New Hampshire's Early Learning Guidelines (Birth to Five)

The Standards provide essential information to support and enhance children’s development and learning by promoting a whole-child approach that upholds the idea that learning and development are interrelated and build on previous learning. Further, the Standards acknowledge, honor, and embrace children’s and families’ diversity and recognize children’s learning to help plan for the next stages of growth and development. Aligned with the NH Kindergarten Readiness Indicators, the Standards provide a list of resources for information about children’s learning and development and guide developmentally appropriate curriculum, teaching strategies and assessment.

The NH Early Learning Standards aspire to encourage dialogue and sharing between everyone who loves, cares for, and educates children; Inform professional development for early childhood professionals; Incorporate current and culturally inclusive research on child development; and Develop and nurture the relationship between early learning and K-12 so that all schools are ready for all children and all children are ready for school. The first set of guidelines were produced by an early childhood task force that began meeting in 2003 and published the guidelines in 2005. A round of revisions began in 2014 and the latest Standards were released in 2015.

The Standards include a horizontal developmental progression with more developmental indicators and more age groups than previous guidelines. The five developmental domains addressed include: Social Emotional Development; Language Development and Emergent Literacy; Cognitive Development; Physical Development and Health; and Creative Expression and Aesthetic Appreciation.

View the New Hampshire Early Learning Standards (Birth to Five) here.

Updated November 2019