Question

how you might interpret information and observations to identify interests and preferences of childre andpotential

Answer 1

We use observation to assist us to learn what a children knows, what they can do, what they like or dislike, their interest, Observation help us draw conclusions about a child's development, they allows us to monitor a child progress and capabilities .

Observation skills

To find out about a child we need to observe them in a way that is valuable to the child and makes best use of our time. This involves a number of skills:

• Looking – we need to watch what the individual child is doing during the time of the observation, how and where they like to spend their time.

Having a good understanding of child development is important. It also helps if you have some understanding of the child’s current development and the particular way the child is learning, for example, gathered through information from parents.

• Listening – we must pay attention to the interactions of the individual child with different adults and between different children.

• Recording – we can note important features of the child’s responses, behaviour, learning and development accurately and as soon as possible after observing them. Not all observations that you make will be written down, but it is helpful to record significant experiences and milestones that children achieve.

• Being objective - looking, listening, recording and thinking all require the need for objectivity: not allowing preconceptions to influence what you have observed. For example, you may have concerns that a child does not communicate very often, but keeping an open mind about this will mean you are more likely to gather better evidence to either support or clear up your concerns. You may find that although the child is often very quiet, she is using body language that is being ignored, that she communicates well with peers but not with adults or that certain activities or interactions seem to make communication easier or harder for her. Your observations will also help you recognise the child’s needs more accurately and to identify if there is any cause for concern. Each child’s emotional well-being has a very strong influence on the way the child develops, including their ability to learn, to communicate, their behaviour, their curiosity and their ability to cope with new experiences.

After carrying out our observations, we then need to reflect on what they are telling us about the child by:

• Thinking – we then think about what we have seen and this leads into assessing and planning. You can also talk with the child’s parents and other practitioners to help you clarify your thoughts.

• Questioning – we may sometimes need to ask questions in order to clarify, confirm or reject ideas about what we have observed. Where a child is able to respond, our questions may be directed to them.

Sometimes our questions may be directed to their parents.