Early Learning Progressions

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

You may choose a different domain, visit the page for this domain, or click on a skill below for more information.

List of Skills by Age

1-2 Months

Watches own hands

2-4 Months

Watches own fingers

4-6 Months

Uses mouthing, kicking, reaching and grasping to explore objects

6-8 Months

Aware of effects of own actions versus others

8-10 Months

Moves body to get desired object, and uses goal-directed actions with hands and fingers

10-12 Months

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

12-15 Months

Anticipates the results of actions with familiar toys or people

15-18 Months

Uses trial-and-error to accomplish a goal (e.g., moves, shifts, rearranges, modifies)

18-21 Months

Searches for needed objects to accomplish a task (bottle for baby doll)

21-24 Months

Demonstrates play preferences and seeks out desired types of play, routines, interactions, food, etc.

24-27 Months

Experiments with putting things together and taking them apart

27-30 Months

Engages in pretend play, knows what different characters would say or do, understands it is pretend

30-33 Months

33-36 Months

Chooses challenging tasks and shows final results

36-42 Months

Self-initiates, plans, and organizes problem solving without assistance

42-48 Months

Uses imagination and diverse materials to create unique art, costumes, etc.

48-54 Months

Shows someone how to do something through physical modeling

54-60 Months

Creates elaborate socio-dramatic play scenarios, songs, stories, etc.

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/.