help ! please ! im doing a project for my course in child development.?

Question

i need to do an observation on 5 children between the ages of 0-6 years old. i need to use different methods of observation on each child, eg: language, emotional, cognitive....... this has me totally confused. please help ! any information would be greatly appreciated ! thanks in advance !

i have children to observe but i need to know how to write down the results of the observations. any websites or any thing??? i need samples !

one more thing ! ITS DUE TUESDAY !

Answer 1

I think I may have done the same project at school for GCSE.
First of all mine was about how play helps a childs development and different ways they learn.
There are Four types of development
P.I.E.S
Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social.
The way I did it was to play different games with the child to help their development and then write how you think it helps.
Example: Playing with a ball- physical.
Playing with a ball with friends- physical and social.
Reading a book- Intellectual.
Ways of observation, writing it down, filming with a camcorder, collecting work the child has done.
One thing we did was make sock puppets which were intellectual and then social, it also gave me a chance to see the way the child thought.
Also you have to learn what games for which years.

The first thing I did was lots of research into the ages of the children, if your project is like mine was then they need lots of evidence that you did the reasearch and probably a list of the websites.

Next pick games, first of all they should be a least a bit fun, the child I did the project with had a short attention span, but because the games were short and fun, it was easier to keep his attention throughout. Also try to keep organised I did a timetable so I knew which I was doing when.

Also resourses since there are a lot of children you probably don't want to buy resources so if you have somethings like jigsaw puzzles. Because the child I obsereved was my brother, I could buy things and then he could have them to use afterwards, but I doubt you want to buy things for five children. I brought paint from a shop and it cost £1 for each bottle. So try to get stuff like these from somewhere else.

Next when are you going to do it mornings are probaby best, in the afternoons kids tend to mess around more.

Unless your doing this with someone else it will probably be hard to take care of all the children so do you want to do the observation while they are all toghethwer or when they are seperate.

Answer 2

If I were doing this, I would choose SIX children the same age but do two groups separately so you can compare the relative progress.
Choose, say, three 3-year olds and observe language on one (asking simple questions and see how well the child can form sentences, pronounce words/sounds correctly, relate to the question - i.e. concrete vs. abstract ideas - etc.)
observe emotional dev. on another (I think this would be done best where the child is interacting with other children his age AND with other adults AND with his parents)
observe cognitive dev. with the third (go to the library and get simple tests for this - or ask your teacher or local school board for samples you can use)

Now repeat the procedure for three 5 or 6 year olds and you can compare/contrast the differences in the "jump" (hopefully!) in their abilities in a three year span.

Bet you get an "A"!

Answer 3

ok ive just finished my course so ill be able to help :D!
ok you need to use different methods its easy once you do one.
Study a child's language, you could do a "Target child observation" where you study one particular child and you only study their language, you write down what their doing and what they say, they might be talking to somebody, and then after you look in a book at college to evaluate it, you look at how they should be pronouncing their words to their age of development.
Emotional, they maybe upset, really happy, choose a child that you see in a different mood to normal, explain just how they seem - withdrawn from the group, center of attention etc....
Cognitive is Thinking, the way they are thinking, maybe you can do a puzzle with they and see how they think, do they look at the edges or do they look at the pictures etc... Social, do a "Sociogram" Where you just write down all the names of the children, ask them who their best friends are, and then in a couple of weeks do it again, see if they favour their own sex, if they stick to the same best friend or if it was just typically because they were sat next to someone as to why they picked them.. i hope this helped!

Answer 4

Go to a preschool and talk to the director. If you are doing homework for a child development class they will normally let you observe the kids. The teachers are also required to take classes each year and can more then likely explain to you how to do your observations.