North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Cognitive Development (CD)

Subdomain: Mathematical Thinking and Expression

Goal: Children compare, sort, group, organize and measure objects and create patterns in their everyday environment.

Skill Progression: Classifying

Age: 24-27 Months

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Beginning to think about how things in the world are alike (rocks, trees, flowers, etc.)

Situations for Observation of Skill

Read a book about the seasons and nature and use this to talk about what the child sees in the outdoors, what he wears in the summer, winter, etc.

Elicitation Strategy

Comment on the book, “I like to look at the different colors of leaves in the fall. These leaves are red.” Ask questions, “What else do you wear when it is hot?” “What do you like about rocks?”

Behavior Observed

The child talks about a category of things and says how they are alike.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Encourage early childhood educators and parents to point out and talk about things in the child’s environment. Make comparisons of how things are the same or different. Talk about what the child does in the different seasons, etc. Compare clothing needed for different seasons.

 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

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