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Approaches to Learning in Tennessee’s TN-ELDS Framework

How Tennessee defines learning dispositions and approaches to learning for young children — and how Experience Curriculum helps your program meet every standard indicator.

TN-ELDS-alignedNAEYC & Head Start aligned

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Understanding the standard

What Tennessee’s TN-ELDS says about learning dispositions and approaches to learning

Tennessee’s early learning framework, the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS), is the official standards document used by licensed childcare and development programs across the state. Administered by the Tennessee Department of Education, the TN-ELDS defines what healthy development looks like for children from birth through kindergarten entry — and learning dispositions and approaches to learning is a core domain of that framework.

The TN-ELDS addresses learning dispositions and approaches to learning through a set of standards and indicators that capture children’s developmental progress from infancy through kindergarten entry. These indicators are organized to help educators observe, document, and support children’s growth in learning dispositions and approaches to learning through intentional, play-based curriculum experiences.

Tennessee requires licensed childcare programs to use a curriculum aligned to the TN-ELDS and to document children’s developmental progress across all domains. This documentation informs individualized curriculum planning and is evaluated as part of the Tennessee’s Star-Quality Child Care program.

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.

Measure areas assess learning dispositions and engagement

Birth–5

Age range covered by 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 progress accurately. These milestones align with Tennessee’s TN-ELDS indicators and nationally recognized frameworks including NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the CDC’s Milestone Moments.

Age group	Key TN-ELDS 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 Tennessee’s TN-ELDS Approaches to Learning standards

Experience Curriculum builds learning dispositions and approaches to learning into every monthly theme through intentional, play-based activities aligned to the TN-ELDS. Rather than treating learning dispositions and approaches to learning as a separate subject, the curriculum embeds relevant skills into daily activities across every age band — so children are developing across all TN-ELDS indicators throughout the day.

Every Experience Curriculum kit ships with a verified alignment to state early learning standards. The downloadable Experience Curriculum Alignment PDF maps each curriculum activity and skill to the specific standard indicator 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 observations
Brightwheel digital documentation tied to state approaches to learning indicators
Family connection activities to extend learning dispositions at home

Research basis

Experience Curriculum’s approach to learning dispositions and approaches to learning is grounded in peer-reviewed early childhood research and aligns to NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. An independent psychometric evaluation found the linked Experience Assessment exceeds standards for validity and reliability across all eight developmental domains.

Skills spotlight

Key learning dispositions and approaches to learning skills in the Experience Curriculum framework

Experience Curriculum’s 35-skill framework maps directly to state standard domains. Here are four skills that feature prominently in every age-band kit and align directly to Tennessee’s TN-ELDS indicators.

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 learning dispositions and approaches to learning into your Tennessee program

1. Protect time for sustained, self-directed engagement

Approaches to Learning standards 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 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.” This directly supports the persistence and resilience that approaches to learning standards measure.

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 approaches to learning competencies. When children return to the same project across multiple sessions, they naturally demonstrate initiative, persistence, and flexible problem-solving.

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 standard observers. When children see their own learning documented and celebrated, their metacognitive awareness grows.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Tennessee’s TN-ELDS and learning dispositions and approaches to learning curriculum

What are the early learning standards for Approaches to Learning?

Approaches to Learning is a distinct domain in many state early learning frameworks, covering initiative and curiosity, attentiveness and persistence, cooperation and responsibility, and creativity in learning. Not all state frameworks have this as a separate domain.

Is Experience Curriculum aligned to Approaches to Learning standards?

Yes. Experience Curriculum’s 4-week monthly theme structure is specifically designed to build the learning dispositions that Approaches to Learning standards measure. Alignment PDFs map kit activities to corresponding indicators.

How do childcare programs document Approaches to Learning?

Programs document Approaches to Learning through observation records — brief, evidence-based notes about how children engage with tasks, persist through challenges, and demonstrate curiosity and initiative. Programs using brightwheel can complete this documentation digitally.

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 these dispositions.

Does Experience Curriculum help with quality rating requirements?

Many childcare programs find that Experience Curriculum supports their state QRIS ratings. We recommend confirming specific requirements with your state’s child care resource and referral agency.