The aim of this teaching resource is to instruct learners in a systematic approach to critical and quality observation of normal childhood development. The resource is divided into three sections – Pre-Assessment, Teaching and Post-Assessment.

The assessment tasks are for personal evaluation only. Worksheets have been supplied to assist learners in recording their knowledge and observations, which can then be compared to the model answers provided.

Each section contains real life assessment videos of children aged between 10 months and 52 months in an informal clinic setting. Assessments are conducted by Dr Clare Cunningham, Consultant Paediatrician (retired), Sydney Children’s Hospital. The video assessments have been edited and condensed to demonstrate important skills at each age in the following domains – Language, Social, Cognition, Gross Motor and Fine Motor.

The observational skills taught are by no means meant to replace the use of formal developmental screeners or assessment tools should this be indicated, but can used as part of a comprehensive clinical assessment of any young child, or as a preliminary test to determine if further assessment is required. Nor does it provide an exhaustive list of milestones at each age. Rather, the resource teaches skills in the observation of children during play/interaction with the carer/examiner that can be applied to any outpatient or rooms setting.

Completing the full package will take approximately 6 hours in total, but each video can be viewed separately (length varies between 15 and 40 minutes). To allow smoother streaming of the longer videos you may need to press pause and allow the video to load for a few minutes before resuming.