Observe and Support on Child development
Lesson overview
In this chapter you will learn the following:
- Observing babies, toddlers and young children
- Recording observations
- Giving feedback to parents on observations
As a child caregiver, one of your most important tasks is to observe the children in your care, and give feedback to parents/guardians on their development, problems you identify and general queries relating to the welfare of the child.
Developing thoughtful observation skills can help child care givers improve the quality of their care.
The following video illustrates the different ways you can observe the children whilst they are busy with their classroom activities.
Activity
After watching the above video, answer the following questions in your groups:
1. What did you observe in the interactions between the teacher and the toddlers?
2. What do you think are the most important things you have to remember about observing children in your care?
Observation, documentation, and reflection are important skills for high-quality infant, and toddler care. Developing these skills can help caregivers with the following activities:
- Sharing observations with families
Sharing information with parents about the development of the child in daycare and the milestones they reach when in your care will strengthen your relationship with families as you focus on celebrating children’s growth and discoveries. Your communication may even inspire the family to share more of their observations with you. Together you promote the child’s development and act in the best interest of the child.
- Getting to know infants and toddlers better
Through ongoing observation, you learn about children’s needs, strengths, knowledge, interests and skills, and you uncover any barriers there may be to learning.
- Appreciating the unique learning style of each infant and toddler
Each child is different, and it is important for you as caregiver to carefully observe each individual and identify how each of them are learning and focus your interaction accordingly.
- Encouraging children’s competence and success
Observation can help you notice how and when to intervene in ways that help children to be successful. Not doing things for them but intervene in such a way that you help them to still explore further with assistance.
- Collecting information about infants and toddlers
You can use observations to plan for learning experiences and interactions. Taking time to observe allows you to explore what infants or toddlers are focusing on, what their intentions are and what strategies they use to learn.
- Conducting screenings and assessments
Information from screenings and assessments can help you understand how infants and toddlers are progressing developmentally and help articulate concerns you may have about individual children.
- Making informed decisions about organising the environment
As you observe an infant’s increasing interest in and ability to pull up to a standing position, you will ensure there are enough opportunities in the environment to support this exploration.
- Finding ways to improve the daily routines
As you observe daily care and routines, you may find that certain parts of the day go more smoothly than others. This will guide you to make changes to the routine to fit the children as well as the staff and ensure that processes flow freely.
Observations start with being present and mindful as you watch how infants and toddlers explore their environment and interact with others. Just watch an infant or toddler during care routines, while playing, and during interactions, and allow yourself to wonder about the child’s development and behaviour. You can learn a lot about an individual child and about development this way.
Observation usually happens while you are caring for infants and toddlers. So you may not have uninterrupted time to record your observations. It is therefore important to find a time during the day when you can document and record your observations on each child.
Suitable recording times include:
- When children are sleeping
- At the end of the day when children leave
- During planning time
Write down reminder notes if you are busy, this will trigger your memory when you are working on the children’s file, and you will remember the information you noticed.
Through ongoing practice, you can build your observation skills and develop different ways to document and interpret your observations. With practice, you can find the easiest and most comfortable way to fit into your daily work with infants and toddlers.
Different documentation styles work for different teachers, child care settings and time of day.
Thought!
Try these ideas for documenting observations:
– Small notepad and pen kept in the pocket of an apron
– Sticky note pads kept around the room
– File folders with blank pages
– Older toddlers art work and writing
Create a system for yourself that provides tools and guidance for observation and documentation. Here are some things to consider:
- Start with a specific focus and take each child and observe and make notes on what you see. Focus on a specific domain, skill, interaction and report on that
- Develop a checklist for yourself to help you observe development. Use our previous lesson information as a guideline on child development
- Choose a specific time of day to observe the child, for example, during drop off, outdoor play, interaction with other children
- Randomly observe without looking for anything in particular, and see what you notice
Observation is an important skill for child caregivers to learn, improve your observations skills and reflect on what you see throughout the day. This can become an important and useful tool for individualising care, adjusting schedules and routines, documenting each child’s learning and planning a meaningful curriculum.
One of the most important roles that you have as a child caregiver is to:
KEEP THE PARENTS INVOLVED
You need to inform them of ways their child is studying, learning, growing, developing, and researching. You also need to inform them of problems you are identifying or areas that are in need of focus and further development. This will help them to know their child better and the mistakes he/she makes which will also further help them in coming up with ways to avoid repeating those mistakes.
You also have to cover yourself in terms of making sure that everything that happens at the daycare is recorded and communicated to have a track record available of what exactly happens at the school.
Good communication will give peace of mind to you and the parent. Here are a few TIPS on effective communication with the parents:
- Communicate with parents thoughtfully
Be careful and conscious of what you say to the parents about their child. A poorly stated feedback can create more problems than it can solve. The parents may think you are unprofessional if the feedback is not presented well. Be sure to convey the message that feedback is not criticizing their child.
- Be prepared and open minded about receiving feedback from the parents
Children will sometimes talk to their parents about unfulfilling things at school. Parents may want to address these issues with the teacher. In these cases, you have to listen with patience and an open mind is important as it will help you understand what works in your teaching style for the learner and what doesn’t and it will help you adjust things to improve the learning experience for the child.
Partnering with families of young children involves ongoing conversations about growth and development. Talking with a family about their child’s development is an opportunity to strengthen your partnership.
When you are having that feedback conversation with the parents of a child in your care, here are some general communication tips:
- Be Assertive, Honest and Patient. You will need support from the parents and will need to walk a path with them
- Use “I” messages rather than “You” messages. Express feelings and opinions without coming across as blameful. This will also prevent parties from becoming defensive
- Be clear and specific. Express your needs, feelings and concerns clearly. When both parties are straightforward, the chances of reaching mutual understanding are greater
- If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. If you’re not getting your point across, or you’re not getting a response, try again later. Sometimes, it’s just not the right time
- Be a good listener. Listening is the most important aspect of communication
In this lesson you have learnt the following:
- Observation, documentation, and reflection are important skills for high-quality infant, and toddler care
- It is important to document and record your observations to have a record of child development and enable feedback and communication to the parents
- You need to inform them of ways their child is studying, learning, growing, developing, and researching. You also need to inform them of problems you are identifying or areas that are in need of focus and further development