North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

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

Subdomain: Developing a Sense of Self with Others

Goal: Children form relationships and interact positively with familiar adults who are consistent and responsive to their needs.

Skill Progression: Separation

Age: 27-30 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 27-30 Months.

Resists help; desires to do things independently, such as dressing, eating, etc.

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child in interaction with the adult within daily routines.

Elicitation Strategy

No elicitation needed.

Behavior Observed

The child expresses a desire to do things such as dressing and toileting independently. May say, “I do it!” for pouring cereal, buttering bread or other tasks the child is learning.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

The child’s efforts at self-reliance, though positive, may be frustrating for harried, hurried parents. Help parents know how to come up with two choices for what to do or how to do it. For example, “I will put your pants on. Do want to put your head in the shirt or your arm?” This gives the child the control she wants.

 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.