Family Tip Sheets
Using the WMELS Family Tip Sheets

How Do I Use the Tip Sheets?
The Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards
(WMELS) Family Tips Sheets were developed to help
families understand how the WMELS can help them
think about what their children should know and what
their children should be able to do. There is a tip sheet
for each of the five domains of the WMELS:
 Health and Physical Development
 Social and Emotional Development
 Language Development and Communication
 Approaches to Learning
 Cognition and General Knowledge
Organization
Each tip sheet includes:
 Definition and rational for each domain;
 How families can support their child’s
development at home and in the community;
 What to expect during the stages of infancy,
toddlerhood, and the preschool years. The
Center for Disease Control Developmental
Milestones is used to provide guidance on
developmental milestones.
What should I do if I have a concern about my child’s
development?

Talk to your early learning program provider;

Talk to your doctor. If you and your doctor are still
concerned;

Call Wisconsin First Step 1-800-642-7837 (24 hour
service, a parent specialist is available M-F, between
8AM and 4PM);

If you think your child is a child with a disability, call
your County Birth to 3 Services or your Local School
District 3 through 5 Services.

Wisconsin Model Early Learning
Standards
Guiding Principals
The WMELS were developed based upon the following
principles or beliefs:
1. All children are capable and competent;
2. Early relationships matter;
3. A child’s early learning and development is
multi-dimensional;
4. Expectations for children must be guided by
knowledge of child growth and development;
5. Children are individuals who develop at various
rates;
6. Children are members of cultural groups that
share developmental patterns;
7. Children exhibit a range of skills and
competencies within any domain of
development;
8. Children learn through play and the active
exploration of their environment;
9. Parents are children’s primary and most
important caregivers and educators.

 Family Tip Sheets
Using the WMELS Family Tip Sheets

Remember – Your Child Learns and Grows Across
all Five Domains!
Each tip sheet includes information about how your child
develops across the domains.

The Teaching Cycle
Focus on the Whole Child
The WMELS focuses on the development of the whole
child. This means that we think about the child within the
context of the world in which he or she lives.
Thinking about the whole child involves taking into
consideration how a child’s development is influenced by
aspects of his or her physical and social environment:






Relationships with family and other significant
people;
The child’s biology or development
(temperament, learning style, interests, etc.);
The environment in which the child and family
live;
The child or family’s life experiences, history,
biology;
The child’s and family’s culture.

The parts of the Teaching Cycle include:
 Ongoing Assessment – What does your child
know, what can your child do;
 Planning and Curriculum Goals – Setting
goals for your child and planning activities and
materials to support learning around those
goals;
 Implementation – Teaching through play and
interactions with materials and people.
The Teaching Cycle is used by teachers in your child’s
early childhood program every day. Parents can use the
Teaching Cycle when:




You wait – Give your child time to play with
materials and people;
You watch – Watch what your child is doing;
You wonder – Wonder what does this mean?
What does my child know? What can my child
do? How can I support my child’s learning?

Sources: Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards, Third Edition, Developmental Continuum, February 2011
Center for Disease Control and Prevention Developmental Milestones http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html