Day: February 3, 2022

Include the Children and Families

Families are our partners and they have opportunities to observe children in completely different settings.  It is important to know if there are differences in how children work and act in different environments. We are not suggesting that teachers assign observation homework to families, but if there is a particular skill in question, family observations can be helpful.

There are many reasons that children may demonstrate skills in one environment but not another. The demands and expectations that exist in different environments play a large role in how children demonstrate their skills. Teachers and family members should discuss developmental skills regularly. They can share the circumstances under which certain skills are demonstrated, including the materials present and prompts used to encourage the skills. Information shared by families can be noted and dropped into the child’s observation folder for future reference.

At a certain age, children may become interested in the pieces of work that are in their portfolios. Taking time to look through a child’s portfolio with them is a valuable experience. Doing so provides children with a chance to look back over their work and notice changes over time.  Children may think back on pieces of work they completed earlier in the year.  They may decide they want to recreate or revise the work, which is an excellent practice.

Talk with children about the work samples you are collecting.  Explain why you are saving the pieces, including the skills you observed the child using.  From time to time, a child may bring you a piece of work that they want to place in their portfolio.  Be sure to work with the child to make a note about why the child wants to save the piece of work.

Prior to family-teacher conferences, organize observations in a way that makes it easy to see progress over time. Share relevant observations and work samples with families during the conference to back up the narrative you are sharing with families.

For the main article Child Observation, CLICK HERE

For the article NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, CLICK HERE

For the article Types of Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Tips for Collecting Observations, CLICK HERE

Tips for Collecting Observations

Collecting enough evidence to make informed decisions can be a challenge given all of the other tasks that are required of ECE professionals.  Here are a few tips that may be helpful.

Shift the paradigm – Rather than seeing observation gathering as just another task that has to be done, teachers can remind themselves of the benefits of collecting this information.  Observation collection is the basis upon which curriculum decisions should be made. If curriculum planning is not based on observations, there could be a huge disconnect between the plan and children’s interests and abilities. This can cause problems in the learning environment – so collecting observations can make the job easier!

Teamwork – Divide and conquer the task of collecting observation notes. Be sure that teachers are collecting a variety of observations and that one teacher doesn’t have to do all the work. Make a plan for the week or the month and work together to implement the plan.

Multi-task – If an observation contains multiple children, be sure to note the language or skills that each child used in the interaction. Copy the observation note or image and place a copy in each child’s folder.  If there is something noteworthy for each child, this strategy can be used to save time.

Use time wisely – Observations can be written down in the moment or after the event has occurred.  Some observations are quick and can be jotted down on a sticky note. Other observations may require more time to accurately capture the event.

Materials at the ready – Teachers should store observation materials available in different areas of the learning environment.  This will make it easier to capture those important, impromptu events that often occur in early childhood.

Step back and stay back – Let children play. Observe them as they play. Refrain from interrupting their play to ask questions.  Just observe and make notes.

Only the facts – Observers should do their best to collect the facts and only the facts of the event.  Facts are considered anything that the observer sees or hears. This is called objective observation.  Teachers should avoid assigning meaning to children’s actions.  For example, an observation that a child bit another child because they were upset could be completely inaccurate if the child actually bit because they were overcome with excitement.

What’s missing? –  As teachers prepare to summarize their observations into a progress report or other form of assessment, they may notice that some data is missing. Missing information is a great way for teachers to focus their observations for the coming week. They may even have to adapt the curriculum plan to create opportunities for children to demonstrate the skills for which observations are missing.

Environmental cues – Post sticky notes with reminders of skills to look for in different learning areas.  Rotate these around the room each week to see if you can see skills being used differently in different learning areas. These cues can be generated during curriculum planning (This is what I want to look for during this activity this week) or they can be unrelated to curriculum activities.

Don’t forget the date –  Date every observation. Dates allow you to create a timeline of skill development. An un-dated piece won’t fit into the timeline (with accuracy) and can be sent home. Other details like the time of day and learning area can also be noted on the observation.

For the main article Child Observation, CLICK HERE

For the article NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, CLICK HERE

For the article Types of Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Include the Children and Families, CLICK HERE

Types of Observations

To complete child assessments accurately, teachers need data. They need to have evidence that backs up the scores and ratings they are marking down on assessment tools. This evidence is also necessary to carry on an informed and confident conversation with families about how their child is developing.  And finally, this evidence should inform overall curriculum decisions as well as adaptations to activities and interactions with the children in their care.

Here are just a few ways that teachers can gather evidence of learning that will help them achieve all of the objectives discussed above.

Anecdotal records – Simply put, anecdotal records are written accounts of events that take place in the learning environment.  These written notes can be a few, short sentences or longer if necessary. They should include the details of what the teacher observed and describe the specific skill(s) demonstrated by the child or children.

Photography – Teachers don’t need to be professional photographers to capture evidence of learning through images. As children attempt new skills and engage with peers, teachers can capture their activities in photos. Immediate notes should be made about what each image contains, otherwise, teachers could have a folder full of photos, but no idea why they took the pictures.

Work samples – Often, programs will establish portfolios where children’s work can be stored. Each item in a portfolio should be accompanied by a note describing the skills used to complete the piece of work. Without these notes, the pieces of work may not tell you much, especially if they were collected months earlier.

Learning Stories – Some programs have begun to transform some of their anecdotal records into learning stories. Learning stories are exactly what they sound like, a story that describes a moment of learning that occurs in the classroom. The observation is written like a story that one might read in a book.  Learning stories are great to share with children and families because they are more engaging to read than traditional anecdotal records.

Datasheets – Datasheets are a great way to collect information for every child in the class or to collect information over time.  For example, children’s names could be listed down the left side of the paper and names of shapes can be listed across the top of the paper.  When a teacher notices a child recognizing a shape correctly, a note about the date of the accurate identification can be noted on the datasheet.  Teachers may also collect information about a single child, using a data sheet to document the length of time it takes a child to engage with materials after separating from their parent at drop-off.

Audio and video files – It may be possible to integrate audio and video recordings into the observation practice at your program. Be mindful of how these tools are used and be sure to match them appropriately with the skills you are trying to capture.  For example, reviewing a video of a group of children on the playground may allow teachers to observe gross motor skills they might have missed as they were supervising other areas of the playground.

Many of these items can be stored in an electronic file folder or in a physical binder that can be organized by date and area of development.

For the main article Child Observation, CLICK HERE

For the article NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, CLICK HERE

For the article Tips for Collecting Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Include the Children and Families, CLICK HERE

NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) recently released a set of professional standards designed to build a strong early childhood workforce. The document outlines researched-based skills and practices that early childhood educators should be able to demonstrate.

Among the 6 professional standards is one that focuses on child observation and assessment. The language of the standard is located below.

STANDARD 3 – Child Observation, Documentation, and Assessment

Early childhood educators:

• Understand that the primary purpose of assessments is to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings.
• Know how to use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment approaches and tools. Early childhood educators
• Use screening and assessment tools in ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, culturally, ability, and linguistically appropriate to document developmental progress and promote positive outcomes for each child. In partnership with families and professional colleagues, early childhood educators
• Use assessments to document individual children’s progress and, based on the findings, to plan learning experiences.

Key competencies include:

• 3a: Understand that assessments (formal and informal, formative and summative) are conducted to make informed choices about instruction and for planning in early learning settings.
• 3b: Know a wide range of types of assessments, their purposes, and their associated methods and tools.
• 3c: Use screening and assessment tools in ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, ability, culturally, and linguistically appropriate in order to document developmental progress and promote positive outcomes for each child.
• 3d: Build assessment partnerships with families and professional colleagues.

You can see further explanations of these competencies and learn about the other professional standards here.

For the main article Child Observation, CLICK HERE

For the article Types of Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Tips for Collecting Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Include the Children and Families, CLICK HERE

Child Observation

Early childhood education is a challenging and rewarding field. Many tasks and responsibilities need to be achieved each day to ensure that children are not only safe and healthy but also learning and growing in expected ways.

In this month’s newsletter, we are going to explore one practice that will help educators better understand where children are on their unique developmental paths.  This practice is also the foundation upon which curriculum decisions should be made to make sure children continue to learn and grow.

We are talking about child observation. Early learning programs make decisions about adopting different types of child assessments. Some programs choose to use commercially available products or assessment tools developed by their state. Some programs design their own assessment tools. These assessments may be paper-based and some are online assessment systems.

Regardless of the type of assessment used, the ability to effectively observe children sits at the core of each assessment approach.  Let’s take some time to explore this important skill.

For the article NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, CLICK HERE

For the article Types of Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Tips for Collecting Observations, CLICK HERE

For the article Include the Children and Families, CLICK HERE