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

Goal: Children express positive feelings about themselves and confidence in what they can do.

Skill Progression: Expresses and seeks out positive emotions about what they can do

Age: 2-4 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 2-4 Months.

Smiles at desired object and becomes angry when it is taken away

Situations for Observation of Skill

Watch the child when a favorite hand-held toy or object is removed.

Elicitation Strategy

Give the child her favorite object. Engage the child in play with the object, then remove it.

Behavior Observed

Watch the child’s facial expression when the toy is presented and removed. The child’s facial expression changes. The corners of the mouth may turn down and the brow may knit between the eyes.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Most parents naturally watch and read their baby’s expressions. Children with various disabilities, however, may be harder to read. Help parents know the messages the baby is giving them through facial expressions and body movements. Comment on facial changes and what they may mean.

 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/.