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Updated April 1, 2017

Module 3: Celebrating Child Growth

Why do observations? How do teachers benefit?

Page 3

Outcome A: The student will give examples of children developing at their own rate. 

The learning outcomes for this section address topics from the following WACs:
Minimum Licensing Requirements for Child Care Centers
170-295-2030 How should staff interact with children?
170-295-2040 What behavior management and guidance practices must I have in place?
170-295-2010 What types of play materials, equipment and activities must I provide for the children?
Licensed Family Home Child Care Standards 
170-296A-6575 Activities to promote child growth and development
170-296A-6550 Developmental activities
170-296A-6775 Diversity
Scroll down to proceed with the coursework.
1) Read the following pages in the Child Care Licensing Guidebook
Alternate: ​Family home child care care programs provide care to children in the providers own home.  The topics addressed in module 3 can be found in the Family Home Licensing Guidebook on the pages shown below. ​
1) Family Home Child Care Licensing Guide ( FHCC ​)
  • Section 3 pp. 28; pp. 41-43, "Care and Education of Young Children"
  • Section 6 pp. 3-4 "Recordkeeping, Reporting, Posting and Policies"
You May Print or Save Handouts for Reference (optional)
Observation and assessment supports children’s learning and leads to meaningful curriculum.  In order to have effective observation and assessment you must first understand typical child development.  As you learned in the last module on Child Development, children develop on a continuum and at their own rate.  In this module we will build on that idea and learn how to celebrate child growth through observation. 

Observation is a key step in the curriculum cycle (see Handout 1 pictured below)
How does the observation and the curriculum cycle work?
  1. First, you must understand normal, typical child growth and development. 
  2. Then you need to carefully and thoughtfully observe the children in your care/classroom to see where they are on the developmental continuum. 
  3. By reflecting on this information you can then plan developmentally appropriate curriculum (curriculum that is appropriate for the specific abilities, interests and skills of each child). 
  4. Observation is not an end goal, but the beginning of creating meaningful curriculum.  It is the basis for decision making about how to create curriculum or alter the environment, and insight into how to interact effectively with each child. 
  5. As you observe, keep in mind the goals you have established for children in your care/classroom.

Careful observation can give you valuable data on how individual children are progressing.

In this module we will explore these ideas further.