National Resource Center: Early Learning Guidelines

Toolkit for Integrating Healthy Physical and Mental
Development in Early Learning Guidelines

User Guide

The guide below gives a framework your team can use to evaluate your state’s ELG content that supports children’s development of age appropriate health and safety skills in comparison with nationally recognized standards and other states’ early learning guidelines. Your team can choose to focus on one Health & Safety topic at a time, a group of topics, or review all 15 topics contained in this Toolkit.

Note: The Toolkit can also be used to educate teachers and families on age appropriate health and safety skills that can be achieved through ELG implementation.

For each of the 15 Health & Safety Topics, the Toolkit provides a form for you to:

STEP 1 - COLUMN 1	STEP 2 - COLUMN 2	STEP 3 - COLUMN 3
Read the related nationally recognized Caring for Our Children (CFOC) health and safety standard(s). A link to the full CFOC standard (standard, rationale, comments, references and appendices) is provided. For the development of parent education tools on this topic see the link to the Healthy Kids, Healthy Care (HKHC) Website Link(s)	Read related excerpts from Selected States’ Early Learning Guidelines.. A link to the full ELG(s) is/are provided.	Note to what degree the national health and safety standard(s) is integrated in your state’s ELG (s) in Column 3 after reviewing your state’s ELG(s) on this topic: Content absent Content to be strengthened Content Appoaches CFOC
STEP 4 - ACTION PLAN
Record ideas and actions to strengthen the topic in your ELGs, if needed.

After your team has reviewed each topic or selected topics, you may want to create a summary of your team’s findings showing the status of health andsafety content in your ELGs. An Overall Health and Safety Profile has been provided for this purpose. Click here for the Profile.

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