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: 4-6 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 4-6 Months.

Differentiates self and adult in mirror by looking and patting

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe adult and child in front of a large mirror after a bath or during mirror play.

Elicitation Strategy

Have a large mirror available. Ask the adult and child to play in front of the mirror.

Behavior Observed

The child looks in the mirror and studies both faces. The infant may reach out and pat the images.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Mirror play is an important way infants learn about themselves. Initially, they are just interested in the different images. They do not recognize the image as themselves. Encourage mirror play (with safe mirrors) after the bath, in the crib, or during playtime.

 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/.