## 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 participate in conversations with peers and adults in one-on-one, small, and larger group interactions.

#### Skill Progression: Participate in conversations with peers and adults

#### Age: 36-42 Months

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

### Still seeks out adults for conversations, but prefers peers

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child in classroom activities, including a group discussion during circle or small group time, in the dramatic play area, during art activities, or when the child needs to share materials.

Elicitation Strategy

No elicitation needed.

Behavior Observed

During play the child talks to peers and seeks adult input primarily for assistance.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Early childhood educators should encourage discussion about a topic, rather than be directive in center time. Asking yes/no questions (e.g., Is this Monday?” or fill in the blank questions, “Today is ….?”) does not encourage discussion. Instead have a topic that provides opportunities for discussion. For example, “My favorite animal is….?” The adult can encourage discussion of experiences with animals, why children like animals, etc. Early childhood educators and parents need to provide opportunities for children to play, work, and solve problems together, without adult direction. This encourages communication and development of social skills.

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/.