Observations
Observations
What are observations?
Finding out what children can do & recording it
Evidence of child behaviour & development
Factual descriptions of child’s actions & language
Observations help us to plan ‘next steps’ for children
Why do we observe?
To inform our planning
To review the effectiveness of areas of provision & use of resources
To identify learning opportunities and plan relevant & motivating experiences
To reflect on our own practise
To protect children
To develop our understanding of areas of learning and development
To understand how children deal with conflict
To identify changes in behaviour
To see how children interact with other children and adults
To understand individual children’s needs
These points will help you with E1, E2, E4, E5, D1:
E1:
0-3
3-7
7-12
12-16
In two areas of development (DO NOT CHOOSE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT)
E2:
Choose a different age range and describe how children develop in the same two areas as you chose in E1.
E4:
In the observations carry out three observations of the same child in one of the age ranges you have chosen in E1 or E2.
E5:
Use three different observations techniques
The observation needs to be dated, have the child’s date of birth & age
DO NOT INCLUDE: child’s name & placement name
Signed by placement
Technique used
Aim
Observation techniques:
Naturalistic: This is a factual written description of what you see & hear that is occurring naturally.
Structured: A factual account that describes what a child is doing in a pre-set activity.
Advantages:
Only need a notebook & pen
Provides data that can be interpreted later
Naturalistic observations are spontaneous
Disadvantages:
Events happen quickly so may not be able to write everything down
Need to write up quickly afterwards otherwise details may be forgotten
Focus target child observations: The focus is on one child for a specific amount of time, you use pre-coded categories
What are observations?
Finding out what children can do & recording it
Evidence of child behaviour & development
Factual descriptions of child’s actions & language
Observations help us to plan ‘next steps’ for children
Why do we observe?
To inform our planning
To review the effectiveness of areas of provision & use of resources
To identify learning opportunities and plan relevant & motivating experiences
To reflect on our own practise
To protect children
To develop our understanding of areas of learning and development
To understand how children deal with conflict
To identify changes in behaviour
To see how children interact with other children and adults
To understand individual children’s needs
These points will help you with E1, E2, E4, E5, D1:
E1:
0-3
3-7
7-12
12-16
In two areas of development (DO NOT CHOOSE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT)
E2:
Choose a different age range and describe how children develop in the same two areas as you chose in E1.
E4:
In the observations carry out three observations of the same child in one of the age ranges you have chosen in E1 or E2.
E5:
Use three different observations techniques
The observation needs to be dated, have the child’s date of birth & age
DO NOT INCLUDE: child’s name & placement name
Signed by placement
Technique used
Aim
Observation techniques:
Naturalistic: This is a factual written description of what you see & hear that is occurring naturally.
Structured: A factual account that describes what a child is doing in a pre-set activity.
Advantages:
Only need a notebook & pen
Provides data that can be interpreted later
Naturalistic observations are spontaneous
Disadvantages:
Events happen quickly so may not be able to write everything down
Need to write up quickly afterwards otherwise details may be forgotten
Focus target child observations: The focus is on one child for a specific amount of time, you use pre-coded categories