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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Observation and Assessment

Observation

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

/ˌɒbzəˈveɪʃən/nounCore term

In child development & early education, observation means: Watching and listening to a child carefully, often during play, and writing down what they do and say in order to understand their development and plan for them.

In Turkish: gözlem, gözlem kaydı

How it is used

Countable when you mean a written record: practitioners write, carry out or upload observations. Common types are narrative observations, photos with notes and checklists. A good observation describes facts, not opinions.

Example sentences

  1. I did a short observation of Leo at the sand tray this morning.

  2. Our observations show that she prefers to play outside.

Common collocations

  • write an observation
  • carry out an observation
  • narrative observation
  • observation notes
  • anecdotal recordA short written account of a single event or behaviour that an adult observed, describing exactly what happened, when and where, without opinions.
  • learning journalA record of a child's time in a setting, with observations, photos, drawings and notes, showing their interests and progress; it is often kept online and shared with parents.
  • formative assessmentOngoing assessment that happens during everyday activities and is used to understand what a child knows and can do and to plan the next steps in their learning.
  • next stepsThe learning goals and activities planned for a child after an observation, based on their interests and what they seem ready to learn next.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Observation and Assessment

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