EYFS and observations
Jane (age 1 year, 3 months) has been having great fun this week putting things in and out of the treasure basket. How do I know she has been having fun? Well, because she has been laughing and singing a little song to herself as she has been playing.
A true observation (we are told by those who reckon they know about these things) should not talk about a child’s mood, but simply state what has happened. I say if a child is happy because I think parents want to read it – I am not a robot designed to state facts when I am talking about a child’s activities and I will fight that one if Ofsted ever comment.
So anyway, back to Jane... she’s at exactly the right age to get the most out of her treasure basket and I intend to go shopping for more exciting things to include in it next week. Actually, thinking about it, I might make her a shiny one because I noticed the other day she was looking at herself in the mirror a lot and giggling at the baby. Now, where did I put that mirrored book? I know it’s in one of the toy boxes somewhere and she might like to explore that.
Jack (age 2 years 1 month) has a throwing schema just now so Jane has to play with her treasure basket when Jack isn’t here or it would end up scattered across the house. Jack has also taken an interest in running water and with careful supervision has been using the water wheel, standing for ages pouring water and watching it go round. He got really wet the other day and we took a lovely picture to share with his mum. Janet helped me to email it and was very proud because she found the email address by herself. This is great because it was one of the aims from the other week to help her recognise the initial letters of words... and with support she got it right! She was so proud when she told mum what she had achieved.
I have had a quick look at my schemas e-book for inspiration and decided Jack (aka Mr Throw Everything he can get his hands on by his mum lol) might like to try pouring water from various sized containers and cups. I also had a chat with dad and he said they have found some little soft balls for throwing in the house. They are made of wool and were bought from the pet shop... I need to investigate those. Actually, hold that thought a minute! I can take Jack on Wednesday when Janet is here. Janet loves the pet shop since she visited with pre-school the other week. They said she especially liked looking at the small animals. Note to self – remember to take antihistamines!
See how easy it is to observe and plan next steps? I really don’t understand why people make it such a complicated process. Take a photo, make a note, put in a child’s drawing or some words they have used to describe the photos, link it to the EYFS for the child’s age and stage of development, keep the communication channels open with parents and other settings and job done!
For more information about observations and the EYFS, see e-book 14, catchily titled 'EYFS Observations'! It is available from my website.