Scheme for monitoring child behavior

SCHEME FOR MONITORING A CHILD'S BEHAVIOR

Child's full name

Date of completion Filled out by: parent, psychologist, teacher

Nature of the violation				What exactly was this behavior disorder manifested in?
Aggressiveness		physical	Breaks toys, tears up books, pushes peers, hits adults as he passes, bites, spits
		Hidden	Pinches others, says hurtful words when an adult doesn’t hear
		Verbal	Swears, says offensive words, says obscene words
		As a threat	Swings but doesn't hit, scares others
		In facial expressions	Purses his lips, turns red, turns pale, clenches his fists
		As a reaction to the restriction	Resists when trying to deter aggressive actions, the obstacle stimulates aggressive action
		Self-directed	Bites himself, pinches himself, asks himself to hit again
hot temper		In physical actions	Unexpectedly for everyone, he throws toys, can tear up the manual, spit
		In speech	May unexpectedly respond rudely or say an obscene word
negativism		In physical actions	Does everything the opposite, has difficulty joining a group game
		And failures	Refuses even interesting activities
		verbal	He often says the words “I don’t want or I won’t”, no
demonstrativeness		In movements	Turns his back, exaggerates movements during class
		How to focus on your own state and behavior	Strives to draw attention to himself at the expense of organizing classes; doing something the opposite, observing the reactions of others
Touchiness (emotional instability)		How to react to an obstacle	Gets offended when losing a game
		In facial expressions	Displeased facial expression, crying
		Reaction to evaluation of others	Reacts painfully to comments, painfully reacts to a raised tone of voice.
conflict		Active or reactive	He himself provokes conflict, responds conflictingly to the conflicting actions of others
		Due to egocentrism	Does not take into account the desires and interests of peers
		Like lack of experience	Joint activities, relationships
		Due to difficulty switching	Not inferior to toys
Emotional withdrawal		Like centrifugal tendencies	When all the children are together, they seek privacy
		And emotional absorption in the activity	Enters the room and immediately goes to the toys: busy with his own business and does not notice those around him
		And features of speech behavior	Does not use speech as a means of communication; when he speaks, the speech is not addressed to the interlocutor
		Like pseudo-deafness	Does not fulfill the request, although he hears and understands the content of the requirements, does not respond to the transition from normal speech to whispered speech
		And features of eye contact	Avoids looking the interlocutor in the face.
Goofiness		Reaction to a remark	Reacts with laughter to an adult's remark; praise or blame does not cause a significant change in behavior
		In physical actions and facial expressions	Fooling around, imitating movements
indecisiveness		In social relationships with others	Avoids the situation of oral questioning in class, does not answer, although he knows the answer, refuses leading roles in games.
		Manifests in speech	Uses words: “I don’t know”, “maybe”, “it’s hard to say”, the child does not answer the question, although he knows the answer
		In physical actions	Afraid to jump from a hill
		Reaction to novelty	In a situation of novelty, the child exhibits inhibitory reactions; in a new situation, behavior is less variable than in a familiar situation.
Starhi		Specific	Fear of a vacuum cleaner, a dog, the dark, gusts of wind
		Reaction to novelty	Afraid to enter a new room
		Social	Fear of new people in a new situation, fear of public speaking, fear of being alone
anxiety		In facial expressions	Wandering, distant gaze
		In speech	In speech
		In movements	In movements
		In relationships with others	Sleeps with parents, strives to be closer to adults
stiffness		In movements	Motor restricted
		In speech	Stutters in speech
		Reaction to novelty	Reaction to novelty
lethargy		In cognitive activity	Doesn't know what to do
		In visual perception	Idlely looking around
		In speech	Speaks too quietly
		Reaction time	The pace of actions is slow, when performing actions on a signal there is a delay
Self-centeredness		How to treat yourself	Believes that all the toys, all the candies are for him
		In relationships	Believes that all the toys, all the candies are for him
		In speech	Often uses the pronoun "I"
Avoidance of mental effort		In conditions of free activity	Doesn't watch cartoons
		In organized classes	Quickly gets tired of age-appropriate mental tasks (comparing, generalizing, following a pattern)
Attention deficit		Concentration	Looking around during class
		In the content and assistance to the child	You have to repeat the task verbally several times; you need to combine the word with a demonstration of the method of action
		In speech	Conditions for completing the task, etc.
Motor disinhibition		Features of action planning	Hastily plans his own actions
		Excessive pace and number of actions	The pace of actions is accelerated, the number of actions is excessive (many unnecessary movements), it acts before the signal
		Duration of control of hyperactivity	Gets up during the first half of class when other children are still sitting
		Duration of mastery of the state	Quickly aroused and slow to calm down
Speech disinhibition		Speech volume	Speaks too loudly, cannot speak with normal voice strength
		Speech rate	The pace of speech is accelerated, speech is excited
		In social relationships	Talks over words in class despite an adult’s comments
Failure to understand complex verbal instructions				Confused or misses the sequence of actions following verbal instructions
Failure to understand complex verbal instructions				Focuses on a clear example of an adult’s behavior or actions, rather than on an explanation of the task
Getting stuck	In movements		Draws repeating elements
	In relationships		Intrusive when communicating, attracts attention to himself, repeats the same request
	In speech		Repeats the same phrase over and over again
	On feelings and emotions		Gets stuck on resentment
	Switching difficulties		Difficulty shifting, etc.
Performance (mental)				Gets tired quickly from a task that requires mental activity, gets tired when reading a book, gets tired during the first part of an organized lesson
Performance (physical)				Gets tired quickly while walking, gets tired from physical activity, loses performance in the first third of an organized lesson, loses performance in the first third of an organized lesson, requires varying the complexity of a task that does not require mental effort, performance fluctuates throughout the day, alternating increased and decreased performance

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL

FULL NAME. observer

FULL NAME. observed

Date _________________ Start time ____________________ End time __________________________

Situation

Fragment of the situation

Emotional reactions

Verbal reactions

Nonverbal reactions

Behavioral reactions

Comments

Conclusion

Protocol for monitoring a child during the theatrical activity “Circus”

Name, age:

Vitya, 5 years old (middle group)

Purpose of observation:

will reveal the child’s ability to speak in front of an unfamiliar audience.

Facial expressions	Actions	Speech
Eyes down to the floor	Hands in fists	speaks quietly
He sat on a chair and watched the actions of other children.
Turned away, not following the actions on stage
Smiling	Keeps an eye on the children	Silent
Tugging at the belt on his suit
Got up	Memorized speech according to plan
Looks down when he speaks	Speaks quickly
Doesn't pay attention to children
Watches the teacher
Claps
All the children sing, but he doesn’t
Smiling	Dancing	Says something to a neighbor
Sings

Conclusion:

According to the stated goal, I can conclude that the child was a little shy and perhaps felt insecure; this may be evidenced by the fact that the child did not look into the audience and often stood behind all the children or somewhere to the side during the performance.

But despite the possible embarrassment, the child, although not loudly, pronounced his text well, all the words were understandable, Vitya did not stutter.

According to the teacher, Vitya himself took the initiative to participate in the production.
They had never noticed anything like this about the boy before. Monitoring young children
In general, recommendations for monitoring a preschool child can be formulated as follows:

Ø Before you begin direct observation of the child, it is necessary to establish contact with the teachers and the assistant teacher of the group. During the internship, the psychologist becomes part (albeit independent) of the adult group.

Ø Relationships with adults should be built on a business basis, but at the same time be emotionally warm. It is better to coordinate your actions in advance with the actions of the teacher, thereby preventing misunderstandings and various kinds of misunderstandings, but it is not at all necessary to communicate the true purpose of the study (what will be the subject and who will be the object of observation).

Ø Focusing on mutual understanding in relations with educators, it is necessary to maintain one’s own independence and autonomy. The psychologist’s task does not include identification with educators. Support and understanding of educators and their assistants are needed in order to organically “fit” into the natural setting of the group and thereby minimize the impact of their presence on the observed process.

Ø During observation, the psychologist’s task is to maintain a neutral position, without in any way influencing the events taking place with his actions and words. The intervention of a psychologist is possible only when there is a threat to the health and life of children.

Ø It is possible that on the first day of observation the children will have numerous questions for the psychologist about what he is doing, as well as requests or offers to play with them. You should not give your children lengthy and confusing explanations to such questions; rather, briefly but firmly answer that you are currently working and therefore cannot play. If you promise your child to play with him at another time, indicate the exact place and time of the game (for example, “In the evening on a walk”) and be sure to fulfill your promise, otherwise the next observation may be disrupted by the child you deceived.

Ø As a rule, if the psychologist managed to take the position of a neutral observer in the group the first time, the entire subsequent series of his observations will take place in a good working environment, and the children’s attention to him will be minimal. It is necessary to note one more important point; it can be described as “conservatism of the observer” - conservatism of clothing (it is better to avoid bright clothes and bright makeup during observations), constancy of behavior and manners, as well as constancy of the workplace.

Ø Workplace. It is worth determining the observation location in advance and coordinating your action with the teachers. You need to choose a place where you can clearly see and hear all the events taking place, but at the same time attract a minimum of attention to your person. It is better to fix the workplace with special attributes (table, chair), thereby defining your “working” position.

Ø Regardless of when and where the observation is carried out, the general requirements

remain as follows:

1) the entire observed process is recorded (the use of technical means for recording is possible, but their use imposes a number of special requirements);

2) the observation record must indicate the exact time, observation conditions and participants in the observed process;

3) observing one child and recording all his actions, statements and other manifestations, the observer also records the actions, statements and manifestations of other children and adults with whom the observed child is in interaction. It is important to prevent the one-sidedness of recording factors: it is necessary to record not only the result of the interaction, but also the reasons that caused it;

4) try to be precise in determining the observed facts - do not simplify or complicate what you see (be objective in your recording). Record all children’s statements verbatim, without changes, indicate intonation, pauses, tempo and other features of speech. Reflect emotional manifestations truthfully.

Ø When conducting a series of observations of one child, it is better to organize observations under different conditions:

· during the work of one and the other teacher, possibly in the absence of both (for example, at a music or physical education lesson);

· during various routine moments (during meals, during classes, while walking, in free activities, etc.).

Ø There is no need to rush to draw conclusions based on 1-2 observations. It is necessary to take into account the influence of many factors and try to avoid situational distortions in the child’s perception.

When observing, it is necessary to record and take into account the following aspects in the child’s actions and activities:

1. attitude

child to others (children, adults);

2. manifestations of general motor activity

;

3. manifestations of the affective sphere

;

4. Features of hand movements and reactions

;

features
of speech
;

the presence of
spontaneous statements
;

features
of performing actions
;

8. positions

a child in joint activities with someone;

9. self-esteem

child.

The best way to generalize the results of observations would be to harmonize them with data from other psychodiagnostic studies.

Example of an observation diary

It should be noted that the observation diary below is an example of participant observation. Participant observation is a type of observation in which the researcher has the opportunity to directly interact with the child being studied. This type of observation has its positive and negative sides, the consideration of which is not part of our task. We invite you to independently evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this type. Considering that both the included and neutral forms of observation are possible for studying young children, we, nevertheless, insist on a neutral one, in which the interaction of the researcher with the observed child is excluded.

DIARY OF OBSERVATION OF A CHILD

The observation was carried out in the nursery group of a city kindergarten. Dasha's age at the beginning of observation was 3 years and 6 months.

February

I learned from the manager that I would need to supervise Dasha. Nadezhda Vasilyevna, immediately after we met, suggested that I monitor this girl and explained her decision to me by saying that Dasha attends kindergarten more often than anyone else and rarely gets sick. I really didn’t like the fact that they made a choice for me, so all the desire to monitor Dasha disappeared. And Dasha and I met in the following way.

After our conversation with the head, I went to the nursery group and just entered the locker room when I suddenly saw in front of me a very beautiful little girl with big brown eyes. Her look made me forget about everything in the world. I remember that at that moment I had only one thought in my head: “Is it really Dasha in front of me?” To my great regret, the charming girl with brown eyes was called Karina, and the teacher introduced me to Dasha. During my visit, she was dressing Dasha for a walk and, as soon as she learned about the purpose of my visit to them, she told Dasha: “This aunt will be watching you. You agree?" Dasha nodded her head affirmatively, and I was upset because I didn’t like Dasha at all.

Immersed in my worries about this, I did not notice what was happening around me, and was very surprised when I saw Dasha in front of me with small boots in her hands. She looked at me for a long time with her sky-blue eyes, and then quietly said: “Put on my boots.” At that moment, something happened in my soul. I immediately came to my senses, and I felt very ashamed that just recently I did not want to watch this cute child who is now holding me by the neck and stretching out my little leg so that I could put the same little boot on it. . Dasha’s request dramatically changed my attitude towards Dasha herself, and at the same time brought back the disappeared desire to observe.

Thus, quite satisfied with each other, Dasha and I went for a walk. At the site, Dasha and other children were playing on the veranda. She behaved very aggressively towards those children who did not comply with her demands. For example, if Dasha wanted to drive the car, she would forcefully take it away from the boys. If Dasha wanted to play with a doll, she snatched it from the girls and, not paying attention to the crying and screaming of the children offended by her, continued to do as she pleased. By her behavior she made me assume that she was the leader in her group. This hypothesis can be illustrated by the following incident: Dasha gathered several girls and boys around her, shoveled snow into a bucket and fed it to everyone present, without taking into account their wishes. Dasha herself did not eat snow.

When everyone returned to the group, I helped the teacher undress the children, and at that time I stopped watching Dasha. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Dasha was not among the girls, and there was one more boy. Later, I realized that I mistook Dasha for a boy, because I imagined her in a dress and with ponytails, but in reality Dasha was in a T-shirt and shorts, and even with a short haircut.

It turned out that my image of Dasha did not coincide with her real appearance, and as a result, I could not even recognize the child whom I had been watching for almost an hour. This situation led me to think that many disappointments in people, misunderstandings and, perhaps, even conflicts are associated with the fact that we create some ideal image of the Other, set the framework for his portrait in the form of various attitudes, and then try to force the real one into them a living person, causing him to suffer and suffer. This situation is especially difficult for children who try their best to live up to the ideal image created by their parents or avoid such attitudes, thereby creating a tense environment in the family.

A comment

In general, we can say that on the first day of observations, a fairly large amount of information about Dasha was obtained.

It turned out that she is the oldest in the group. Perhaps that is why Dasha is perceived as a leader in the group. Not only girls, but also some boys obey her.

In addition, already on the first day of observation it was discovered that Dasha was very aggressive. No one else in the entire group offends their friends with such composure as Dasha does, and here it is necessary to note the fact that Dasha herself is not offended in the group, and her antics are always forgiven.

It can be assumed that a certain attitude towards Dasha on the part of peers and adult members of the group contributed to the formation of Dasha’s idea that she is the best, the strongest and the most important in the group. The answer to the question of what causes this relationship will probably be found in the process of subsequent observations. Perhaps her self-esteem was also influenced by the fact that she is the only child in the family, and therefore the most beloved and dear.

February

When I came to the group, I immediately saw Dasha with a phone in her hands. She dialed the number and then began talking to her mother. Dasha asked her mother to buy her ice cream, an apple and chocolate. Mom seemed to agree.

After finishing the conversation, she threw the phone on the floor, picked up the doll and put it to her chest. To the question: “What are you doing?”, she replied: “This is my daughter. I breastfeed her." Next, Dasha said that she was alone with her mom and dad. Previously, her mother breastfed her, but now she doesn’t, because Dasha is already an adult and can be a mother herself.

Having completed her story, Dasha decided to take the doll differently, but due to Dasha’s awkward movements, her daughter fell to the floor. And, although the doll was lying on its back, Dasha decided that her daughter had injured her forehead and was bleeding. Dasha could not explain the reason for choosing this particular place for the wound, and I did not question her further. As soon as we wiped off the “blood,” Dasha put her daughter to bed, and she sat down next to her daughter’s bed and began reading a book. What she said was very similar to a poem, but the content did not correspond to the original text. It always seemed to me that Dasha was describing the pictures in the book in verse. Then she gave this book to me and asked me to read it out loud.

While reading, I deliberately took long pauses so that Dasha could recite the poems herself and, as a result, it turned out that Dasha knew all of Agnia Barto’s children’s works by heart and could recite them. This amazed me, because the other children still spoke very poorly, some could not pronounce a single word clearly.

After reading the book, Dasha suddenly noticed the phone she had thrown under her chair, took it and began calling her mother again. This time the conversation was very different from the previous one, because... Now Dasha saw that she was being watched. She asked her mother for ice cream, an apple and chocolate, and then suddenly burst into tears and in a moaning voice began to ask her mother for what she wanted. This action continued for quite a long time and as a result, my mother seemed to agree. Satisfied with herself, Dasha hung up.

I asked if she always does this when her mother refuses her something. Dasha nodded affirmatively and picked up the doll from the bed and ran away.

At this time, Katya sat on her chair and asked me to read a book to her. When Dasha saw the girl in her place, she quickly ran to us, sat on the edge of the chair next to Katya and, with a calm expression, clenched her teeth, slowly pushed the girl to the floor. She ignored my remark.

As soon as Katya left, Dasha jumped off the chair and, together with the doll, sat down at the table next to the boy who was playing with the molds. I thought that Dasha would now demonstrate her skills in matching each mold with the right hole in a circle specially made for this, but Dasha surprised me again. Instead of the actions I expected, she took a circle with holes in one hand, one of the molds in the other, and began hitting the mold with all her might with this circle. To my question about what she was doing, Dasha replied: “I chop wood and meat in order to light the stove and feed my daughter meat.” When I asked where the meat came from, she said that a cow had recently been slaughtered. “Having chopped the wood,” Dasha began feeding the “meat” to the doll.

At that time, I noticed the boy Vanya, who climbed onto a small wooden ladder nailed to the wall. I praised Vanya for not being afraid to climb so high, and then Dasha, hearing my words, threw the doll and shouted: “And I can climb even higher.” She, indeed, climbed very high, amazing me with her courage, but I did not praise her, but, on the contrary, asked her to climb back down. The procedure of climbing and jumping off the ladder did not last long. It ended immediately after Dasha found the ball and began throwing it in different directions.

Once the boy Nikita caught the ball, and Dasha, afraid that Nikita would take the ball away from her, pinched him hard on the leg. Nikita began to cry and gave Dasha the ball. I noticed similar aggression in Dasha in other situations, namely, when Dasha took a cube from a girl playing and hit her hard on the head. The teacher forced Dasha to ask the girl for forgiveness. Dasha was forced to apologize. She muttered very quietly through her teeth: “I won’t do it again.”

A comment

The second day of observation showed that Dasha has well-developed speech, memory and the ability to imitate. Not every child in a nursery group will be able to recite a long poem by heart and expressively imagine its characters.

The need to be the center of attention manifests itself in demonstrative behavior. Ignores all obstacles and prohibitions on the way to achieving his own goals.

In addition to the aggressiveness that is often observed in Dasha’s actions, one can notice in her character such traits as self-confidence, authority, and egocentrism.

February

Today I observed the process of dressing children and actively participated in it. I managed to notice that Dasha knows how to dress on her own, but she really loves it when people help her.

In addition, Dasha is very restless and restless. It is very difficult for her to stay in one place for a long time, so while I was dressing the other children, she rushed around the locker room and threw the children's clothes in different directions.

Then she sat on the pipe leading from the battery and began to pretend to be a driver behind the wheel. When I noticed her, she invited me into her car, but I refused. Other guys, looking at Dasha’s game, also wanted to become drivers and sat on the pipe together with her. Dasha didn’t like this, and she pushed the uninvited guests onto the floor. I made a remark to her, but Dasha ignored it.

She got off the pipe and ran to her drawer, where she took out a bag of waffles. Dasha ate two of them herself, and offered the rest to me. I broke off a little from one waffle, thanked Dasha and invited her to treat the other guys. Dasha resisted at first, but then she still treated the children nearby. I was very pleased to see that Dasha did not take away, but gave, and at the same time was happy for others.

A comment

The third day of observations helped to systematize the information obtained in the previous days.

Firstly, Dasha is a very active, restless, restless child.

Secondly, Dasha has a very rich imagination, which contributes to the girl’s organization of independent play activities, characterized by a variety of plots, expressiveness and emotionality of the play process itself.

And thirdly, it should be noted that even in such a rare situation for Dasha, friendly relations with peers, her desire to be the object of everyone's attention and approval is manifested.

March

That day I came to the kindergarten as usual, and was very surprised when I learned that the nursery group had been divided into younger groups. Once in the junior group, I saw a large number of children unfamiliar to me, running, screaming, and creating a lot of noise.

Among them, I barely found Dasha. She sat in the company of three girls from the younger group and said something to them. When I got closer, I realized that these girls had come to see Dasha, and Dasha was prescribing medications for them and treating them. I was very surprised that Dasha took a leadership position in the group of older children. Later my assumption was confirmed by the teacher. She said that Dasha, finding herself in a new group among unfamiliar children who were older than her in age, was not at a loss, but immediately joined the game and pulled the rest of the children along with her.

Seeing me, Dasha was very happy and said: “You will be my daughter, let’s go home.” Then she took me by the hand and led me to the children's corner. There Dasha sat me down at the table and started feeding me, and I watched her cook. This time Dasha amazed me with her extraordinary accuracy and consistency of actions that a housewife should perform in the process of cooking.

When the teacher called everyone for a walk, Dasha took me by the hand and said: “And now, daughter, I’ll take you for a walk, let’s get dressed.” We walked to the site together, and Dasha tried not to let go of my hand the whole way.

A comment

The fourth day of observation provided me with an excellent opportunity to communicate with Dasha and take part in her game.

It turned out that Dasha is a sociable girl. She easily finds a common language with any person and can carry on a conversation. However, he takes the initiative in conversation only when it is necessary to draw attention to himself.

Dasha's communication skills can be explained by her extensive experience communicating with people of different ages (it should be noted that Dasha lives with her parents in a dormitory) and her desire for demonstrativeness.

Martha

Today I watched Dasha at a music lesson, in a group and on the street.

During the music lesson, Dasha was as active as she usually is in the group. While singing, she was the only one in the group who received reprimands from the teacher several times for her behavior. Dasha performed her dance movements very diligently, but it was clear that she was in a hurry and therefore did not fall in time with the music.

In the group, Dasha came up with the following game for herself. She took small animals and tried to put them in the window of a wooden house. At the same time, she kept saying the same phrase: “Hello, can I come to you?” If an animal passed through the window, it was answered from the house: “Yes, come in.” If the animal was larger than the window, it was not allowed into the house, and it said offendedly: “Well, okay, I can do without you.” When all the animals of suitable size were stuffed into the house, Dasha pulled them out and started the game all over again.

After two repetitions of the game's plot, a boy approached Dasha and took one of the animals. Seeing this, Dasha shouted at the boy with an indignant look and snatched the little animal from him. This situation repeated itself when a girl approached Dasha and offered to play together.

On this day I did not interfere in Dasha’s game, and therefore had the opportunity to distance myself from the situation. I was amazed that there were so many aggressive traits hidden in this charming little girl. No one else in the entire group hurts her peers with such composure as Dasha, who constantly offends not only girls, but also boys, and does this not by defending herself, but by deliberately attacking.

So, having played enough with the house and animals, Dasha rushed to the place where the largest number of children had gathered. They were talking about something with the teacher. Dasha joined the children and was soon left alone near the teacher. Having dispersed everyone, she was very pleased with herself. And when she noticed that she got all the attention (mine and the teacher’s), she began to make faces, act out, and perform various tricks.

As soon as the teacher left, Dasha calmed down a little and decided to draw. She took the chalk and drew a woman on the board. It was her mother. Then she drew a cat, but in a very strange way. Her body parts were not in the order they really should be. The boy standing nearby looked carefully at Dasha’s drawing and kept telling her where the cat’s body parts should be, but Dasha did not listen to him. She persistently painted the way she wanted.

As for Dasha’s behavior on the street, here I can say the following: Dasha was the first to enter the closet, took a doll and a sled and began to play daughter-mother. She carried the doll with her around the site, and instead of herself, she rolled it on the slide. Many of the guys couldn’t understand why Dasha didn’t skate by herself, but went down the steps and met her daughter at the bottom.

Remembering Dasha's past games, I can conclude that Dasha's favorite game is playing mother-daughter, and the role of mother gives her the most pleasure, of course.

A comment

The fifth day of observations confirmed Dasha’s need to take an active position always and in everything.

The musical lesson demonstrated the girl’s unbalanced behavior, her inability and unwillingness to participate in the group’s activities.

Free activity, as opposed to group activity, showed the girl’s independence, initiative and perseverance. The choice of plots, characters, and means for implementing the game revealed the wealth of Dasha’s imagination and her organizational skills.

When to start observation and what is its main value?

Observation is important at any age. Children under 3 years of age are just learning to speak, so we cannot get full feedback from them. And after 3 years, children act largely unconsciously - they cannot understand themselves and tell us about their motives and needs.

By observing, we can figure out what is really happening to the child. Why does he cry, what makes him happy and upset. What is interesting for him, what is difficult and what is easy. How he copes with difficulties and finds solutions to new problems. What he is just learning, and what he is ready to do himself.

In Montessori pedagogy, we often talk about observation, because the entire methodology is based on it. With the correct technique of observing a child, we can understand him, see his age-related needs, and most importantly, discern his capabilities.

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How to Know What You're Observing Correctly

You are using observation techniques correctly if: ⠀

1. See what is being observed . You do not write down personal opinions, but only facts. As a result, from your description you can understand what exactly the child was doing.

“The child got tired of leafing through the book, became capricious and started tearing it out of anger.”

“The child flipped through three pages and began to tear the fourth.”

2. Observation gives you up-to-date information about the child . Today he is no longer the same as he was yesterday, and you see it. The same action for a child at different times can satisfy different needs: today he throws objects off the table in order to learn the characteristics of the material from which they are made; and tomorrow - to attract mom’s attention. Thoughtful observation helps determine the real cause.

3. Observation gives you feedback . By observing your baby, you can draw conclusions about yourself, your emotions, attitudes, etc.

4. You have a loop running:

Briefly about the main thing

Observation is a tool that helps parents better understand their child's developmental needs.
During observation, you should concentrate on the process and not be distracted by thoughts about other matters.
When observing a child, we need to write down what we see, and not what we think about it.
After observation, we draw conclusions and change the environment to suit the child’s needs.

Author: Olga Pichurina, head of Montessori and Montessori teacher AMI 0–3

Photo by Olga Goreva