The five foundations of early childhood education – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension – are essential for developing a child's literacy skills. Each foundation contributes to a child's learning and development in unique ways.
NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development describes goals for all children's development and learning, no matter what program they may be served in, what language they speak, what disabilities they may have, or what family circumstances they are growing up in.
No matter the name, they are a set of expectations about what infants and toddlers should know and be able to do during specified age ranges. ELG are usually issued by the state agency responsible for child care or education and are primarily intended for use by early care and education providers.