North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Health and Physical Development (HPD)

Subdomain: Motor Development

Goal: Children develop the large muscle control and abilities needed to move through and explore their environment.

Skill Progression: Sitting

Age: 6-8 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 6-8 Months.

Head leads when pulled to sit or stand

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child in play on the floor.

Elicitation Strategy

If the child is lying on the floor, the adult pulls him to sit. If the child is sitting the adult pulls the child up to stand with support.

Behavior Observed

The infant pulls his head up before the rest of the body when moving into sit or stand.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Help early childhood educators and parents understand that providing the “least support” they can encourages children to practice needed movement patterns. Make sure the environment is safe for children to sit unsupported. Note: Children who push back into sit from their stomachs may move into a W-sit. This is not a desired movement and should be changed to a circle sit, with legs in front. Help the child keep the legs closer together when on the stomach and guide the child into a better sit.

 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/.