## North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Language Development and Communication (LDC)

#### Subdomain: Learning to Communicate

#### Goal: Children respond to and use a growing vocabulary.

#### Skill Progression: Respond to and use a growing vocabulary

#### Age: 12-15 Months

You may choose a different domain, go back, or click on a skill below for more information.

### Uses referential naming (word refers to specific thing): (e.g., The child’s cup, blanky, “Dada,” “Mama”)

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child in her natural environment while having a snack and playing.

Elicitation Strategy

The adult has several food items, such as crackers and fruit and something to drink. Ask the child what she wants to eat. The adult asks the child if he can have one too. Model saying, “please” and “thank you.” Say, “This one is mine.” “Who is this one for?” Hold up the item. If the child does not say, “Please,” say, “What do you need to say?”

Behavior Observed

The child greets the adult either spontaneously or when prompted by an adult. The child says, “please” and “thank you” with or without a model or a prompt. The child names foods or items on the table such as a cup or spoon. During play the child names items and says, “mine” or “my truck.” When the adult leaves the child says, “Bye.”

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Explain to early childhood educators and parents the important role they play in building vocabulary. They should name common objects with which the child is engaged. This promotes comprehension and language production. Adults also play a role in prompting positive social language comprehension. Help the child with gestural waves, while saying hello and goodbye to people. Adults can also encourage “please” and “thank you” by teaching the child the signs associated with these words. These sign language gestures are simple to make and encourage matching the words and gestures.

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/.