North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Emotional and Social Development (ESD)

Subdomain: Learning About Feelings

Goal: Children identify, manage, and express their feelings.

Skill Progression: Emotional expression

Age: 1-2 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 1-2 Months.

Demonstrates a range of basic emotions, including interest, distress, disgust

Situations for Observation of Skill

Watch the child in face-to-face engagement. Watch the child when favorite objects or people are removed.

Elicitation Strategy

Face-to-face engagement elicits interest of different types: concentrated attention, excited attention, and astonished attention. Stopping the interaction or moving the child may elicit a negative response. Watch the child’s response when Dad or Mom leaves line of sight.

Behavior Observed

The child stares at the adult’s eyes in a quiet alert relaxed state. As more intense attention is focused on the parent’s sounds, facial changes, and movements, the infants brows, mouth, and arms and legs may begin to move. This demonstrates different levels of attention.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Face-to-face interaction is a critical first step in establishing a parent-child bond. Encourage parents to have frequent face-to-face “talks” with the infant.

 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

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