DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE 1: INFANCY

Approximate Age: Birth–12 Months

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL MILESTONES

During infancy, children begin developing relationships and learning how to communicate emotions.

Examples of social-emotional milestones include:

Smiling during social interaction.
• Responding to familiar caregivers.
• Showing different facial expressions.
• Responding to voices and sounds.
• Showing preferences for familiar people.
• Using sounds, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate needs.
• Beginning to respond to the emotions and tone of caregivers.

The CDC provides age-specific developmental milestones for infants, including social and emotional behaviors.

CLASSROOM STRATEGY 1: EMOTION-FILLED INTERACTION

Teachers can use facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, and simple emotion words during everyday interactions.

For example:

“You are smiling! You look happy.”

“That surprised you!”

“You are crying. Let’s see what you need.”

This helps infants begin connecting emotions with facial expressions, sounds, and experiences.

SELF-REGULATION

Infants are not expected to regulate their emotions independently. Adults provide co-regulation by helping infants become calm and comfortable.

Teachers can:

• Use a calm voice.
• Comfort children when they are upset.
• Maintain predictable routines.
• Reduce overwhelming stimulation.
• Respond consistently to children’s cues.

FAMILY STRATEGIES

Families can support infants by:

• Talking and singing to them.
• Reading together.
• Responding consistently to communication attempts.
• Comforting them when upset.
• Playing together.
• Establishing predictable routines.

"Integrating simple self-regulation routines into our daily morning meetings completely transformed our classroom dynamic. The students now communicate their feelings with confidence and support each other through conflicts."

Early childhood educator