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Brightwheel › Early Learning Standards › California › Approaches To Learning › Approaches to Learning in California’s DRDP Framework

Approaches to Learning in California’s DRDP Framework

Q: What are California’s early learning standards for Approaches to Learning?

California uses the DRDP. Approaches to Learning is a distinct domain covering Initiative and Curiosity, Attentiveness and Persistence, Cooperation and Responsibility, and Creativity in Learning.

Q: Is Experience Curriculum aligned to California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning standards?

Yes. The California Alignment PDF maps each activity and skill to the corresponding DRDP measure.

Q: How do California childcare programs document Approaches to Learning?

Through DRDP observations capturing how children engage with tasks and demonstrate curiosity and persistence. Programs using brightwheel can complete this digitally.

How California defines curiosity, persistence, and learning dispositions for young children — and how Experience Curriculum helps your program meet every DRDP indicator.

DRDP-alignedNAEYC & Head Start aligned

Explore other developmental domains in California

Understanding the standard

What California’s DRDP says about approaches to learning

California’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) includes Approaches to Learning as a distinct and foundational domain — recognizing that how children engage with learning is as important as what they learn. Administered by the California Department of Education, the DRDP’s Approaches to Learning domain captures the dispositions and learning behaviors that enable children to benefit from educational experiences across all other developmental areas.

Under the DRDP, Approaches to Learning is organized into measures that assess Initiative and Curiosity (child’s drive to explore, question, and investigate), Attentiveness and Persistence (ability to focus on and sustain engagement with tasks), Cooperation and Responsibility (engagement with group learning contexts), and Creativity in Learning (flexible and imaginative approaches to problems).

California requires all licensed childcare programs to document children’s Approaches to Learning through DRDP observation records. This domain is uniquely valuable for QRIS documentation because it captures the quality of children’s engagement — not just their skill acquisition — and directly reflects the quality of the learning environment and the responsiveness of educators.

Why it matters

Approaches to Learning may be the most predictive domain for long-term academic success. Research from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and the Head Start Research and Evaluation Project shows that children’s curiosity, persistence, and attentiveness at kindergarten entry predict academic achievement at least as strongly as specific academic skills. These dispositions are developed — not innate — and are highly responsive to the quality of early childhood environments.

DRDP Approaches to Learning measures assess learning dispositions and engagement

Birth–5

Age range covered by California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning standards

Skills tracked in the Experience Assessment across all domains

Developmental milestones

Approaches to learning milestones by age group

Understanding where children are developmentally helps educators plan meaningful activities and document DRDP progress accurately. These milestones align with California’s DRDP levels and nationally recognized frameworks including NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the CDC’s Milestone Moments.

Age group	Key DRDP milestones	What educators can do
Infants Birth–18 months	Sustained attention on interesting objects and people; repeating actions to explore effects; beginning goal-directed behavior; expressing interest and preference; imitating caregivers to learn	Follow infant’s lead and attention; provide interesting objects that invite repeated exploration; narrate what infants are attending to; support sustained play without interruption
Toddlers 18–36 months	Initiating self-chosen activities; returning to preferred activities over multiple days; beginning to express plans; showing frustration but continuing to try; parallel play with growing interest in peers’ activities	Offer choice in activities; allow extended time for self-chosen projects; validate persistence; provide open-ended materials that invite repeated and extended engagement
Preschool 3–5 years	Setting goals and pursuing them across multiple sessions; seeking information to solve problems; flexible thinking when initial approaches fail; sustained collaborative projects; reflecting on their own learning	Long-cycle projects across multiple days; problem-solving provocations; reflection conversations; learning documentation walls; flexible scheduling to allow sustained engagement

Curriculum alignment

How Experience Curriculum supports California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning standards

Experience Curriculum is designed to develop strong Approaches to Learning through its entire structure — not through isolated activities. The monthly theme format creates sustained, deepening engagement over four weeks, giving children the extended time needed to develop genuine curiosity, persistence, and initiative. Each kit is designed with open-ended questions, provocation-based activities, and multi-day projects that build the learning dispositions DRDP measures assess.

Every Experience Curriculum kit ships with a verified alignment to California’s DRDP. The downloadable California Alignment PDF maps each curriculum activity and skill to the specific DRDP measure and developmental level it targets — saving teachers significant documentation time.

Approaches to Learning skills covered

Curiosity and initiative in learning
Attention and persistence on tasks
Flexibility and creative problem-solving
Cooperation in group learning contexts
Reflection on learning processes
Independence and self-directed learning

How it’s delivered

Monthly kits designed for 4-week sustained engagement
Open-ended provocation activities that invite extended exploration
Problem-solving challenges embedded in every theme
Learning documentation templates for DRDP observations
Brightwheel digital documentation tied to CA DRDP Approaches to Learning measures
Family connection activities to extend learning dispositions at home

Research basis

Experience Curriculum’s Approaches to Learning design draws on Laevers’ Experiential Education model (involvement and well-being), Dweck’s growth mindset research, and Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning framework. An independent psychometric evaluation found the linked Experience Assessment exceeds standards for validity and reliability across all eight developmental domains, including Approaches to Learning.

Skills spotlight

Key approaches to learning skills in the 35-skill framework

Experience Curriculum’s 35-skill framework maps directly to the DRDP domains. Here are four skills that feature prominently in every age-band kit.

Curiosity

Intrinsic motivation to explore, question, and investigate. Nurtured through open-ended materials, wonder-inducing environments, and educators who honor children’s questions and follow their investigative leads.

Persistence

Continuing to engage with challenging tasks even when frustrated. Developed through appropriate challenges, growth mindset language from educators, and structured time for sustained engagement.

Initiative

Self-starting and self-directed engagement with the environment. Supported through choice-rich schedules, open-ended learning centers, and responsive educators who follow children’s leads.

Flexibility

Adjusting approaches when initial strategies don’t work; trying new solutions. Built through problem-solving provocations, collaborative challenges, and adult modeling of flexible thinking.

Implementation guidance

Practical tips for embedding approaches to learning into your California program

1. Protect time for sustained, self-directed engagement

California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning measures assess children’s ability to initiate, sustain, and return to activities over time — behaviors that require generous, uninterrupted play time. Programs that offer at least 45–60 minutes of uninterrupted choice time daily generate far richer DRDP Approaches to Learning documentation than programs with highly fragmented schedules.

2. Use growth mindset language intentionally

How educators respond to children’s struggles and successes shapes learning dispositions profoundly. Replace “Good job!” with specific process praise: “I noticed you kept trying even when it was hard — that’s how you get better at things.” This directly supports the persistence and resilience California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning domain measures.

3. Design for long-cycle projects

Extended projects — multi-day or multi-week investigations of a question or topic — are the richest context for developing and documenting Approaches to Learning competencies. When children return to the same project across multiple sessions, they naturally demonstrate initiative, persistence, and flexible problem-solving. Experience Curriculum’s 4-week themes are designed to support exactly this kind of sustained engagement.

4. Make learning processes visible

Documentation walls that capture children’s questions, plans, attempts, and discoveries make the learning process visible — to children, families, and DRDP observers. When children see their own learning documented and celebrated, their metacognitive awareness grows, further strengthening Approaches to Learning competencies.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about California’s DRDP and approaches to learning curriculum

What are California’s early learning standards for Approaches to Learning?

California uses the DRDP as its primary early learning framework. Approaches to Learning is a distinct DRDP domain covering Initiative and Curiosity, Attentiveness and Persistence, Cooperation and Responsibility, and Creativity in Learning. Licensed childcare programs are required to use the DRDP to observe and document children’s progress in this domain.

Is Experience Curriculum aligned to California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning standards?

Yes. A detailed California Alignment PDF maps each activity, skill, and assessment indicator to the corresponding DRDP measure and developmental level.

How do California childcare programs document Approaches to Learning?

California’s licensed childcare programs document Approaches to Learning through DRDP observations — brief, evidence-based notes about how children engage with tasks, persist through challenges, and demonstrate curiosity and initiative. Programs using brightwheel can complete DRDP documentation digitally within the app.

How can educators support curiosity and persistence in young children?

Through generous uninterrupted play time, choice-rich environments, growth mindset language, open-ended materials, and extended project-based experiences. Experience Curriculum’s 4-week theme structure is specifically designed to build the learning dispositions California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning domain measures.

Does Experience Curriculum help with California’s Quality Counts QRS requirements?

Many California childcare programs find that Experience Curriculum supports their QCC ratings, particularly in curriculum and learning environment. We recommend confirming specific requirements with your regional Child Care Resource and Referral agency.

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