Observing and Recording the Behavior of Young Children

by Dorothy H. Cohen, Virginia Stern, Nancy Balaban, Nancy Gropper, Jane Andris

Overview

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.

“Responds to new knowledge about how children think, learn, and develop language, and about the influences of families, culture, and other environmental influences.”
—Zero to Three (for fifth edition)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807782132
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	05/24/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Contents (Tentative)

Preface to the Seventh Edition

1.  Getting Started
Why Records
Keeping records
Language as a Tool in Recording
Importance of the Environment

2.  Recording a Child’s Behavior During Routines
Organizing the Information
The Meaning of Routines to Young Children
Recording Eating Behavior
Recording Toileting Behavior
Recording Behavior at Rest Time
Recording Behavior During Transitions
Patterns of Behavior During Routines

3.  Recording a Child’s Use of Materials
A Note on Technology
The Meaning of Materials to Young Children
What to Observe
Records of Use of Materials
How the Child Does What
Records Illustrating Detail
Interpratation: the Last Dimension
Patterns of Behavior in Use of Materials

4.  Recording Children’s Behavior With One Another
How Children Learn to Socialize
Do We Really See What Is Going On?
What to Observe
Patterns of Behavior in Children’s Response to Other Children
Group Membership

5.  Recording Children’s Behavior in Dramatic Play
Capacity for Symbolic Representation
A Framework for Recording Dramatic Play
Focusing on Dramatic Roles
Social Aspects of Dramatic Play
Patterns of Behavior During Dramatic Play

6.  Recording the Child’s Relationships With Adults and in Adult-Directed Activities
Teachers Observe Themselves
Recording a Child’s Interactions With an Adult
Gaining Information About a Child’s Larger Social World
Recording a Child in Teacher-Directed Group Activities
Patterns of Behavior in Children’s Relationships With Adults

7.  Clues to Cognitive Functioning
How Do Children Learn?
Developmental Approach to Thinking in Early Childhood
How Can We Know a Child’s Approach to Thinking?

8.  Clues to Cognitive Functioning
Temperament of a Child
The Influence of Culture and Social Experience
How Do We Know What Children Are Thinking About and Learning?
How Can Children Discover What Children Know?

9.  Observing Children Develop the Power to Think
Forming Generalizations
Ability to Differentiate
Ability to Perceive Similarities and Differences
Ability to Draw Analogies
Ability to Perceive Cause and Effect
Time Orientation
Ability to Seriate and Classify
Perceiving Patterns
Understanding Spatial Relationships

10.  Recording Children’s Developing Language and Emerging Literacy
Language and Culture
Recording Children’s Use of Language
Observing Speech
Observing Emergent Literacy

11.  Recording Behaviors That Are Disquieting
Value of Gathering Information
Examples of Unusual Behavior

12.  Observing and Recording the Behaviors of Infants and Toddlers
Making Sense of What You See
The Value of Recording
The Influence of Time of Day
What to Observe

13.  Patterns
Patterns
Features of the Final Summary
Interpretation
Final Summary
References

Index

About the Authors

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Like the earlier editions of this book, the sixth edition provides a theoretically sound and pragmatically useful 'how to' for observing and recording young children that simultaneously supports essential understanding and appreciation of how children develop. The sixth edition adds to the remarkable history of this volume with nuggets of updated insights reflecting the changing environments in which our children develop and grow."
—Jon Snyder, executive director, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS EDITIONS—

"The sixth edition adds to the remarkable history of this volume with nuggets of updated insights reflecting the changing environments in which our children develop and grow."

—Jon Snyder, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (for sixth edition)

"Responds to new knowledge about how children think, learn, and develop language, and about the influences of families, culture, and other environmental influences."

—Zero to Three (for fifth edition)

From the Publisher