Learning Journals and Develpment Matters

[Belly2009]

Hi,

I have a very part time 1 year old (2 hours a day - 4 days a week) and I am doing his summerative assessment as he has just turned one. I realise we should not be using the development matters as a ticklist but on some of the statements I have not observed him doing or attempting to do what the statement says. Obviously he could be doing these at home as he is only with me for a short period of time but wondered how I would get these logged in his assessment.

I was thinking about asking his parents (working in partnership and contributing to the learning journal) but have no idea how to do this. Do people give the statements to parents and ask if he is doing these at home and ask for observations?

help greatly appriciated

thanks

[sarah707]

Working with parents on this one is an excellent idea - I always find specific 'does xx do yy at home because I haven't seen it here??' type questions encourage parents to talk - we all like to boast about our children!!

However, you are not looking for obs which say the child is doing exactly what the DM statements say - you are looking for similar types of things which tell you the child is progressing well.

Hth :D

[Belly2009]

Thanks Sarah,

I'm finding I prefer the old "Look, Listen, Note" than the new statements. I find they aren't as good. So struggling. My kids have gone out with Dad sledging so instead of being freezing cold i'd do my paperwork! :)

[Rick]

Hi,

I have a very part time 1 year old (2 hours a day - 4 days a week) and I am doing his summerative assessment as he has just turned one. I realise we should not be using the development matters as a ticklist but on some of the statements I have not observed him doing or attempting to do what the statement says. Obviously he could be doing these at home as he is only with me for a short period of time but wondered how I would get these logged in his assessment.

I was thinking about asking his parents (working in partnership and contributing to the learning journal) but have no idea how to do this. Do people give the statements to parents and ask if he is doing these at home and ask for observations?

help greatly appriciated

thanks

Not all children will exhibit behaviour relating to every statement. You can't expect it. Also I don't think you should ask the parent directly about each statement as this might prompt them to say something which may not be true. You can only ask them what LO is doing at home and maybe use this information in your assessment. If they still don't exhibit behaviour in some of the statements then so be it. As you say, it's not a tick list so by definition you don't have to have observed every statement.

I ask parents what LOs are doing at home, what their interests are, send learning journals home for comments etc

HTH :D

[Rick]

Working with parents on this one is an excellent idea - I always find specific 'does xx do yy at home because I haven't seen it here??' type questions encourage parents to talk - we all like to boast about our children!!

However, you are not looking for obs which say the child is doing exactly what the DM statements say - you are looking for similar types of things which tell you the child is progressing well.

Hth :D

I agree with that; asking the parents specifically about a subject but not give them a list of each statement as this does then become a tick list.

[Belly2009]

Not all children will exhibit behaviour relating to every statement. You can't expect it. Also I don't think you should ask the parent directly about each statement as this might prompt them to say something which may not be true. You can only ask them what LO is doing at home and maybe use this information in your assessment. If they still don't exhibit behaviour in some of the statements then so be it. As you say, it's not a tick list so by definition you don't have to have observed every statement.

I ask parents what LOs are doing at home, what their interests are, send learning journals home for comments etc

HTH :D

Yes, I realize this and that's why I am looking for ideas how to get his parents involved in adding to it in case he does other things at home. How do you log your statements? Do you use them and highlight them?

Thanks

[Rick]

Yes, I realize this and that's why I am looking for ideas how to get his parents involved in adding to it in case he does other things at home. How do you log your statements? Do you use them and highlight them?

Thanks

Well I use the Orbit Early Years website which gives you, at a glance, which statements have been used. I don't necessarily try and ensure I use all of the statements but of course on the other hand you don't particularly want to use the same statement over and over. If I have noticed LO has started crawling, for example, then I wouldn't note that observation again and assess again and therefore unlikely to keep using the same statements. It's a balancing act really; trying to provide a range of activities, which follow LOs interests but also which give you a fair chance of using a range of statements.

Regarding parent's input, I send home an 'Other Settings' Form every now and then to let me know what LO's current interests are, routine etc. I also send home learning journals periodically, diaries daily and ask for comments. I don't particularly take into account what statements I have or haven't used, I just want to know the facts first then think later about how to incorporate those comments into activities which the child will find interesting and go from there. If parents say something like 'LO crawled by himself today', I wouldn't personally write an obs/assessment about it, I would wait and see for myself. I send home 'WOW slips' which I then stick into the Learning Journal. This helps me log what parent's have observed at home.

Sorry about the waffle! Everyone does it slightly differently, I personally don't get hung up on which statements I have or haven't used but I do keep an eye if some areas are slightly lacking.

HTH :thumbsup:

[dette]

Well I use the Orbit Early Years website which gives you, at a glance, which statements have been used. I don't necessarily try and ensure I use all of the statements but of course on the other hand you don't particularly want to use the same statement over and over. If I have noticed LO has started crawling, for example, then I wouldn't note that observation again and assess again and therefore unlikely to keep using the same statements. It's a balancing act really; trying to provide a range of activities, which follow LOs interests but also which give you a fair chance of using a range of statements.

Regarding parent's input, I send home an 'Other Settings' Form every now and then to let me know what LO's current interests are, routine etc. I also send home learning journals periodically, diaries daily and ask for comments. I don't particularly take into account what statements I have or haven't used, I just want to know the facts first then think later about how to incorporate those comments into activities which the child will find interesting and go from there. If parents say something like 'LO crawled by himself today', I wouldn't personally write an obs/assessment about it, I would wait and see for myself. I send home 'WOW slips' which I then stick into the Learning Journal. This helps me log what parent's have observed at home.

Sorry about the waffle! Everyone does it slightly differently, I personally don't get hung up on which statements I have or haven't used but I do keep an eye if some areas are slightly lacking.

HTH :thumbsup:

if parent tells me something that LO has done at home i will put an observation in stating "mam said today that LO has taken 2 steps " etc then i will add another ob when i see it myself