Child Development 1
Developmental Observation
Developed by Professor Malati Singh and adapted & Revised by Professor Lilamani de Silva
Written Observation & Oral Presentation - July 9th 2015
 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 socially, and emotionally 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 and emotional 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 and emotional 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 four 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.
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 Grading Rubric: See Below
 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
Poor
1.00 pts.
Fair
2.00 pts.
Good
3.00 pts.
Proficient
4.00 pts.
Information processing skills
Effectively interprets and
synthesizes information.
Poor
Does not make
connections.
Accepts or discards
information without
evaluating its usefulness
in describing the child's
development.
Fair
Has basic conceptual
knowledge, lacks the
ability to interpret the
information with clear
connections to the child's
development.
Good
Interprets information
accurately and makes
connections regarding child's
development.
Proficient
Interprets information gathered
accurately and provides insightful
connections to the child's
development.
0.0 (0 %)
Knowledge of Child
Development
Ability to access, process, and
utilize relevant concepts of
development
Poor
Fair
Good
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 the child's
developmental
characteristics.
Demonstrates ability to apply
knowledge within the concepts
of child development.
Proficient
Effectively applies a multi-sensory
approach to acquiring and
synthesizing the developmental
characteristics of children.
0.0 (0 %)
Evaluation of Observation
Effectively explores and
identifies problems, situations,
questions, and issues.
Poor
Does not make
appropriate suggestions
about the child's
development.
Fair
Good
Proficient
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.
Fair
Good
Proficient
0.0 (0 %)
Performance
A, B, C, D, F
Poor
0.0 (0 %)
D = 1-3 points
D = 50-65 point
F = 1-2 points
C = 4-6 points
B = 7-9 points
A = 10-12 points
F = less than 50 points
C = 65-80 points
B = 81-90 points
A = 91-100 points
B. Oral Presentation (10 course points)  Effectiveness of oral communication
 Achievement & Performance: (RP  Rubric Points)
A-, A, A+  91 – 100 pts
(10 – 12 RP)
B-, B, B+  81 – 90 points (7 – 9 RP)
C-, C, C+  65 – 80 pts
(4 – 6 RP)
D-, D, D+  50 – 65 points (1 – 3 RP)
U (Unsatisfactory)  Less than 50 points
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Guidelines and Format for Developmental Observations Report
READ THE APPROPRIATE CHAPTERS OF YOUR TEXT BOOK
Your assignment begins by reading the chapters of your text that relates to the age of the child that you will observe:
Chapter 4: Infancy (Birth 2 years)
Chapter 5: Toddlerhood (2 - 3 years)
Chapter 6: Early Childhood (3 - 6 years)
Chapter 7: Middle Childhood (7 - 11 years)
Chapter 8: Adolescence (12 years and beyond)
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’s model) (chapter 1- pages 26-28)
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 (Physical Development):  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.
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?
e. Give examples of child’s gross motor skills – are they age appropriate? How do they compare with what the
textbook identifies as age-typical?
f.
Give examples of child’s fine motor skills – are they age appropriate? How do they compare with what the
textbook identifies as age-typical?
2. Cognitive Domain (Cognitive Development) (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 (page 249). State the results and
conclusion. If necessary, apply Vygotsky’s concepts to explain conservation.
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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 (pages 313-314).
3. Language Domain (Language Development):  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 (Social and Emotional Development):  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. For infants only: Is the infant attached mainly to a parent or primary care giver, or is the infant attached to
more than one parent or caregivers?
b. Does the child make friends easily? Is the child shy or quiet; cooperative or prefers to be alone?
c. How does the child communicate his/her wants or needs?
d. 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.
e. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages: Which stage would this child be according to Erik Erikson? Give one reason
for your answer.
f. 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
parents/caregivers/teachers for their comments about the child/adolescent.
characteristics.
You
may
also
ask
 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.
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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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 Observation Report Requirements and Evaluation – Your report must be:
a. Written according to the guidelines provided.
b. Complete with all the relevant concepts clearly described or applied.

Points will be deducted for incomplete reports and/or lacking clarity.

Your report should be double spaced, normal font size, and have 1” left and right margins.
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Child Development 1 – Professor: Lilamani de Silva
Developmental Observation
Student/s Name/s: __________________________________________________
Title Page & Introduction
________/5
Developmental Characteristics
Biological (physical) Domain
Cognitive Domain
Language Domain
Social/Emotional Domain
________/80
________/20
________/20
________/20
________/20
Conclusion
Oral Presentation
________/5
________/10
Total Points
________/100
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