Observing Children

Observing Children
By Sharon White

It goes without saying that constant observations lead to a better understanding of the development and needs of children. They help child care practitioners to gain knowledge to allow practitioners to promote these developments and meet these needs. Observations can be carried out by various means but will allow practitioners to confirm preconceived ideas or to alter ways of thinking in some areas. Through observations in the past developmental norms have been observed. This gives childcare practitioners guidelines. Children may be outside the normal expected development either under achieving or over achieving. Observing these developments will allow the practitioner to amend the children’s learning. If a child is not progressing as expected the practitioner will be able to help the child further develop in weaker areas. Also if a child is achieving more than expected the practitioner will understand the child needs further stimuli to other children of the same age. Observations therefore help identify any needs which are not being met. Good practice is often recognized through observations and they help practitioners recognize where alterations should be made either in the setting or their own personal actions. Good observations help us understand individual children; this will help practitioners notice if a child is acting differently to normal. It would then allow the practitioner to work out if the child was ill or had something or someone upsetting them.

In early years settings observations should be shared with staff and concerns discussed. Parents may also be involved. For example a child who is not toilet trained by the appropriate age may cause concerns. The practitioner would help the child by discussing with the parents methods to help the child develop.

Observations carried out throughout a child’s life helps pass on information from one setting to the next. It could be a certain behavior characteristic that has reoccurred in a new setting. A practitioner would realize this was an ongoing concern and would have more information to help determine the cause of the behavior. Observations passed onto a new setting will help staff understand a child and aid them in offering the correct level teaching.

Observations can help staff recognize disabilities such as hearing speech or sight impairments. The earlier these are recognized the more help a child will receive.

Not all observations will require action, it would be wrong to believe they would. Observations are there to assess children and on many occasions the observation will show the child is developing normally and the setting is offering suitable learning. Through observation practitioners might see areas where children may struggle, for example playing with certain children could cause conflict. Social skills that may be lacking could be highlighted. Physical skills that are lacking may be noticed and the child would then be encouraged to work on that skill.