The activities which absorb and interest individual children.
Reactions to new activities and experiences, understanding that for some children such experiences can be both exciting and worrying.
Children's attentiveness to others, such as at group time, when a child is telling the others about something they have done at home, for example, helping to bath the baby.
Self-confidence and Self-esteem
The different ways children find to express their feelings, such as, "We are going to the tree house because the scary monsters are after us".
Children's pleasure in who they are and what they can do.
How children show their own feelings and are sensitive to the needs, views and feelings of others.
Children's awareness and appreciation of their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people.
Making Relationships
Children's acceptance that they may need to wait for something, or to share things.
Children's relationships with other children and with adults.
Examples of children cooperating with other children or with an adult.
How children show you they understand that they cannot always have what they want, when they want it.
How children react to new social situations.
Children's understanding that their own actions affect other people.
Behaviour and Self-control
Children's understanding of boundaries and behavioural expectations.
Children's increasing understanding of acceptable behaviour for themselves and others.
Children's ideas and explanations about what is right and wrong.
Children's awareness of the consequences of their words and actions.
Self-care
How children set about a chosen activity or task, and the success they achieve.
Children's recognition and management of their own needs, for example, that they need to put on a waterproof coat to go out in the rain.
Sense of Community
Children's interest in and respect for different ways of life.
Children's recognition and appreciation of their place in the world and extended family, and among friends and neighbours.
Communication, Language and Literacy
Look, listen and note
Language for Communication
Children's readiness to engage in conversation.
Children's awareness of conventions, such as taking turns to talk.
How children link statements to develop stories and explanations.
The purposes for which children use talk, for example, to gain attention or to resolve disagreements.
How children concentrate on what others say and their responses to what they have heard.
Rhymes and songs children know by heart.
Children's made-up songs.
Children's growing vocabulary.
The occasions when children speak clearly and confidently and show awareness of the listener.
Language for Thinking
How children use talk to reflect upon, clarify, sequence and think about present and past experiences, ideas and feelings.
How children link one thing to another to explain and anticipate things. For example, "We won't play out today because it's too windy... you might get blown away".
Ways in which children use language in their pretend and imaginary play.
For children speaking languages other than English, note which language is dominant, as well as their use of gesture and intonation to convey meaning.
Linking Sounds and Letters
Children's alternative versions of favourite rhymes that draw upon their phonic knowledge.
Children's knowledge of initial sounds at the beginning of words, short vowel sounds within words and endings of words. For example, Ranjit notices the letters in his name whenever he sees them, such as 'j' at the beginning of jam.
How children link sounds to letters and begin to use this knowledge to write words, for example, "Pz cn I hv a d" (Please can I have a drink).
Children's confidence in blending and segmenting and in using grapheme-phoneme knowledge to read and spell regular consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, including consonant digraphs and long vowels.
The ways in which children use their phonic knowledge and the number of grapheme-phoneme correspondences used for reading and writing in a variety of contexts.
How children read simple words by sounding out and blending the phonemes all through the word from left to right.
Reading
Children's book choices.
Children's understanding about how information is kept in different places and can be retrieved.
Children's understanding of the elements of stories, for example, Mehmet refers to the 'beginning' and 'end' of a story. He says, "I don't like that ending. I think he should've run away and been happy ever after".
How children use non-fiction books.
The favourite books, songs and rhymes children turn to, to be re-read and enjoyed.
The phonic skills children use in decoding text.
The strategies that children use to read.
The words that children recognise, such as their name and signs such as 'open'.
The confidence with which children use their developing phonic knowledge.
Writing
How children use writing to record things or to communicate, for example, Marcus writes "Marcus, fz (Faraz) and tm (Tommy)" on a drawing of himself and his two friends playing together.
Instances of writing for different purposes such as labelling the contents on the outside of a box.
How children make use of phonic knowledge as they attempt to write words and simple sentences, for example, "I went to see fiyuwercs and hat to pc by the hut" (I went to see fireworks and had to park by the hut).
Handwriting
Children's dexterity in using a range of tools in their play and writing.
Children's formation of recognisable letters.
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Look, listen and note
Numbers as Labels and for Counting
The personal numbers that children refer to, such as their age, house number, telephone number or the number of people in their family.
Instances of children counting an irregular arrangement of up to ten objects.
Children's methods of counting out up to six objects from a larger group, for example, when children do a jigsaw together and share out the pieces, counting to check everyone has the same number.
How children begin to represent numbers using fingers, marks on paper or pictures.
Children's recognition of numerals.
How children use their developing understanding of maths to solve mathematical problems, for example, solving a debate about which of two piles of pebbles has more in it.
Calculating
Methods children use to answer a problem they have posed, for example, "Get one more, and then we will both have two".
How children find the sum of two numbers.
The variety in responses when children work out a calculation.
The ways children count repeated groups of the same size, for example, counting the number of socks in five pairs.
How children share objects, for example, sharing eight crayons equally among four children and knowing that each child has two crayons.
Children working out what remains if something is taken away.
Shape, Space and Measures
Children's interest in and observation of shapes, such as how some are the same or different.
How children match some shapes by recognising similarities and orientation, for example, Stevie looked at a rhomboid, saying, "It looks like a boat". Picking up a triangle, she says, "This one's different... it's only got three points".
How children select a named shape for a particular purpose.
Children's use of positional or directional clues, for example, "We had to come round the park and past the shops".
Children's ordering of two items by length or height, for example, comparing the length of zips on coats: "Too long for your coat".
Children's identification of a mathematical problem involving shape, space or measures and the ways they solve them.
Children's use of positional language, for example, "I'm near the end of the path".
Words children use to describe comparisons and measures such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter'.
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Look, listen and note
Exploration and Investigation
The changes and patterns that children notice.
Instances of children identifying features of living things or objects.
Ways in which children find out about things in the environment, for example, by handling something and looking at it closely.
Instances of children investigating everyday events, such as why a bicycle stops when the brakes are pressed.
Designing and Making
The ways that children make things, for example, a child might use card, scissors, glue, string and a hole punch to make a bag to carry some things home.
How children construct for their own purposes.
Children's own assessment of the fitness for purpose of their designs and the modifications they decide to make to them.
Making a model with glue - In reception class, a practitioner supports the child in fixing boxes together. [transcript]
You can watch the video, via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
ICT
How children coordinate actions to use technology, for example, to direct dial a telephone number.
Time
How children refer to past events, such as how long ago it was since they visited the swimming baths.
How a child compares experiences in their own life with those of others, for example, comparing their own play and playthings with their grandparents' experiences of play and playthings.
Place
How children talk about the different features of the surroundings, such as the sizes, shapes, uses and types of buildings or spaces they notice on a walk to the shops.
How children connect photographs to places in the environment and can work out a route, for example, from the local shop to their setting.
How children talk about and evaluate the quality of their environment, by, for example, talking about how the flower baskets improve the area, and how the litter makes it look untidy.
Communities
The interest children show in stories, music and dance from a range of cultures.
How children talk about the practices and beliefs of their friends.
How children express their attitudes such as about differences in skin colours.
How children respond to information about people's unfamiliar lifestyles.
Physical Development
Look, listen and note
Movement and Space
The different ways children find of moving across and off and on objects.
How children combine movements to make simple sequences.
The way children recognise the need to take account of space when they plan to do things such as building and demolishing a tower or riding a wheeled toy.
The ways children manage themselves safely.
The ways children negotiate equipment by, for example, balancing, climbing, sliding or slithering.
Children's fine motor control when using a pencil or a brush.
Children's free, spontaneous movement and how they demonstrate control.
Health and Bodily Awareness
How children indicate that they are hungry or need to wash their hands before starting to cook.
Children's familiarity with hygienic practices, such as throwing used tissues in a bin.
Children's understanding of what they need to do to maintain health, for example, a child telling others they are going to the dentist: "I need to have a check-up to keep my teeth strong".
Children talking about and feeling their heart beating after running, without prompting from an adult.
Using Equipment and Materials
Children's preferred hand for putting on clothes or using a paintbrush.
Children's developing ball skills.
Children's play patterns, identifying the ways they show interest in using a range of equipment and materials.
The different ways children explore and manipulate materials.
The tools children use to achieve effects.
Some of the ways children demonstrate their understanding of the need for handling equipment safely, such as when they carry a chair, ensuring they point its legs towards the ground.
How children use their skills when creating something they need in their play, or want to give to a friend.
Creative Development
Look, listen and note
Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas
The connections children make as they respond to different experiences, for example, remembering being cold at Diwali and seeing the cheery lights may inspire one child to begin to dance like the flames of the Diwali lamps.
How children respond to new experiences and how they respond differently to similar experiences, for example, a child may run around moving their arms rhythmically when they see or hear a train, or run along calling "train, train" as if they are trying to catch up with it, while another day they may want to draw, paint or represent the power of the train.
How children design and create, either using their own ideas or developing those of others.
Exploring Media and Materials
The inventive ways in which children mix colours.
The decisions that children make about colour choices.
How children experiment to create new effects and textures, for example, by drizzling glue over wool, or squirting pools of colour on to paper.
How children combine their creative skills and imagination to create something new, such as when a small group of children are using large blocks to represent their experience of a visit to the ferry port. After much discussion and negotiation they make arrows for the one-way system and a variety of signs and symbols. They tell the stories of people who will go on the ferry and wonder about whether one family will get there on time.
The numerous ways in which children create and construct, and how their explorations lead to new understandings about media.
Making a model with glue - In reception class, a practitioner supports the child in fixing boxes together. [transcript]
You can watch the video, via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Creating Music and Dance
Children's interest in exploring sound, rhythm and the arts such as when, in response to listening to music that represents the sea, the children composed their own sound picture. This led them into planning and constructing a pirate ship in the role-play area and using materials in the art and technology area to make hats, flags and other props to support their play.
Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play
The way stories are developed in children's play, for example, children may start 'swimming' on the 'beach' and extend their storyline into a meeting with a mermaid and their adventures with her.
