Examples Of Child Care Observation

* Confidentiality – Parents/carers must give consent for information to be collected and stored about their child and they should be able to access this freely. If information needed to be shared with other professionals, signed consent needs to be gained from the parent/carer with the exception of cases where it is believed a child is in immediate and significant harm. All information recorded must be securely stored so it is not freely accessible

• Explaining to parents why I wanted to observe their child for particular activities and gaining their informed consent.

Our Life-span Development class observed a child in class for his social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development on October 2nd, 2017. The child observed for this report was almost seven months old at the time of the observation. His name is Maddox and he seems to be a very happy baby and developing at a normal rate. He was observed in classroom 1143 on Dordt College’s campus. His mother gave consent for this observation and both his mother and grandmother were present for the observation and answered questions about his behavior and development outside of what was observed in the classroom.

At Children’s Discovery Center the daycare is split into two buildings, one building is for the children in pre-school and the second building is for infants to three year olds getting ready to start pre- school. The classroom I observe is for children 18 months to 28 months. They are about fourteen children in the class with two teachers. The way the class is set up the younger students and their two teachers share one classroom, but the teachers and their toddlers are not in the same room until lunch time and nap time. The classroom has a kitchen, reading area, girls and boys bathroom, activity tables and there is a connecting room for the children to have bible time and free play. The discovery center has three separate playgrounds for the

For the classroom observation assignment I was able to observe at Stepping Stones Family Childcare and Preschool Program. I conducted observations for five hours each on the dates of September 24th and September 25th of the year 2015. This licensed home-based daycare and preschool program is located in a quiet suburban neighborhood on 4103 Bryant Street, Blasdell, New York. The facility allows for a twelve-child capacity (ages 6 weeks to 12 years with four additional school age) and is owned and founded by Kim Bannister. When I observed, there were two additional staff present. Therefore, there were a total of 3 adults and 12 children at the center when I observed. New York State Senator Marc C. Panepinto was also present on September 25th as he read to the children and toured the home. I chose this specific setting as I personally thought it would be an interesting dynamic to study how a home-based preschool program is run.

For the first observation assignment, you should spend 30 minutes observing a child, or a group of children, no older than 3 years.  They should be engaged in play alone, with peers, or with parents.

Listen to the child and make a record of any key information with names, dates and times.

Public information release is due to kids begin under the age of 18 at the time, you will need consent from the mother or legal parent in guardian to conduct the interview with the child. The mother have to filled out the form saying she give you or anybody permission to speak with her child. When the mother filled out the form, you have make sure there is a witness available to see the mother sign the form.

At two years old, Finley has been going to a home daycare because both myself and my partner have jobs during the day. Recently, a new child joined the daycare. This child seemed to cry a lot and did not cooperate with the other children and caregiver at the daycare. Finley had begun to imitate the same behaviors by clinging to my partner and I and also occasionally being uncooperative. According to Berk and Meyers (2016), newborns come into the world with the ability to imitate, or copy the behavior of another person (p. 179). Infants and toddlers have the ability to copy not only gestures, but behaviors as well (Berk, L. E. & Meyers A. B., 2016, p. 179). The reason why Finley was acting uncooperative and fussy was because she had been watching

The observation of children is performed by teachers and educators, to help understand each child, and their characteristics. Along with assessment and evaluation, educators are able to understand each child’s development, and make decisions about appropriate activities and experience to offer each child, to help foster their individual development. (Veale, A. and Piscitelli, B. 1988) This essay will discuss the Value of the Observation Process in Planning for early childhood settings, and the role of each teacher in facilitating children’s individual learning and development.

It may be important to observe a child but at the same time it may mislead you into being judgmental, too soon. For instance, if you observe a child misbehaving, not getting along with the other children or talking back to the teacher, you might get the impression that he/she is a 'bad' child and you might treat and act differently with that particular child.

In an early childhood setting, being observant gives professionals and family members a helpful portrait of the children in their care, and as future professionals it helps us see how intellectual, emotional, social, and physical development occurs in children. Observing, documenting, and assessing young children shows how they progress from one stage to the next or when there is a delay in progression. The reason we observe young children is that “there is so much that demands attention and response; at the same time, by building in systematic observation, teachers can improve their teaching, construct theory, assess children, assist families, and solve problems” (Gordon and Browne, p.180). It gives dynamic information about each child’s learning styles, interests, abilities, and needs. Observation helps teachers improve teaching by making them become more objective and self-aware of biases they may have. It encourages us to remember that early childhood development is highly individualized, so customizing activities to benefit each child will help them utilize their abilities to their fullest potentials, and through this we will be able to recognize what behaviors are typical of various age groups. The reason we document our observations is so that we can keep records and show proper evidence of each child’s individual growth and participation in classroom activities. With good documentation, family members will able to see the progression made by their child.

It is imperative that practitioners are able to observe and assess each child’s development in order to gain a full understanding of their development and how they can build upon this in order to cater to the needs of the child and allow them to fulfill their potential. This is highlighted by Wheeler (2009, p.63) in stating that ‘Observations are fed into family worker and team planning so that future activities can be based on an individual child’s interests and patterns of behavior and thereby enhance their learning’.

For this project, I observed my mother's preschool class and the three children which she baby-sits on weekends. Most of the kids that are in the preschool class were three years old, but there was one five year old. The kids I helped baby-sit were two twin three year old girls, and one five year old.

I also spent a lot of time with some toddlers. They liked to play in the toy room and play with various toys. We had fun rolling a car back and forth and playing with a basketball. I got close to those kids and we always had fun. They had so much energy that no matter how much we played they were never ready for me to leave. I also got close to a few of the nurses. I learned a lot from the children, but also the nurses. They tried to not interrupt the children and me while I was there.