Early Childhood Observation and Care

This assignment focuses on observing children's behaviors and needs in an early childhood setting. Students are tasked with identifying the toys/items used by each child, their self-soothing practices, and the importance of self-soothing for development. Additionally, they must analyze potential risks during various activities and propose strategies to minimize those hazards. The assignment requires students to demonstrate understanding of developmental stages, observation techniques, and safety protocols in early childhood education.

Running Head: Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 1
Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
Name
Institution

Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 2
Secondly observe each child in everyday experiences for a week. Jot down what you see and
hear, then refer to the developmental information in your textbooks to help determine the
child’s approximate stage of development. Discuss your jottings and findings with the
educators who primarily care for each child to check your conclusions.
Fill in a chart (provided below and on following pages) for each child. Create an activity
you will include in the program to further develop their ability in each area. What safety
considerations would you need to make to conduct the activity?
Child 1 name: Esther
Age: 2Years
Gender: Female
Developmental Area Description of child’s
skill level
Suggested activity Safety modifications
required
Cognitive Development
This is the child's ability to
learn and solve problems.
Esther has low ability of
learning new ideas and
also when it comes to
solving problem.
Esther had one of her
toys taken by another
child and she insisted
in having it back. The
child resisted and
Esther started crying
throwing the toy she
was holding.
Those around her
should keep watch on
her when hungered for
she may hurt other
children when
throwing objects.
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 3
Physical Development
Fine Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
small muscles, specifically
their hands and fingers.
Esther is able to hold
things with her hands for
short duration then it falls
down when she loses
concentration or gets bored
(Georgeson et al, 2013).
Esther was playing
mobile games with a
templet but dropped it
down when she saw
her dad approaching
Parents or guardians
should avoid giving
electronic objects to
children for they may
be tempted to charge
them or even damage
them when they drop.
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
large muscles.
Esther walks by herself
though she is slow can’t
walk fast or for a long
distance.
Esther walked with
her parent to the
market place. When
they had walked for a
while she insisted to
be carried for was
tired.
Parents and guardians
should ensure that
their children have
regular exercises so
that there muscles can
strengthen.
Social and Emotional
Development
This is the child's ability to
interact with others,
including helping
themselves and self-control.
Esther loves playing with
other children. She fears
those appearing to be
strange to her. She don’t
like sharing her toys, she
wants everyone with his or
her own.
Esther was taken to
her aunt’s place for
her parents were
somehow busy. Her
stay there was
disturbing for she
wanted other
children’s toys yet
hers could not give to
Parents should let
their children have
exposure. They can
take them to daycares
where they meet many
different children.
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 4
anyone.
Speech and Language
This is the child's ability to
both understand and use
language.
Esther can speak. Some of
her words comes out
clearly while others one
can’t get them clearly. She
tries her best to ensure that
what she is communicating
is understood even by
pointing at what she needs.
Esther needed to have
some drinking water
yet her words could
not be heard
clearly .she touched
her parent’s hand
moving to where they
placed drinking water
then pointed at it as
she murmured.
Parents or guardians
should repeatedly say
words to their children
for they learn through
imitation though have
low retention power.
Child 2 name: Susan
Age: 1.5years
Gender: female
Developmental Area Description of child’s
skill level
Suggested activity Safety modifications
required
Cognitive Development
This is the child's ability to
learn and solve problems.
Susan has a low skill level
compared to Esther. She is
not able to solve problems
easily, since her age is
I asked Susan to wave
goodbye at her mum.
She instead cried out
and followed her
Susan’s mom should
make sure that her
daughter interacts
freely with other
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 5
tender. mom. She could
therefore not let her
go.
people, to avoid
disturbance when she
is busy.
Physical Development
Fine Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
small muscles, specifically
their hands and fingers.
Susan can lift things easily
though not much weight.
I asked Susan to take
her toys out and play
with other children.
She took all her light
toys, but could not
manage to carry the
weightier ones
Parents should be
keen enough to ensure
that the heavier
objects are kept safely
to minimize
accidents.WWW34
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
large muscles.
I called Susan out to
accompany me in a
walk. Though she first
enjoyed the walk, she
later got tired and
demanded for
assistance.
Parents and guardians
around Susan should
be careful not to
overtask the child
since she still has
slow walking ability.
Social and Emotional
Development
This is the child's ability to
interact with others,
including helping
themselves and self-control.
Susan cannot easily
interact with adults except
other children. She found it
easy to enjoy the company
of other children than the
company of adults. She
I asked Susan to assist
another child with her
toys. She did so but
unwillingly. She later
took the toy and
started admiring
Parents should buy
her enough toys and at
the same time teacher
about sharing
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 6
cries out loud when time
for plays comes to an end,
since she finds it difficult
to leave her friends behind
another child’s toys.
Speech and Language
This is the child's ability to
both understand and use
language.
Susan does not understand
language well, though she
knows when ne calls her
mom or dad. She however
understands some aspects
though not all.
I forced Susan to call
her mom, and she did
it perfectly. Though
she did not know the
name of the mother,
she addressed her as
“mum.”
Parents should be
careful when
speaking, thus choose
words easily. She may
be tempted to use
abusive language that
she hears around her.
Child 3 name (mike):
Age:10months
Gender: male
Developmental Area Description of child’s
skill level
Suggested activity Safety modifications
required
Cognitive Development
This is the child's ability to
learn and solve problems.
Mike as a lower ability to
solve problems. He is just
a baby and thus too young
I tried to take mike
away from his mom.
He cried out loud and
Mike’s mother should
introduce him to
another third party, so
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 7
to solve issues refused.in addition he
hid in his mother’s
clothes
as to do away with
fear.
Physical Development
Fine Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
small muscles, specifically
their hands and fingers.
Mike is too young to lift
objects, though he can still
grasp light toys tightly.
I give mike a bottle of
mike, he held the
bottle tightly and tried
to feed himself. He
could not however
feed himself well,
though he wanted to.
Mike’s mother should
teach mike to hold
and grasp objects.
Physical Development
Gross Motor Skills - This is
the child's ability to use
large muscles.
Mike cannot make use of
his legs well since he is not
still enough. Though he
can crawl well, movement
without the support of his
hands is not possible
I stood at a distant
with an attractive toy
and called mike. He
was tempted to
(Gestwicki et al,
2011) walk towards
me but he could not.
He crawled towards
me and took the toy
The people around
mike should induce
him to regular
exercises and try to
train him on how to
walk using his two
legs
Social and Emotional
Development
This is the child's ability to
interact with others,
Mike cannot interact with
others since he is too
young. He is not familiar
with his parents and the
I tried to soothe mike
to sleep, but he could
not sleep without
being soothed by his
His mother should
introduce mike to
family friends to
strengthen the bond.
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 8
including helping
themselves and self-control.
people around him mother
Speech and Language
This is the child's ability to
both understand and use
language.
Mike can only understand
a few things. He can only
pronounce few things,
though not clearly. At the
same time, he does not
know the meaning of what
he says
I listened as mike
tried to talk. He could
however make noises
which nobody
understood. He was
however happy that he
was able to
communicate
His parents should
introduce other
children to stay
around mike and teach
him how to talk.
3. Look for the signs each child displays when they become hungry, tired, stressed, or are
experiencing discomfort. For each child list two signs observed, for example – pulls at ears
when tired and suddenly becomes irritable when hungry. Record your observations in the
table that follows.
For each sign witnessed note how you responded to the child’s needs. Use the table that
follows to record your answers.
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care 9
Child’s name Typical signs of hunger,
tiredness, stress, distress
or pain e.g. pulls on ears
when tired
Description of response provided to attend to
child’s needs.
1.Esther 1.cries and asks for
water when hungry
2. sleeps when tired
1.food is provided to her
2. she is bed
2.susan 1.losses appetite when
stressed
2.crieswhen sick
1.takes he to clinic for doctor’s advise
2.seeks physician’s help
3.mike 1.temperature rises
when sick
2.sucks fingers when
1.consults a doctor
2. feeds him
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
10
hungry
4. Design a table that you could complete each day that will allow you to communicate with
each child’s family about their day. The table should allow you to describe the child’s food
and fluid intake, sleep/rest, nappy changes/toileting and participation in the program. Fill
this out for each child for a week.
Name of
child
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
1.Esther She ate
enough food
Took fluid
well
Slept once
during the
day
Changed
napkins twice
Actively
participate in
the program
She ate
well
Enough
fluid taken
Slept once
Changed
napkins
twice
Was
active
Took enough
food and
fluid
Slept twice
Changed
napkins daily
Was active
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
11
2.Susan Took enough
food and
enough fluid
Slept twice
Changed
napkins twice
Participated
well in days
program
Took
enough
food and
fluid slept
twice
during the
day
Changed
napkins
thrice
Was
active
Everything
went on as
usual
Everything
went on as
usual
Daily
routine
followed
Daily
routine
followed
Daily
routine
followed
3.Mike Enough food
and fluid
intake
Slept thrice
in the day
Changed
napkins four
times
Was well
with the
program
Ate well
and took
enough
fluid
Slept four
times in
the course
of the day
Napkins
changed
four times
Daily routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
Daily
routine
repeated
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
12
was active
5. Describe an instance when you initiated one-to-one interaction with each child during
personal care activity in the daily routine. How did the child respond? Which
developmental area did the interaction address?
Child’s name Description of
one-to-one interaction
Child’s response Developmental area
addressed
1.
Esther
Played games with
Esther in the afternoon
Esther was cooperative,
though lost focus when
she saw her friends
Concentration and focus
2.
Susan
Watched cartoon movies
with Susan
She was restless but she
could concentrate at
some time
Concentration and focus
3.
mike
Played games with mike Mike could only
concentrate when a
friend of somebody he
knew was there
Concentration and focus
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6. What comfort toys/items do these children have and when are they used? Do they practice
self- soothing behaviors, like thumb sucking or hair twirling?
List the toys/items used by each child, and/or any self-soothing behaviors practiced.
Briefly outline why the ability to self-soothe is important.
Name of child Toys Self-soothing
Behaviors
Importance of self-
soothing Behaviors
1.Esther Dolls, baby bicycles Thumb sucking
sleeping
To comfort herself
2.susan Dolls, toy utensils Sleeping
Hair twirling
To seek attention from
on looking person
3.mike Toy bells, toy cars Breast sucking In order to sleep, feel
motherly love and also
comfort
7. Lastly, during which activities would you consider these children to be at higher risk of
injury and how could you reduce that risk? Name three activities.
Activity Ways to minimize risk
Playing alone, sleeping
alone and play with
Keep watch on children as they play so that they don’t hurt
themselves, keep sharp objects away from children and keep
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
14
sharp objects checking the child while sleeping so that they don’t fall down
from bed.
Eating while playing Stop the child from playing while eating because they may get
chocked.
Coming into contact with
cold water often
Discourage the children from playing with cold water which with
time can cause pneumonia, if the water gets poured and they
walk on it they may slide and fall down hence getting injured.
Permission to observe
Dear Parent/Guardian
I am a student studying the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care at Open
Colleges.
To complete some of my units of competency I am required to gather information about a
child observe a child using a range of observation techniques. This may include photographs,
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Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
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samples of work, written comments and a checklist of interests and achievements. From these
observations I plan appropriate experiences suited to the age and interests of the child.
I request permission to observe your child.
· I will use your child’s first name only.
· I will keep observations confidential at all times.
· I will use the observations for the purpose of my study and assessment requirements
only.
· I am a student my observations may not be accurate or valid.
Parent/Guardian Permission
I, Jennifer, give permission to have my children, mike, Susan and Esther observed at, Mother
Mary Day Care for the study purposes.
Signed (Parent/Guardian): Jennifer
Date: 29/9/2017
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