D3

Before observing any child you must first find an aim of observation, ie. Gross motor skills, Language etc. This is because when observing children in a close proximity it is very difficult to keep track of everything the child is doing meaning an area of focus is sometimes much easier to work with.
The narrative method is where you write down a narration of every single thing the target child does in a set period of time. Most people bullet point key events of the observation to write up more formally, after the observation has taken place. This saves time and means you can spend more time observing than writing.
When writing about a child it is important to use codenames. This is so that if a child, parent or any other people other than staff are walking around and read it, will not be able to identify the child under observation. This is important for security and confidentiality of both child and parents.
It is also to show the exact age of the child under observation as a child who is 4.2 years old will be much less advanced in social and motor skills than a child who is 4.11 years old. This is so you can identify the stage of development the child should be at and what the child is.
The place and people present is also very important as a child will act different around different people and will also act different in an unfamiliar places. If there are people present who the child doesn’t know they will also be less outgoing and likely to show their skills as strongly as they would in a comfortable environment.
When writing a conclusion for the observation it should include; issues noticed, things the child did well and enjoys and whether or not the aim of the observation was met.