Observation &Assessment

Recording a Child’s Use of Materials

Dorothy H. Cohen And Virginia Stern

Cohen and Stern suggest that when teachers pay

attention not only to what children do but also to how

they feel, they are responding to the whole, integrated

behavior of children. How they interrelate with people

and materials.

Why and how should teachers record what young children do?

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Skill of observation and recording by example

Records that take on the form of stories.Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Combination of objective data and subjective interpretation

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Play Materials

Transform

Feeling

Into

Action

Transform

Ideas

Into

Forms

Concepts

Shapes

Transform

Impressions

Into

Products

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

The SettingResponse to clay

Length of time spent with material

On-the-Spot Records Lead to Supported Generalizations

The review of a child’s use of materials over a period

of time will be a mirror of his/her growth in this area.

Responses are evaluated best when seen against the

backdrop of a child’s general coordination, maturity,

experience, and age, as well as against the usual

behavior of children in their peer group. Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

A word of caution! It is impossible to get everything into every record.

Keep your eyes on the child, not on the printed page

It is not how much you record, but what and how,

that makes a record valuable.

Arnold Gessell (1880-1961)

Mental growth in babies

Normed the babies

Growth is not linear

The task of

understanding the

preschool child is more

rewarding if we focus our

attention on the

organizing processes of

growth.

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Use and Abuse! Gessell School

Readiness Screening Test

Exclusionary

Who is the sample based

off of?

School readiness tests

for initial curriculum

planning for individual

children

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)