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

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Emotional and Social Development (ESD)

#### Subdomain: Developing a Sense of Self

#### Goal: Children demonstrate a positive sense of self-identify and self-awareness.

#### Skill Progression: Awareness of self through actions

#### Age: 4-6 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 4-6 Months.

### Uses mouthing, kicking, reaching and grasping to explore objects

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child on her back with small toys and objects hanging within reach (e.g., a mobile).

Elicitation Strategy

Give the child small objects such as a rattle to hold and explore. Hang shiny or noisy objects such as small pie tins or rattles from a stick. Hold the stick over the child.

Behavior Observed

See if the child reaches, bats, or kicks the objects. If the child accidentally kicks the objects, does the child repeat the action intentionally? This indicates the child is learning he can make something happen.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Create situations where the child has opportunities to engage objects to make them move or make sound. Lower a mobile in the crib, place a hanging toy over the child during diapering, etc. This will encourage the infant to explore what his limbs can do.

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/.