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 confidence in abilities and persistence toward goals

Age: 2-4 Months

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

Repeats own pleasurable actions (kicking, waving arm)

Situations for Observation of Skill

Watch the infant during natural daily routines, especially when he is naked and stimulated by the air on his bodies.

Elicitation Strategy

No elicitation is needed. As the baby gains more control over his movements, he will enjoy the sensory input movement gives him. He will therefore repeat actions.

Behavior Observed

The child moves his limbs, stops, then does it again.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Encourage parents to let the infant enjoy movement. Some babies are wrapped or held constantly. This may have a calming effect, but babies also need the sensation of freedom and voluntary movement.

 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/.