Virginia’s Virginia ELDS: The official early learning standards framework
Virginia’s early learning standards are organized under Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) — Birth to Five, administered by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). ELDS is the current framework — the prior “Foundation Blocks” framework is retired. Virginia’s ELDS applies to licensed childcare centers, family day homes, public school pre-K programs, and Head Start programs serving children from birth through age 5.
Virginia’s ELDS defines developmental expectations across all 8 domains and guides curriculum planning, developmental assessment, and program quality. Programs can view current guidance at the VDOE Early Childhood Care and Education page.
Virginia’s QRIS is called VQB5 (Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System), administered by VDOE. All publicly funded birth-to-five programs are required to participate in VQB5 annually. VQB5 measures quality through CLASS interactions observations and curriculum use. Using a research-based curriculum aligned to Virginia’s ELDS supports higher VQB5 ratings across the Curriculum and Learning Environment domain.
Explore by developmental domain
Virginia’s Virginia ELDS domains and Experience Curriculum alignment
Select a developmental domain below to see how Virginia’s Virginia ELDS defines that domain, the key milestones by age group, and exactly how Experience Curriculum activities and skills map to each Virginia ELDS indicator.
Social-Emotional Development
Self-regulation, peer relationships, identity, empathy, and emotional expression
Explore Virginia Social-Emotional Development standards →Language & Literacy
Receptive and expressive language, phonological awareness, early reading and writing
Explore Virginia Language & Literacy standards →Mathematics & Reasoning
Number sense, patterns, measurement, spatial reasoning, and early problem-solving
Explore Virginia Mathematics & Reasoning standards →Science
Observation, inquiry, cause-and-effect, and exploration of the natural world
Explore Virginia Science standards →Social Studies
Community, family, cultural identity, roles, and civic understanding
Explore Virginia Social Studies standards →Creative Arts
Visual arts, music, movement, dramatic play, and creative expression
Explore Virginia Creative Arts standards →Physical Development
Gross and fine motor skills, body awareness, health, and self-care
Explore Virginia Physical Development standards →Approaches to Learning
Curiosity, persistence, initiative, flexibility, and attention
Explore Virginia Approaches to Learning standards →Curriculum alignment
How Experience Curriculum aligns to Virginia’s Virginia ELDS
Experience Curriculum is formally aligned to Virginia’s Virginia ELDS across all three age bands — Baby (birth to 18 months), Toddler (18 to 36 months), and Preschool (3 to 5 years) — and all 8 developmental domains. The Virginia ELDS Alignment PDF documents how every Experience Curriculum activity and skill maps to a specific Virginia ELDS indicator.
For Virginia programs using brightwheel, developmental observations can be logged directly in the app during or after activities, automatically building each child’s portfolio and supporting VQB5 (Virginia Quality Birth to Five) curriculum documentation requirements.
The Virginia ELDS Alignment PDF is a free resource documenting how every Experience Curriculum activity maps to Virginia’s Virginia ELDS indicators — suitable for QRIS review submissions and licensing documentation.
Frequently asked questions