Observing and Recording the Behavior of Young Children

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 record keeping 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.

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.