1.1 Types of observation and recording

It is important that you take time to observe so that your planning is well informed and every child’s needs are met. It also allows you an opportunity to slow down and make sure that you provide opportunities for children to revisit activities that interest them and support their developing needs. Observations also help to track a baby’s progress in reaching key developmental milestones, such as sitting up, crawling, or babbling.

When practitioners regularly observe children’s progress they ensure that children are developing appropriately and can identify any areas where additional support might be needed. Observations in the baby room can look like the examples that follow: narrative, sampling, checklist and tracking. Each one has a different purpose and you may have used other approaches in your own practice – there is no ‘right’ way to do observations.