List of Skills by Age
1-2 Months
Responds positively to the quieting voice
2-4 Months
Demonstrates self-soothing and self-rousing behaviors
4-6 Months
Stops crying when people talk to him
6-8 Months
Begins to learn behavioral implications of own and others’ actions
8-10 Months
Follows simple commands (“Give me…”)
Looks to adult to see if he is in trouble
10-12 Months
Aware of own actions and implications
12-15 Months
Understands simple “right” and “wrong”
15-18 Months
Uses conscience-like words (e.g., “no,” “don’t”) before doing something out of bounds
18-21 Months
Follows single-step directions
21-24 Months
Delays gratification for a short time
24-27 Months
27-30 Months
: Knows simple rules of the family (e.g., pick up toys when done playing)
30-33 Months
Follows rules part of the time
33-36 Months
Tries to “right” a “wrong,” or fix a situation
36-42 Months
Shows self-control with wrongdoing
42-48 Months
Gains more control of intense feelings like anger, but still needs adult guidance
48-54 Months
Recognizes rules and complies most of the time
54-60 Months
Demonstrates a strong sense of right and wrong for self and others
 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/.