Provided opportunities to increase their child observation 
skills and to share assessments with staff that will help plan the 
learning experiences; and
    (iii) Encouraged to participate in staff-parent conferences and home 
visits to discuss their child's development and education (see 45 CFR 
1304.40(e)(4) and 45 CFR 1304.40(i)(2)).
    (3) Grantee and delegate agencies must support social and emotional 
development by:
    (i) Encouraging development which enhances each child's strengths 
by:
    (A) Building trust;
    (B) Fostering independence;
    (C) Encouraging self-control by setting clear, consistent limits, 
and having realistic expectations;
    (D) Encouraging respect for the feelings and rights of others; and
    (E) Supporting and respecting the home language, culture, and family 
composition of each child in ways that support the child's health and 
well-being; and
    (ii) Planning for routines and transitions so that they occur in a 
timely, predictable and unrushed manner according to each child's needs.
    (4) Grantee and delegate agencies must provide for the development 
of each child's cognitive and language skills by:
    (i) Supporting each child's learning, using various strategies 
including experimentation, inquiry, observation, play and exploration;
    (ii) Ensuring opportunities for creative self-expression through 
activities such as art, music, movement, and dialogue;
    (iii) Promoting interaction and language use among children and 
between children and adults; and
    (iv) Supporting emerging literacy and numeracy development through 
materials and activities according to the developmental level of each 
child.
    (5) In center-based settings, grantee and delegate agencies must 
promote each child's physical development by:
    (i) Providing sufficient time, indoor and outdoor space, equipment, 
materials and adult guidance for active play and movement that support 
the development of gross motor skills;
    (ii) Providing appropriate time, space, equipment, materials and 
adult guidance for the development of fine motor skills according to 
each child's developmental level; and
    (iii) Providing an appropriate environment and adult guidance for 
the participation of children with special needs.

[[Page 125]]

    (6) In home-based settings, grantee and delegate agencies must 
encourage parents to appreciate the importance of physical development, 
provide opportunities for children's outdoor and indoor active play, and 
guide children in the safe use of equipment and materials.
    (b) Child development and education approach for infants and 
toddlers. (1) Grantee and delegate agencies' program of services for 
infants and toddlers must encourage (see 45 CFR 1304.3(a)(5) for a 
definition of curriculum):
    (i) The development of secure relationships in out-of-home care 
settings for infants and toddlers by having a limited number of 
consistent teachers over an extended period of time. Teachers must 
demonstrate an understanding of the child's family culture and, whenever 
possible, speak the child's language (see 45 CFR 1304.52(g)(2));
    (ii) Trust and emotional security so that each child can explore the 
environment according to his or her developmental level; and
    (iii) Opportunities for each child to explore a variety of sensory 
and motor experiences with support and stimulation from teachers and 
family members.
    (2) Grantee and delegate agencies must support the social and 
emotional development of infants and toddlers by promoting an 
environment that:
    (i) Encourages the development of self-awareness, autonomy, and 
self-expression; and
    (ii) Supports the emerging communication skills of infants and 
toddlers by providing daily opportunities for each child to interact 
with others and to express himself or herself freely.
    (3) Grantee and delegate agencies must promote the physical 
development of infants and toddlers by:
    (i) Supporting the development of the physical skills of infants and 
toddlers including gross motor skills, such as grasping, pulling, 
pushing, crawling, walking, and climbing; and
    (ii) Creating opportunities for fine motor development that 
encourage the control and coordination of small, specialized motions, 
using the eyes, mouth, hands, and feet.
    (c) Child development and education approach for preschoolers. (1) 
Grantee and delegate agencies, in collaboration with the parents, must 
implement a curriculum (see 45 CFR 1304.3(a)(5)) that:
    (i) Supports each child's individual pattern of development and 
learning;
    (ii) Provides for the development of cognitive skills by encouraging 
each child to organize his or her experiences, to understand concepts, 
and to develop age appropriate literacy, numeracy, reasoning, problem 
solving and decision-making skills which form a foundation for school 
readiness and later school success;
    (iii) Integrates all educational aspects of the health, nutrition, 
and mental health services into program activities;
    (iv) Ensures that the program environment helps children develop 
emotional security and facility in social relationships;
    (v) Enhances each child's understanding of self as an individual and 
as a member of a group;
    (vi) Provides each child with opportunities for success to help 
develop feelings of competence, self-esteem, and positive attitudes 
toward learning; and
    (vii) Provides individual and small group experiences both indoors 
and outdoors.
    (2) Staff must use a variety of strategies to promote and support 
children's learning and developmental progress based on the observations 
and ongoing assessment of each child (see 45 CFR 1304.20(b), 1304.20(d), 
and 1304.20(e)).

[61 FR 57210, Nov. 5, 1996, as amended at 63 FR 2313, Jan. 15, 1998]