CDA ACTUAL 2026 CORE EXAM TEST QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔An activity that develops small-motor skills would be - ✔✔Bead stringing
✔✔Another activity that develops small-motor skills would be - ✔✔Manipulating play-
dough
✔✔You have a small budget to use for purchasing materials for your classroom. When
choosing, you will first consider - ✔✔Whether the materials are developmentally
appropriate, are mostly open-ended, and will enable the children to experience success.
✔✔Two boys want the same truck to haul blocks across the room. One boy goes to the
housekeeping area and gets a basket. This is an example of - ✔✔Problem solving
✔✔When talking with a child, the caregiver should - ✔✔Get down to the child's eye level
✔✔Caregivers should - ✔✔- Be good listeners
- Ask a lot of open-ended questions
✔✔You want the children to learn cooperation, so you - ✔✔Provide activities that
require taking turns, sharing materials, and solving problems together
✔✔Children's artwork should be - ✔✔Displayed at the children's eye level
✔✔A creative arts project is - ✔✔Painting with orange and black paint on white paper
✔✔One of the children is having a tantrum just as circle time is beginning. The best way
to proceed would be - ✔✔Stay close to the child and explain to the others that she is
having a hard time right now but will be alright in a few minutes. Let your co-teacher
start the circle time
✔✔A creative activity is - ✔✔Using play dough
✔✔What is another activity that is creative? - ✔✔Using musical instruments with a CD
that tells children when to play the instruments
✔✔A good technique for dealing with favorite toys is to - ✔✔Provide duplicates of them
✔✔You are aware that many of the children watch a great deal of TV and videos at
home. You would like the parents to support their children's development at home
instead of relying on screen media. You will - ✔✔Send home books and activity packets
that the children can enjoy with their families
,✔✔A positive circle time experience includes - ✔✔- Scheduling and planning
beforehand
- Interesting and active activities
- Anticipating problems beforehand
✔✔Appropriate choices for young children include - ✔✔" You may choose from art, the
housekeeping area, or the puzzle table."
✔✔Situations that reflect bias include - ✔✔-Thanksgiving stories that depict Indians with
war paint.
- Halloween stories with pictures in which everything black is portrayed as scary
✔✔Andrew often hits and bites other children. After doing so, he laughs and runs off.
He doesn't seem to realize he is hurting them. You will - ✔✔Stop the behavior
immediately and attend to the hurt child. Then get down on Andrew's level, pointing out
and labeling the feelings of the child he has hurt
✔✔Appropriate guidance techniques would include - ✔✔-Planning to avoid problems
with the use of space, placement and number of toys, and careful supervision.
- Interacting with children in positive ways
- Redirecting inappropriate behavior
✔✔Fine- motor skills refer to skills that - ✔✔Require children to work with their hands
and fingers
✔✔A new child has just enrolled in your program. She is from china. Several of the
children have approached you to say, "Mei Lee talks funny." You will - ✔✔Explain to
them that she is from another culture, speaks a different language, and is learning ours.
Encourage them to help her learn words and to be a kind friend to her
✔✔Gross- motor skills refer to skills that - ✔✔Require children to make large
movements with their bodies
✔✔Children learn best when they - ✔✔Actively participate
✔✔Marcy came to school today with an angry, negative mood. You can see that this
may soon erust into physical aggression. The best way to deal with this would be -
✔✔Provide her with an activity that will help to diffuse her angry feelings, such as
working with play dough or throwing sponge balls at a target
✔✔Coloring books, ABC worksheets, and offering sample artwork are - ✔✔Not
developmentally appropriate
, ✔✔Experience charts, labeling items in the room, and making lots of books available
are all examples of - ✔✔Practices that support emergent literacy
✔✔A writing center for preschoolers should include - ✔✔Pencils, paper, markers,
envelopes, an old typewriter, and pieces of old mail
✔✔Scribbling is - ✔✔An early stage in the development of children's art and writing
skills
✔✔You see a coworker leaving a group of napping children alone while she goes into
the hallway. You decide to first - ✔✔Approach her personally about your concerns
✔✔To extend a "teachable moment" - ✔✔- Observe what is happening
- Describe what is happening and ask open-ended questions
- Let children come up with ideas about what they would like to do
✔✔Children' s artwork should - ✔✔Emphasize the process rather than the product
✔✔You find that it is becoming difficult to keep the children engaged during circle time.
You should - ✔✔Re-evaluate the length of time you are expecting the children to stay at
circle time and whether the kinds of activities you are providing are interesting to them
✔✔What materials are appropriate for preschoolers to prepare them for reading? -
✔✔Magnetic letters, a well- stocked book corner, and reading to them everyday
✔✔A child needs help blowing his nose. You will help him use a tissue and then -
✔✔You wash your hands and ask the child to wash their hands as well
✔✔Positive ways to involve parents in the program include - ✔✔Reading stories
✔✔You are out on the playground with twelve preschool-age children. One of the
children says he needs to use the restroom, so you - ✔✔Take the child and half of the
other children into the building
✔✔An important part of a quality early childhood program is for caregivers to
communicate with parents, some examples would be - ✔✔-parent conferences
- parent meetings
- conversations at arrival and departure time
✔✔Parent and teacher conflicts happen. A positive way to resolve them is to - ✔✔-
Practice active listening
- Suggest the parents look over their copy of your programs parent handbook, referring
to sections that may clear up misunderstanding and address the problem
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔An activity that develops small-motor skills would be - ✔✔Bead stringing
✔✔Another activity that develops small-motor skills would be - ✔✔Manipulating play-
dough
✔✔You have a small budget to use for purchasing materials for your classroom. When
choosing, you will first consider - ✔✔Whether the materials are developmentally
appropriate, are mostly open-ended, and will enable the children to experience success.
✔✔Two boys want the same truck to haul blocks across the room. One boy goes to the
housekeeping area and gets a basket. This is an example of - ✔✔Problem solving
✔✔When talking with a child, the caregiver should - ✔✔Get down to the child's eye level
✔✔Caregivers should - ✔✔- Be good listeners
- Ask a lot of open-ended questions
✔✔You want the children to learn cooperation, so you - ✔✔Provide activities that
require taking turns, sharing materials, and solving problems together
✔✔Children's artwork should be - ✔✔Displayed at the children's eye level
✔✔A creative arts project is - ✔✔Painting with orange and black paint on white paper
✔✔One of the children is having a tantrum just as circle time is beginning. The best way
to proceed would be - ✔✔Stay close to the child and explain to the others that she is
having a hard time right now but will be alright in a few minutes. Let your co-teacher
start the circle time
✔✔A creative activity is - ✔✔Using play dough
✔✔What is another activity that is creative? - ✔✔Using musical instruments with a CD
that tells children when to play the instruments
✔✔A good technique for dealing with favorite toys is to - ✔✔Provide duplicates of them
✔✔You are aware that many of the children watch a great deal of TV and videos at
home. You would like the parents to support their children's development at home
instead of relying on screen media. You will - ✔✔Send home books and activity packets
that the children can enjoy with their families
,✔✔A positive circle time experience includes - ✔✔- Scheduling and planning
beforehand
- Interesting and active activities
- Anticipating problems beforehand
✔✔Appropriate choices for young children include - ✔✔" You may choose from art, the
housekeeping area, or the puzzle table."
✔✔Situations that reflect bias include - ✔✔-Thanksgiving stories that depict Indians with
war paint.
- Halloween stories with pictures in which everything black is portrayed as scary
✔✔Andrew often hits and bites other children. After doing so, he laughs and runs off.
He doesn't seem to realize he is hurting them. You will - ✔✔Stop the behavior
immediately and attend to the hurt child. Then get down on Andrew's level, pointing out
and labeling the feelings of the child he has hurt
✔✔Appropriate guidance techniques would include - ✔✔-Planning to avoid problems
with the use of space, placement and number of toys, and careful supervision.
- Interacting with children in positive ways
- Redirecting inappropriate behavior
✔✔Fine- motor skills refer to skills that - ✔✔Require children to work with their hands
and fingers
✔✔A new child has just enrolled in your program. She is from china. Several of the
children have approached you to say, "Mei Lee talks funny." You will - ✔✔Explain to
them that she is from another culture, speaks a different language, and is learning ours.
Encourage them to help her learn words and to be a kind friend to her
✔✔Gross- motor skills refer to skills that - ✔✔Require children to make large
movements with their bodies
✔✔Children learn best when they - ✔✔Actively participate
✔✔Marcy came to school today with an angry, negative mood. You can see that this
may soon erust into physical aggression. The best way to deal with this would be -
✔✔Provide her with an activity that will help to diffuse her angry feelings, such as
working with play dough or throwing sponge balls at a target
✔✔Coloring books, ABC worksheets, and offering sample artwork are - ✔✔Not
developmentally appropriate
, ✔✔Experience charts, labeling items in the room, and making lots of books available
are all examples of - ✔✔Practices that support emergent literacy
✔✔A writing center for preschoolers should include - ✔✔Pencils, paper, markers,
envelopes, an old typewriter, and pieces of old mail
✔✔Scribbling is - ✔✔An early stage in the development of children's art and writing
skills
✔✔You see a coworker leaving a group of napping children alone while she goes into
the hallway. You decide to first - ✔✔Approach her personally about your concerns
✔✔To extend a "teachable moment" - ✔✔- Observe what is happening
- Describe what is happening and ask open-ended questions
- Let children come up with ideas about what they would like to do
✔✔Children' s artwork should - ✔✔Emphasize the process rather than the product
✔✔You find that it is becoming difficult to keep the children engaged during circle time.
You should - ✔✔Re-evaluate the length of time you are expecting the children to stay at
circle time and whether the kinds of activities you are providing are interesting to them
✔✔What materials are appropriate for preschoolers to prepare them for reading? -
✔✔Magnetic letters, a well- stocked book corner, and reading to them everyday
✔✔A child needs help blowing his nose. You will help him use a tissue and then -
✔✔You wash your hands and ask the child to wash their hands as well
✔✔Positive ways to involve parents in the program include - ✔✔Reading stories
✔✔You are out on the playground with twelve preschool-age children. One of the
children says he needs to use the restroom, so you - ✔✔Take the child and half of the
other children into the building
✔✔An important part of a quality early childhood program is for caregivers to
communicate with parents, some examples would be - ✔✔-parent conferences
- parent meetings
- conversations at arrival and departure time
✔✔Parent and teacher conflicts happen. A positive way to resolve them is to - ✔✔-
Practice active listening
- Suggest the parents look over their copy of your programs parent handbook, referring
to sections that may clear up misunderstanding and address the problem
