Essay On Different Observation Methods

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Identify different observation methods and why they are used Check lists Check lists or tick charts are a simple and effective way of observing children’s development stages. They focus on particular areas of development and give easily accessible yes or no answers. They are convenient if you’re observing more than one child at a time and it is easy to repeat the observation and see the improvements. However they do not give much detail. They don’t tell us how happy or confident the child was when doing to task. If the answer is ‘no’, they do not allow another observer to find out what is needed to help the child achieve the goal. And a tick in the no box could be detrimental to an older child’s development as they may feel they have failed at a task.…show more content…
These observations only last for a few minuets and require no preparation. It can be used to observe any area of development. They can be written because the key carer has noticed something interesting or to observe a specific area of development. Parents are very fond of them as they paint a picture of their child in the nursery environment. They should always include the time the observation began and when it finished. Time samples Time sampling is an observation method that watches a child over a period of time usually half an hour or more. It gives a lot of information and helps to get a more complete picture of the child. It is a different approach to observing as you can easily observe different areas of development. This can be quite a difficult observation method as you have to be able to watch just one child for a half an hour period. A sheet is usually prepared with times to help
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