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

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

#### Subdomain: Foundations for Writing

#### Goal: Children use writing skills and writing conventions.

#### Skill Progression: Use writing skills and writing conventions

#### Age: 36-42 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 36-42 Months.

### Traces around the edge of a basic shape template

Situations for Observation of Skill

Have paper and pencil and basic shape templates. Work with children in small groups if possible.

Elicitation Strategy

The adult provides shape templates for the children to trace.

Behavior Observed

The child holds the pencil between fingers and thumb and controls the movement of the pencil with enough control to draw lines and circles, trace simple shapes, and attempt to write letters in her name.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Early childhood educators and parents can encourage children to write and draw in all areas of the classroom and during activities at home. Have paper and pencil available for children in the dramatic play area by the phone, in the block area to draw the structures they made, etc. Help adults understand the relationship between writing and drawing and the importance of giving children the encouragement, time, and materials to practice.

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/.