Early Atlas

Skill

Connects With Trusted Adults

Child builds warm relationships with adults and turns to them for help.

Ages 36–60 months

relationships adult-child-relationships secure-base help-seeking preschool

Why it matters

Secure relationships with caregivers and teachers give a preschooler the safe base they need to explore, separate without distress, and seek help when a problem is too big to solve alone.

Builds toward this milestone

  • engages in and maintains positive relationships and interactions with adults. — Head Start ELOF

Explore milestones →

What mastery looks like

  • Initiates and sustains reciprocal interactions with familiar adults, such as sharing ideas or talking about play.
  • Separates from a trusted adult with minimal distress in a familiar setting.
  • Seeks an adult as a resource when needing help to solve a problem.

How to observe it

  • Does the child start back-and-forth conversations with a trusted adult, not only respond?
  • At drop-off or transitions, can the child say goodbye and settle into the day?
  • When stuck, does the child go to an adult for help instead of giving up?

Accessibility

  • Offer a consistent primary caregiver and a visual goodbye routine for children who find separations hard.
  • Accept gestures, signs, or AAC as valid ways to initiate and seek help.

Activities

Evidence

Early Atlas