Observation Early Childhood

Purpose
This is the first of three observations that you will have to complete this semester. The purpose of this assignment is to have you interview and identify developmental changes that occur during the early childhood stage.
Complete the following steps:
First, identify a family that has a child between the ages of three to five years old for this activity. Make sure that the parent signs the Observation Permission Form
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. This will need to be scanned and submitted with your final paper. Plan on spending at least an hour with the child and the child’s parents/guardians for this observation. During the hour, use the first 15 minutes to watch and enjoy the child and the parents/guardians interacting. You may not observe your own children or any child that lives in your home.
Use the Observation Early Childhood Checklist
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as a guideline to focus your observation. Take notes on examples of behavior in each of these developmental domains. These will be your “observation notes”. Be objective, specific, and as detailed as possible. Here is an example of a good “observation note”.
Observation Note Example: The child sat on the floor with her legs outstretched in a V. When the mother sat close to the child and held out the toy, the child outstretched two hands to reach for the toy. When the child grasped the toy with both hands, the mother praised the child and smiled. The mother said, “Good Job” and the child giggled.
For the last fifteen minutes, any development listed on the checklist not observed, speak with the parent(s) about. Ask if the child demonstrates this developmental milestone and write down any anecdotal evidence the parent says about that particular milestone. Your notes and anecdotal evidence gained from the parent(s) will be used to complete your assignment and will be submitted for points associated with this project.
Using the information garnered from the checklist, your observation notes, and the parent’s anecdotal account please complete a three to five-page paper in APA format complete with a title page and references page. Please note your title page and references page is not part of the total page limit. You MUST have in-text citations from your book as well as one outside source, in addition to the personal conversation with the parents, cited in this paper.
Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab: APA Format Resources
In-text citations (Links to an external site.)- opening page for in-text citations, followed by several specific citation types commonly needed for this course
In-text citations: personal communication (interview) (Links to an external site.)
References: Books (Links to an external site.)
References: Electronic Sources (Links to an external site.)
Paper Outline
Introduction
The first heading of your paper should be Introduction. Do NOT EVER name the child by name, give a physical address or use the parent’s real names. You should always refer to the child as “the child” or “the subject”. This protects everyone involved. Please use this paragraph to talk about the sex of the child (male or female), the parent(s) and the situation (blended family, mother/father, mother/mother, father/father, grandparents, etc…) and whether or not the child is in a childcare setting.
Physical Development
The second heading of your paper should correspond with the first domain you observed: Physical Development. In this portion of your paper, please discuss the physical milestones the child has accomplished or has not accomplished. Use your book and this checklist to discuss whether or not the child is developing typically. If you state that the child is developing typically, you MUST put examples from the observation (use your checklist or anecdotal evidence provided by the parents) and your observation notes to outline the developmentally appropriate behavior AND back up your DATA/EVIDENCE with RESEARCH from the book or outside sources that says that these behaviors are, indeed, typical. For every claim of typical or atypical behavior, you MUST have an in-text citation to support this. So, if you have data/evidence for two examples, you must include two in-text citations to provide the research to back up your HYPOTHESIS that the child is developing typically or atypically You must have a minimum of TWO examples backed up by evidence from the book for this section.
The same should be done if you feel the child is not developing typically
Cognitive (Intellectual) Development
The third heading of your paper should correspond with the second domain you observed: Cognitive Development. In this portion of your paper, please discuss the physical milestones the child has accomplished or has not accomplished. Use your book and this checklist to discuss whether or not the child is developing typically. If you state that the child is developing typically, you MUST put examples from the observation (use your checklist or anecdotal evidence provided by the parents) and your observation notes to outline the developmentally appropriate behavior AND back up your DATA/EVIDENCE with RESEARCH from the book or outside sources that says that these behaviors are, indeed, typical. For every claim of typical or atypical behavior, you MUST have an in-text citation to support this. So, if you have data/evidence for two examples, you must include two in-text citations to provide the research to back up your HYPOTHESIS that the child is developing typically or atypically You must have a minimum of TWO examples backed up by evidence from the book for this section.
The same should be done if you feel the child is not developing typically
Emotional Development
The fourth heading of your paper should correspond with the third domain you observed: Emotional Development. In this portion of your paper, please discuss the physical milestones the child has accomplished or has not accomplished. Use your book and this checklist to discuss whether or not the child is developing typically. If you state that the child is developing typically, you MUST put examples from the observation (use your checklist or anecdotal evidence provided by the parents) and your observation notes to outline the developmentally appropriate behavior AND back up your DATA/EVIDENCE with RESEARCH from the book or outside sources that says that these behaviors are, indeed, typical. For every claim of typical or atypical behavior, you MUST have an in-text citation to support this. So, if you have data/evidence for two examples, you must include two in-text citations to provide the research to back up your HYPOTHESIS that the child is developing typically or atypically You must have a minimum of TWO examples backed up by evidence from the book for this section.
The same should be done if you feel the child is not developing typically
Social Development
The fifth heading of your paper should correspond with the fourth domain you observed: Social Development. In this portion of your paper, please discuss the physical milestones the child has accomplished or has not accomplished. Use your book and this checklist to discuss whether or not the child is developing typically. If you state that the child is developing typically, you MUST put examples from the observation (use your checklist or anecdotal evidence provided by the parents) and your observation notes to outline the developmentally appropriate behavior AND back up your DATA/EVIDENCE with RESEARCH from the book or outside sources that says that these behaviors are, indeed, typical. For every claim of typical or atypical behavior, you MUST have an in-text citation to support this. So, if you have data/evidence for two examples, you must include two in-text citations to provide the research to back up your HYPOTHESIS that the child is developing typically or atypically You must have a minimum of TWO examples backed up by evidence from the book for this section.
The same should be done if you feel the child is not developing typically
Ethical Development
The sixth heading of your paper should correspond with the fourth domain you observed: Ethical Development. In this portion of your paper, please discuss the physical milestones the child has accomplished or has not accomplished. Use your book and this checklist to discuss whether or not the child is developing typically. If you state that the child is developing typically, you MUST put examples from the observation (use your checklist or anecdotal evidence provided by the parents) and your observation notes to outline the developmentally appropriate behavior AND back up your DATA/EVIDENCE with RESEARCH from the book or outside sources that says that these behaviors are, indeed, typical. For every claim of typical or atypical behavior, you MUST have an in-text citation to support this. So, if you have data/evidence for two examples, you must include two in-text citations to provide the research to back up your HYPOTHESIS that the child is developing typically or atypically You must have a minimum of TWO examples backed up by evidence from the book for this section.
The same should be done if you feel the child is not developing typically
Conclusion
The final heading should be Conclusion. In this section, please describe how you can use this information to inform your practice as a developing child practitioner. Address how your knowledge has changed, how your view of child development has changed, and why it is important to complete child observations even after employed as a child practitioner. There is always an application to be made; therefore, it is not acceptable to state, “I didn’t learn anything, my knowledge hasn’t changed because I’ve worked in childcare or I have my own children for XXXX years now, etc…”
Checklist (of the items you must submit):
Observation Permission Form
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(scanned or photo – it must be clear to the viewer)
Detailed Field Notes With Observation Early Childhood Checklist
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– Completed
Paper Meets APA Formatting Standards
Minimum and Maximum Page Length Met
Each section within the body of the paper contains at LEAST TWO examples from direct observations of the subject under study and connects with scholars in the profession for justification of student’s conclusion of the subject’s development.

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