Contents Preface to the Seventh Edition ?ix 1. ?Getting Started ?1 Why Records? ?1 Keeping Records ?6 Language as a Tool in Recording ?9 Importance of the Environment ?12 2. ?Recording a Child's Behavior During Routines ?14 Organizing the Information ?14 The Meaning of Routines to Young Children ?18 Recording Eating Behavior ?19 Recording Toileting Behavior ?23 Recording Behavior at Rest Time ?25 Recording Behavior During Transitions ?27 Patterns of Behavior During Routines ?28 3. ?Recording a Child's Use of Materials ?32 A Note on Technology ?32 The Meaning of Materials to Young Children ?33 What to Observe ?38 Records of Use of Materials ?40 How the Child Does What ?41 Records Illustrating Detail ?44 Interpretation: The Last Dimension ?46 Patterns of Behavior in Use of Materials ?47 4. ?Recording Children's Behavior With One Another ?51 How Children Learn to Socialize ?51 Do We Really See What Is Going On? ?55 What to Observe ?57 Patterns of Behavior in Children's Responses to Other Children ?63 Group Membership ?65 5. ?Recording Children's Behavior in Dramatic Play ?68 Capacity for Symbolic Representation ?70 A Framework for Recording Dramatic Play ?75 Focusing on Dramatic Roles ?78 Social Aspects of Dramatic Play ?84 Patterns of Behavior During Dramatic Play ?91 6. ?Recording the Child's Relationships With Adults and in Adult-Directed Activities ?93 Teachers Observe Themselves ?93 Recording a Child's Interaction With an Adult ?94 Gaining Information About a Child's Larger Social World ?99 Recording a Child in Teacher-Directed Group Activities ?100 Patterns of Behavior in Children's Relationships With Adults ?102 7. ?Clues to Cognitive Functioning: Developmental Approach ?106 How Do Children Learn? ?106 Developmental Approach to Thinking in Early Childhood ?108 How Can We Know a Child's Approach to Thinking? ?112 8. ?Clues to Cognitive Functioning: Individual Approach ?122 Temperament of a Child ?122 The Influence of Culture and Social Experience ?123 How Do We Know What Children Are Thinking About and Learning? ?124 How Can Teachers Discover What Children Know? ?129 9. ?Observing Children Develop the Power to Think ?134 Forming Generalizations ?134 Ability to Differentiate ?135 Ability to Perceive Similarities and Differences ?136 Ability to Draw Analogies ?136 Ability to Perceive Cause and Effect ?137 Time Orientation ?137 Ability to Seriate and Classify ?139 Perceiving Patterns ?140 Understanding Spatial Relationships ?141 10. ?Recording Children's Developing Language and Emerging Literacy ?144 Language and Culture ?144 Recording Children's Use of Language ?146 Observing Speech ?155 Observing Emergent Literacy ?160 11. ?Recording Behaviors That Are Disquieting ?163 Value of Gathering Information ?163 Examples of Unusual Behavior ?164 12. ?Observing and Recording the Behavior of Infants and Toddlers ?169 Making Sense of What You See ?169 The Value of Recording ?170 The Influence of Time of Day ?171 What to Observe ?172 13. ?Patterns-Summary-Interpretation ?200 Patterns ?200 Features of the Final Summary ?203 Interpretation ?208 Final Summary ?209 References ?213 Index ?217 About the Authors ?225
This classic text has been helping teachers better understand young children's behavior for over 6 decades. Now available in an updated seventh edition, this popular resource is designed to deepen pre- and inservice teachers' understanding of children (birth-age 8) as unique individuals within a developmental context. Observation notes recorded over time reveal patterns in children's behavior, as well as ways in which behaviors may change. To strengthen teachers' efforts to better understand children as individuals, the authors provide a timeless methodology for documenting young children's behavior as they actively engage in classroom life. They outline methods for recordkeeping that capture children's interactions and experiences in the classroom. Numerous examples of teachers' observations of children enrich this work and make it accessible, practical, and enjoyable to read. Book Features: Provides early childhood educators with a guide for observing and recording as a way of better understanding children, while holding judgment in abeyance. Examines the need for teachers to reflect on their own experiences, even as children, and how these may influence their reactions to children's interactions and behaviors. Focuses on the centrality of family, community, and culture in children's lives, reflecting the diversity in contemporary early childhood classrooms. Explains the imperative for teachers to observe and record the behavior of young children as a means of interpreting their developmental capacities and abilities.
Dorothy H. Cohen and Virginia Stern, both of whom passed away before the fourth edition, held faculty positions at Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Nancy Balaban is retired from Bank Street, where she was the director of the Infant and Family Development and Early Intervention Program. Nancy Gropper is retired from Bank Street, where she held positions as associate dean for academic affairs, department chair, and director of student teaching programs. Jane Andris, a Bank Street alumna, is a clinical assistant professor in the Early Childhood Research Center at the University of Louisville.