HDFS 421 Lab 4: Checklist

Learning Group 16
Jessica Hervey, Cara Redmond & Brittany Roden
Introduction
The purpose of our observations was to observe 6 children in the classroom setting,
keeping a checklist of skills we noticed them demonstrating. For this assessment, we made note
of children who demonstrated the skill, had the opportunity but did not demonstrate the skill, and
did not have the opportunity to demonstrate the skill. We developed two checklists based on the
CDC milestones. We decided to focus on language and cognitive skills.
The definition of a checklist from Alternative Approaches to Assessing Young Children is,
lists of behaviors that provide information on which behaviors a child is able to perform
(Losardo & Syverson, 34). We used checklists to determine which skills the children were
demonstrating (if given the opportunity) and which were still not. Although each group member
observed at different times, we decided to compile our checklists into one table. If the child had
demonstrated the skill at least once across each observation, we gave them a 1. If the child was
given the opportunity to demonstrate the skill but did not, we gave them a 0. If the child was not
given the opportunity to demonstrate the skill, we recorded N/O on the table.
The observations took place in Ms. Thompsons room at the Haslett Child Development
Lab. The children in the class range from ages 3-4. We observed six children. We will refer to
these children as Child A, B, C, D, E, and F. All children are 4 years of age. Children A and E are
males. The others are female. We observed the children during arrival, free choice, large group,
and small groups. We believed this would give us the best opportunity to observe children
demonstrating language and cognitive skills. Cara observed on 10/14/15 from 1:00-2:00,
Jessica observed on 10/15/15 from 2:00-2:45, and Brittany observed on 10/15/15 from 2:153:00.
Data
Language Checklist
Knows the basic rules of grammar, such as
correctly using he and she

Sings a song or says a poem

from memory

Tells
stories

Can say first and

last name

Child A

N/O

N/O

Child B

N/O

Child
C

N/O

Child
D

N/O

Child E

N/O

Child F

N/O

TOTAL

N/O

Cognitive Checklist
Names
colors
and
some
number
s

Understand
s idea of
counting

Starts to
understan
d time

Remember
s parts of a
story

Understan
d same
and
different

Draws
perso
n with
two or
more
body
parts

Uses
scissor
s

Starts
to
copy
capita
l
letters

Plays
board
or
card
game
s

Tells
you
what
he
thinks
is
going
to
happen
next in
a book

Child A

N/O

Child
B

N/O

N/O

N/O

Child
C

N/O

Child
D

N/O

N/O

N/O

Child
E

N/O

N/O

Child F

N/O

TOTAL

N/O

Summary & Interpretation

Many of the language skills that we were assessing were present during throughout our
observation. All the children showed that they understood the basic rules of grammar. Except
for child A, who was not given an opportunity to demonstrate this skill, all the children showed
the ability to sing a song and recite information from memory and were also able to tell stories.
According to the CDC Milestone Checklist, by the time a child reaches their 4 birthday the child
should be able to demonstrate all the skills we assessed the children for. None of the children
were given the opportunity to say there first and last name so we werent able to assess that
skill. The teacher can provide activities that will allow for the children to practice saying their
first and last name to show if theyve mastered this skill.
th

When we assessed the children according to the cognitive checklist, we saw a larger range of
numbers. According to the CDC Milestone Checklist, at the age of 4, the child should be able to
name some colors and some numbers, understand the idea of counting, begin to understand
time, remember parts of a story, understand the idea of same and different, drawing a person
with 2 to 4 body parts, use scissors, begin to copying some capital letters, playing board or card
games and able to tell you what they thinks is going to happen next in a book. If the child
doesnt demonstrate that they have this skills than it is important for the teacher to create
cognitive activities to practice those skills. According to the data, all of the children
demonstrated skills in naming colors, numbers, understanding counting, same and difference.

Only half of the students were able to draw a person with two or more body parts and that was
the category where the most number of children wasnt able to demonstrate the skill with the
given opportunity. There were certain cognitive skills that the children werent given the
opportunity to demonstrate during the observation. None of the children was given the
opportunity to play board games and card games. All the children that was given the
opportunity was able to use scissors and able to remember parts of a story.
Child E had the most missed opportunities than the other children. With the given opportunity
Child F and Child C and D demonstrated all the given skills. With the given opportunity, Child A
and B missed one of the kills which was drawing a person with two or more body parts.
Follow-Up
According to the CDC, by the time the child reaches the age 5, the language checklist
will include the child having the ability to speak very clearly, tell a simple story using full
sentences and future tense, and the ability to say their name and address. In order to reach
master this skill, the children must first master all the skills in the age 4 developmental
milestones. We know that children develop at different rates so it will be important for the
teacher to create activities until all the students have mastered that skill. By setting up
language-based activities, children will be able to develop better verbal skills. The cognitive
checklist for 5 year olds includes the ability to count 10 or more things, able to draw a person
with at least 6 body parts, can print some letters or numbers, able to copy a triangle and other
geometric shapes and also know about things used every day, like money and food. A teacher
can promote cognitive development by having their children participate in group activities such
as practicing the alphabet, singing songs, identifying noises, practicing counting, shapes and
colors and offering a variety of games that encourages children to problem solve. Teachers can
continue using the checklist to assess the children to see if they are developing according to the
CDC Milestone Checklist.
Reflection
After utilizing this type of assessment, we have learned much more about it. When we
were first developing our checklists, we took into account the age group we would be observing
and what skills we thought were most important to observe at that age. Because we were
observing 4 year olds, we decided to observe the language and cognitive domains.
Using the CDC milestones checklist, we developed our own tables that allowed us to
check off whether or not each child was demonstrating that skill. We decided to compile our
checklists into one table. If the child had demonstrated the skill at least once across each
observation, we gave them one check for that skill. We noted this as an area of weakness. If a
child had demonstrated the skill one time out of the three observations, they were still awarded
the same check as a child who demonstrated the skill during every observation. If our group
had chosen to include every check we gave the children, it could be much more telling of
where the child is in their development. This would tell us how frequently the child demonstrated
the skill. Another point that came up in our discussion was the fact that checklists are very
quantitative, meaning they do not provide much detail. Checklists are very straightforward as
opposed to anecdotal notes or running records. With checklists, we are unable to document the
detailed accounts of what we observed.
With that being said, we found that checklists are a good way of determining not only how a
single child is developing, but also by comparing children in the same classroom side by side.
The total row of our tables made it easy to see which skills may need additional scaffolding

and which have been mastered by the children. By marking some children as N/O (meaning
the opportunity to demonstrate the skill was never presented) highlighted areas where the
caregivers could improve. By looking at these N/O areas, the caregivers could implement
more opportunities to demonstrate this skill in their instruction.