Observing Development of the Young Child

Beaty (early childhood education, Elmira College) outlines a system for college students in child development courses, teachers, and assistant teachers to use to observe and record the development of children ages three to five in classrooms to make individual learning plans and assessments of children for program development. It is based on a progression of children's skill development in emotional, social, physical, cognitive, language, and creative domains and within more specific areas in these domains: self-esteem, emotional and social competence, physical and cognitive development, spoken language, and emergent writing and reading, dramatic play, art, music, and dance skills. In addition to the main child development checklist, other observation tools include anecdotal records, running records, samplings, rating scales, rubrics, audio and visual documentation, and document panels. This edition has been reorganized to broaden its coverage and make it more concise and accessible, especially the coverage of basic observation methods. Chapters on large-motor and small-motor development have been combined, and new learning objectives, more boxed features, and new sections on the benefits of specific tools have been added. Other changes have been made to information on developmental screening, using rubrics, bullying, emotional literacy, affective and cognitive joy, play and neuroscience research, brain scan evidence, gaining access to group play, brain imagining and development, dual language learners, telephone conversations, scaffolded readings, observation of creativity, music and disabilities, culturally diverse props, parent outcomes of shared observations, and other topics. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Janice J. Beaty is a professor emerita, Elmira College, Elmira, New York. Dr. Beaty is not only a writer of many college texts for early childhood educators, but also a traveler. Her books for Pearson include Skills for Preschool Teachers, 9^th ed., 2012, Early Literacy in Preschool and Kindergarten with L. Pratt, 3^rd ed., 2011; 50 Early Childhood Literacy Strategies, 3^rd ed., 2013;and 50 Early Childhood Guidance Strategies, 2006. She developed a training program for CDA trainers and led training workshops at Elmira College, Elmira, NY, in Columbia, SC, and Orlando, Fl. She has visited early childhood programs in China, Russia, Poland, Bermuda, and pueblos in New Mexico, Arizona, and many in central Missouri where she does training of Foster Grandparents who work in the classrooms. She has been a keynote speaker at early childhood conferences in Montreal, Chicago, Oshkosh, WI, San Antonio, and New Orleans. When she is not at her computer in her office on a Cape Coral canal, you might find her “out west” in one of the National Parks creating another “Jarod and the Mystery of….” juvenile books for middle school children.