Birth - 12 Months

Sequence of Skills and Learning Goals

Communication / Language

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about and exploring different ways to carry a baby

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Finding forest animals hiding in book pictures

Receptive language

Expressive language

Awareness of differences in sounds

  • Talking about sounds made by items shown in book pictures

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about a child’s routines

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about a child’s routines

Cognitive

Object inquiry skills

  • Looking at and manipulating different types of objects, including soft and hard toys

Object inquiry skills

  • Looking at and manipulating different types of objects, including water

Problem-solving

  • Exploring one or two toys

Object inquiry skills

  • Looking at and manipulating different types of objects while playing with a caregiver

Object inquiry skills

  • Holding and manipulating different toys, including nesting cups 

Self-Regulation

Concentration

  • Focusing on a moving fish toy

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after a song with actions

Executive Function

  • Focusing on and remembering the location of a rattle

Concentration

  • Watching and making facial expressions

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after manipulating a sound-making toy

Social-Emotional

Social interaction skills

  • Engaging in responsive interactions focused on smiling

Social interaction skills

  • Participating in back-and-forth play with a caregiver

Social interaction skills

Awareness of emotions

  • Engaging in responsive interactions focused on facial expressions

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with different toys

Social interaction skills

  • Engaging in responsive interactions focused on looking at toys and book illustrations

Physical / Health

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to move parts of our body

Fine motor development

  • Reaching for, grasping, and holding different toys

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to shift positions: rolling over, crawling, sitting

Fine motor development

  • Exploring how to hold and shake a sound-making toy

Fine motor development

  • Reaching for, grasping, holding, and moving different toys

Communication / Language

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of animal mothers and babies

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of baby faces

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Playing peekaboo with a caregiver

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of babies

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about different facial expressions

Cognitive

Problem-solving

  • Choosing toys to play with

Object inquiry skills

  • Noticing differences between toys

Object inquiry skills

  • Feeling and manipulating objects with different textures

Object inquiry skills

  • Noticing features of objects and animals in a book

Object inquiry skills

  • Looking at and manipulating high-contrast and cause-and-effect toys

Self-Regulation

Executive function

  • Persisting in reaching for a desired toy

Concentration

  • Watching the actions of a puppet

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after a finger play

Executive function

  • Watching a ball and a cup manipulated by a caregiver

Concentration

  • Focusing on novel sounds and facial expressions made by a caregiver

Social-Emotional

Social interaction skills

  • Engaging in responsive interactions focused on imitating simple actions

Social interaction skills

  • Noticing how others play with a toy car

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with a musical instrument

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver as part of looking in a mirror

Social interaction skills

  • Meeting and greeting infants in our room

Physical / Health

Fine motor development

  • Manipulating sound-making objects

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to balance our bodies in a sitting position

Fine motor development

  • Practicing how to hold and release an object

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to stand

Fine motor development

  • Using both hands at the same time to manipulate a toy

Communication / Language

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of familiar objects

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about saying goodnight

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about items and feeling textures in book pictures

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about different things babies do

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about babies playing Peekaboo

Cognitive

Problem-solving

  • Choosing and playing with balls

Object inquiry skills

  • Engaging in play with cause-and-effect toys

Problem-solving

  • Finding and moving toward a desired toy

Problem-solving

  • Finding a hidden toy

Object inquiry skills

  • Using our senses to explore toys in different ways

Self-Regulation

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after moving slowly to music

Executive Function

  • Persisting in play with a novel toy

Concentration

  • Watching and manipulating a toy car

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after participating in a rhyme with hand actions

Executive function

  • Persisting in exploration with different toys

Social-Emotional

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with a ball

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with stacking rings

Social interaction skills

  • Participating in responsive interactions during routine  activities

Social interaction skills

  • Engaging in play with teddy bears focused on gentle touches

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with a baby doll

Physical / Health

Gross motor development

  • Touching and rolling a ball

Fine motor development

  • Moving hands and arms to and across the midline

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to roll over, push up, or crawl during play with toys

Fine motor development

  • Practicing eye-hand coordination with novel items, including toys with holes

Gross motor development

  • Practicing early locomotion, including creeping, crawling, or walking

Communication / Language

Receptive language

Expressive language

Awareness of differences in sounds

  • Participating in a song with hand movements

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of baby fingers and toes

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of families

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about pictures of people in our room

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Waving hello and goodbye

Cognitive

Object inquiry skills

Problem-solving

  • Playing with familiar items in different ways

Problem-solving

  • Taking apart a stacking ring toy

Object inquiry skills

  • Focusing on color differences 

Object inquiry skills

  • Figuring out how a toy works

Object inquiry skills

Problem-solving

  • Watching a caregiver manipulate and hide a toy

Self-Regulation

Concentration

  • Paying attention to hand actions

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after a bell ringing activity

Executive function

  • Persisting in getting a desired toy

Concentration

  • Focusing on blocks manipulated by a caregiver

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after participating in a rhyme with finger actions

Social-Emotional

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver focused on nurturing actions

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver while playing with nesting cups

Social interaction skills

  • Looking at our actions in a mirror

Awareness of emotions

  • Exploring happy and sad feelings described in a book

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver focused on music and movement

Physical / Health

Fine motor development

  • Coordinating the use of hands, finger and thumb

Gross motor development

  • Practicing how to roll over or crawl under an object during play

Fine motor development

  • Doing hand motions with rhymes

Gross motor development

  • Moving our body while pretending to ride

Fine motor development

  • Practicing eye-hand coordination using two hands

Communication / Language

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Talking about fun things babies do with families

Receptive language

Expressive language

Awareness of differences in sounds

  • Participating in a song with rocking movements

Receptive language

Expressive language

Awareness of differences in sounds

  • Talking about pictures and sounds of farm animals

Receptive language

Expressive language

  • Participating in a song and moving a toy spider

Receptive language

Expressive language

Awareness of differences in sounds

  • Listening to the sounds of farm animal puppets

Cognitive

Problem-solving

  • Choosing one of two toy possibilities

Object inquiry skills

  • Playing with toys of different sizes

Object inquiry skills

  • Looking closely at pictures

Problem-solving

  • Exploring how to take apart toys

Object inquiry skills

  • Watching and playing with cause-and-effect toys

Self-Regulation

Executive function

  • Watching and manipulating a scrunchie and a cup

Concentration

  • Focusing on a rhyme and finger actions

Self-control

  • Practicing how to calm down after moving to music

Executive function

  • Persisting in removing toys from a box

Executive function

  • Watching a toy being hidden for a caregiver to find

Social-Emotional

Social interaction skills

  • Interacting with a caregiver focused on farm animal pictures and figures

Social interaction skills

  • Playing independently as a caregiver watches

Social interaction skills

  • Noticing what peers are doing

Awareness of emotions

  • Noticing a peer’s actions while playing alongside each other

Social interaction skills

  • Noticing how peers are playing with toys

Physical / Health

Fine motor development

  • Moving to music with hands and arms and while being held by a caregiver

Fine motor development

Gross motor development

  • Reaching for and rolling a ball

Gross motor development

  • Practicing to sit, stand, and walk

Gross motor development

  • Crawling and walking on different textured surfaces

Gross motor development

  • Moving our arms and legs, including crawling