Early Childhood Competencies3. Observing, Documenting, and assessing to Support Young Children and Families

3.2 Knows and employs a variety of methods to systematically observe, record, monitor, and document young children's activities and behavior for the purpose of planning appropriate and individualized programs, environments, and interactions.

Evidence 1:

Teaching Strategies Gold Assessment, Form

Description:

Teaching Strategies Gold is a system for assessing children from birth through kindergarten. It is based on 38 researched based objectives that include predictors for school success and are aligned with the state early learning standards. It can be used to support all types of learners, including children with special needs and children with advanced knowledge and skills. TSG assessments range in age from birth to grade 3.

Analysis/Reflection:

Observation and documentation is my primary method to gain the insight I need to learn and support each child's development. Through the assessments and documentation of TSG I am able to document the development of each child to their own specific needs. With this information I am better able to note where a child may need help in areas of concern. This assessment system is a requirement with becoming a 5 STAR program, and for becoming a Prequalified Prekindergarten Education program.

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Evidence 2:

Infant/Toddler daily log sheet, Log Sheet

Description:

I use a daily infant/toddler log sheet for children under two years old. As this age group is nonverbal, I have created my own daily log sheet to document each child's daily routine for parents.

Analysis/Reflection:

The daily log sheet for the child allows the parents to see what their child's day was like. Parents, especially of nonverbal children, find it very helpful to be able to see a detailed glimpse of their child's day concerning eating habits, bottles, naps, and diaper changes. The parent also fills out the top portion every morning allowing me to see a detailed snapshot of what their child's morning was like before they arrived. Knowing if a child was up most of the night and is in need of an early morning nap, or slept in late and will be skipping the morning nap helps me plan my day. I always communicate with families at pick up or drop off times, but occasionally the parent may be in a rush at the end of the day, and grabbing the sheet on the way out the door is invaluable for them when they get home to plan their evening.

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Evidence 3:

Daily Observation Notebook, Pictures

Description:

The daily observation notebook is where I write down daily notes on my program. I document things we did that day that worked well, or didn't work, observations on the children's learning and behavior, moods of the children, and even discussions with parents and or community specialists.

Analysis/Reflection:

My daily observation notebook is vital to my program. In documenting observations about my program, I am able to go through and revisit observations about a specific child days or months previous at a glance. I wrote down everything from a child's sleep patterns to the child's mood that day. This notebook became an imperative resource last spring when I had a parent/teacher conference about a child's behavior and development. It gave the parent and myself dates of when the child's behavior started to become apparent with concerns of stress in the child. The parent and other community professionals were glad to have this information. We were able to see the notes on the child's regression in his behavior, over the many months that I had documented observations.