Complete an observation of a child anywhere in age from 2 months old to 3 years of age. After your observation of the child you also need to complete (to the best of your ability) the ASQ-3 about this child. It may help to read through all the items of the ASQ-3 before you do your observation if you have an idea of who you will observe and their age.
For this observation you can observe a child you know through work, family, or friends, just not your own child, or you can observe a child that is completely unknown to you. If you choose someone who is unknown to you, be sure to observe in a non-obtrusive manner in a public place (i.e. at a library, restaurant, grocery store, waiting room, your work, etc.). To gain enough information for a complete observation you will likely need to observe the child for 3-10 minutes so choose an appropriate location where you can do this inconspicuously and without making the child you observe uncomfortable, whether you know the child or not.
Your write-up of your observation for this post should include information on all of the following:
Environment:
Describe the environment. Where is the child?
Is this space child friendly, age-appropriate, safe – why and why not?
What environmental factors do you think are influencing the child in this situation?
People/Relationships:
Who is with the child?
How are adults or other children interacting with the child? How do these people influence the child?
What do you think the adults’ and children’s relationships are with the child based on the interactions?
Child/Individual:
What personal factors, including temperament and mood, do you think are influencing the child, and why? This may also include influences related to the time of day, is it near nap/sleep time, time for a meal, after a long day of school, etc.
Development:
Describe what you observe in the child in terms of all of the following developmental domains: physical development (i.e. height, weight), expressive language, receptive language, social skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognition/thinking/reasoning, play. Be as specific as possible and touch on each area of development as it pertains to the child’s age*.
*For the child who is unknown to you, take a guess at his/her age based on what you observed. Explain why you think the child is this age based on your observation.
Perspective taking:
Try to put yourself in the child’s shoes – how do you think the world looks to the child you observed in this particular situation?
Ages & Stages Questionnaire:
The Ages & Stages Questionnaire is a set of questionnaires tailored by age for children from age 2 months to 5 years old. This is one of many screening tools that can be completed by parents or caregivers and used by professionals to track development and detect early signs of developmental delays. Completing this screening is relatively quick and easy, and provides a snapshot of how a young child is doing in important areas of development. It helps to identify areas of strength and also weakness that may require further investigation by a developmental specialist. You can read more about the ASQ-3 at the links below:
https://agesandstages.com/ (Links to an external site.)
https://agesandstages.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Introduction-to-ASQ-Online_2019.pdf (Links to an external site.)
In order to familiarize yourself with this screening tool please complete the ASQ-3 for the child you observed, to the best of your ability, and then share at the end of your observation write-up your thoughts on using this tool. You do not need to share the results of the ASQ-3 in any way in the forum. But do share; Was the ASQ easy/hard to use? Useful, why or why not? Do you have any questions about the ASQ-3? .
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