Instructor: Malati Singh
Child Growth & Development
Developmental Observation
 Student Learning Outcome:
Student will relate child observations to the four domains of development.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
 Introduction:
It is fascinating to observe children and to understand their developmental journey! Life begins
as a tiny speck, and after a period of miraculous biological transformation in the womb, the
amazing newborn baby enters this world ready to experience whatever the world around has to
offer! As time goes by, the amazing infant grows and develops physically, cognitively and
socially into an eager toddler, a playful preschooler, an expanding school age child, and then as
an adolescent, struggling to form his/her own individual identity. Simultaneously, language
development helps the child understand and interact with people and objects in the surrounding
environment. Each individual child’s developmental track is unique. Children with atypical
developmental characteristics may differ from normal course of development depending on the
unique characteristics of the child.
 Purpose:
The purpose of developmental observation assignment is to synthesize and apply the theoretical
concepts of child development to acquire an understanding of the developmental characteristics
of a child or an adolescent in the biological, cognitive, language, and social domains of
development. The approach is multi-sensory and holistic. The broader goal is to enable the
student to better understand the changing developmental characteristics in the four domains of
development as children move on through childhood and adolescence.
 Objectives: The child/adolescent observation assignment will enable a student to:
1. To apply child development theories and concepts included in CD1 to interpret and
synthesize information acquired by the observation of a child/adolescent.
2. To apply child development knowledge of CD1 course to describe and explain the general
characteristics of the child/adolescent observed.
3. To identify problem situations, questions and issues related to the developmental
characteristics of the observed child in the biological, cognitive, language, and social
domains of development.
 Assignment: The observation assignment has three components:
1. Observation: Observe and/or interview a child or an adolescent (newborn – 18 years) for
five weeks in a home, school or any other community organization serving children and
adolescents. Record your observations based on the guidelines provided. If the child can talk,
interview the child/adolescent asking age appropriate questions. In your interview, as
appropriate, you may ask the child/adolescent about his or her likes, dislikes, interests or
hobbies, role models, hopes and fears, attitude towards parents, teachers, school, friends,
society, influence of the media, internet and the social media, and culture. Recognize atypical
developmental characteristics, if any.
2. Written Report: Write a written report following the guidelines provided.
3. Oral Presentation: Make a 5-minute class presentation summarizing your report.
 Grading Criteria:
The developmental observation assignment is graded according to the following criteria:1. Information processing skills: Effectively interprets and synthesizes information
obtained through child/adolescent observation.
2. Knowledge of child development concepts: Able to access, process, and utilize child
development knowledge.
3. Evaluation of observation: Effectively identifies and explores problems, situations,
questions, and issues.
 Grading Rubric:
Grading
Criteria
Information
processing skills:
Effectively interprets
and synthesizes
information
Knowledge of child
development:
Ability to access,
process, and utilize
relevant concepts of
development
Evaluation of
observation:
Effectively explores
and identifies
problem situation
and issues
Performance  
Poor (1.00 pts)
Fair (2.00 pts)
Does not make
connections.
Accepts or discards
information without
evaluating its
usefulness in
describing the
child’s development.
Has basic conceptual
knowledge, but lacks
the ability to
interpret the
information with
clear connections to
basic knowledge of
child development.
Interprets
information and
makes connections
regarding child’s
development.
Interprets information
gathered accurately and
provides insightful
connections to the child’s
development.
Shows little interest
in acquiring and
applying knowledge
to understand the
developmental
characteristics of the
child.
Demonstrates
interest, but needs
direction. Does not
fully interpret
child’s
developmental
characteristics.
Demonstrates ability
to apply knowledge
within the concepts
of child
development.
Effectively applies a multisensory approach to
acquiring and synthesizing
the developmental
characteristics of children.
Does not make
appropriate
suggestions about
the child’s
development.
Makes some
connections and
describes the child’s
developmental
characteristics.
Makes connections
and provides clear
examples of the
child’s development.
Demonstrates a clear
understanding of the
objectives and thoughtfully
describes the child’s
development.
4 - 6 pts.
7 - 9 pts.
1 - 3 pts.
Good (3.00 pts)
Excellent (4.00 pts)
10 - 12 pts.
 Grading: Assignment  100 points (25% of Total Course points)
A. Written Report (90 course points):
↓
Evaluation  According to the grading rubric & according to the guidelines provided
B. Oral Presentation (10 course points)  Effectiveness of oral communication
 Achievement:
A-, A, A+  91 – 100 pts
C-, C, C+  65 – 80 pts
B-, B, B+  81 – 90 points
D-, D, D+  50 – 65 points
U (Unsatisfactory)  Less than 50 points
Guidelines and Format for Developmental Observations Report
A. Cover page: Your name; Title of the Assignment
Age of the child; Gender of the child
B. Introduction:  5 points
a.
b.
c.
d.
Name of the child/adolescent, age and gender
Family characteristics: Social and cultural contexts (Urie Bronfenbrenner)
Siblings and their ages
Cultural background and socioeconomic status
C. Developmental characteristics (depending on the age of the child or adolescent)  80 pts.
1. Biological domain:  20 points
Describe the child’s physical characteristics and motor abilities.
Identify any problems or issues, if any.
i. Physical appearance:
a. Child’s approximate height and weight
b. Does the child appear healthy or not? What makes you think so?
ii. Child’s nutritional habits and eating patterns
iii. Child’s sleeping patterns
iv. Child’s movement and activities:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
For infants (newborn – 6 months), check for newborn reflexes.
How does the child move or how does the child use his/her body?
Does the child appear to be comfortable with his/her physical abilities?
Does the child prefer mostly high- energy activities or quiet activities?
Give examples of child’s gross motor skills – are they age appropriate?
Give examples of child’s fine motor skills – are they age appropriate?
2. Cognitive domain (Jean Piaget, Howard Gardner)  20 points
i. According to Jean Piaget’s cognitive development stages, which stage would you place
the child? Why? Give two examples to support/explain your answer.
ii. For children of ages four to eight years, verify Piaget’s conservation tasks. State the
results and conclusion. If necessary, apply Vygotsky’s concepts to explain conservation.
iii. For school age children and adolescents (ages six years and above), apply Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences by identifying the child’s strengths.
3. Language Domain:  20 points
For children 3 – 5 years of age, ask three to five questions; For children 6 – 10 years of age,
ask six to ten questions; For children 11 – 18 years of age, ask ten to fifteen questions.
i. Describe the child/adolescent’s language and thinking abilities.
ii. Ask age appropriate questions as applicable. Include the child’s responses.
iii. What is your conclusion about the child’s language development, or adolescent’s thoughts
and ideas? Is the child/adolescent expressive or reserved?
4. Social and emotional domain:  20 points
(Thomas and Chess, Erik Erikson, James Marcia, Phinney’s Model of Ethnic Identity)
i. Temperament and personality traits:
a. Based on Thomas and Chess classification of infant temperament, describe the
child’s temperament characteristics for children of ages – newborn to six years.
b. For children older than six years, apply the concepts of higher-order personality traits.
ii. Sociability:
a. Makes friends easily; shy or quiet; cooperative or prefers to be alone.
b. How does the child communicate his/her wants or needs?
c. How does the child relate and interact with other people? Give two examples of child’s
interactions with family members/peers and friends/teacher/coach, or with you.
d. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages: Which stage would this child be according to
Erik Erikson? Give one reason for your answer.
e. James Marcia’s identity statuses: For high school age adolescents only.
Which identity status do you think the adolescent is in? Find out by asking relevant
questions about career exploration and choices.
iii. Gender: Does the child’s behavior reflect any specific gender characteristics?
Give two examples to support your answer.
iv.
Ethnic identity: For adolescents 12 – 18 years of age, and of other than Caucasian heritage,
apply Phinney’s model of ethnic identity development and state the identity status.
D. Conclusion:  5 points
Write a brief conclusion about the child’s developmental characteristics. You may also ask
parents/caregivers/teachers for their comments about the child/adolescent.
 Please note: If you observe a child with atypical characteristics then apply relevant
concepts, as appropriate.
 Oral Presentation: A five-minute class presentation of a summary of your report.  10 pts.
In order to better understand the changing developmental characteristics as children grow
from newborn – infancy – toddlerhood – early childhood – middle childhood – adolescence,
the oral presentation is done in a chronological order of the children/adolescents being
presented in class.
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Grading: Total Points  100. Written Report = 90 points; Oral Presentation = 10 points.
a. Excellent  Complete; Included all the relevant concepts stated in the guidelines with
examples, as required. Clearly described the observation (91 – 100 points)
b. Good  Complete; Included concepts, but not applied with clarity. (81 – 90 points)
c. Fair  Some concepts included with clarity; some concepts missing (65 – 80 points)
d. Poor  Incomplete and/or lack of clarity. (50 – 64 points)
e. Unsatisfactory  Did not follow the guidelines provided (Less than 50 points)
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 Your report should be double spaced, normal font size, and have 1” left and right margins.