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 demonstrate a positive sense of self-identify and self-awareness.

Skill Progression: Awareness of self through actions

Age: 10-12 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 10-12 Months.

Experiments with means-ends, actions-reactions, heights and distances, generalization of solutions

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child in the high chair, on the couch, and on the floor with various small objects.

Elicitation Strategy

Place several small objects, such as blocks, spoons, etc. on the high chair tray or on the couch. Also place a desired toy on the couch out of the child’s reach.

Behavior Observed

The infant makes a game out of dropping things and watching them fall, throwing toys, or crawling up on a chair or couch to get what she wants.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Children’s repetitive dropping and throwing of objects can be frustrating for parents. Help parents understand that these actions are done not to irritate the adult but to learn about space and distance. Of course, it is also a fun game to make Mom or Dad get it!

 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/.