28 Unit 1 Children and Families in Today’s World Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Ways to Observe There are many ways to observe children. The best way is to observe children directly. Many observations, however, are done indirectly. Direct Observations A direct observation means watching chil- dren in their natural environments. These envi- ronments include home, play groups, child care programs, schools, and public places, such as shopping centers, parks, and restaurants (Figure 1.14). Most direct observations occur in these types of places. Researchers often set up special laboratory settings where they can do direct observations of behaviors that do not occur in the natural environ- ment. They may need to observe, for example, how a baby reacts when the mother leaves the room and a stranger enters. Researchers also use laboratory observations to speed up the observation process. Suppose researchers want to observe a child’s bal- ancing skills. If they go to a park with a balance beam, they may wait hours before they observe enough children to form a sample for their study. In a laboratory, however, children would arrive at the setting, walk the beam, and leave. Researchers also use laboratory settings when special equip- ment is needed. to ask questions about what you see. This is how professional researchers learn. • Like professional researchers, your assignment may cause you to want to learn more about a behavior. For example, you may hear three-year-olds reciting numbers from 1 to 10. Does this mean they can count objects to 10? To fi nd out, you may need to observe behavior more closely. • Observing children can help you better interact with the children in your care. You can learn this by observing how others work with children and how the children react to them. When you observe adults who work with children, you can learn to imitate their successful behaviors. For instance, if you observe a teacher sitting on the fl oor working with children, you might later try this, too. This can help you interact with children in a more positive way. Because many skills are learned through imitation, this type of observation is important. • In some cases, you may be allowed to participate in the activities of children while observing. Extra “helping hands” are often needed and serve as a learning experience for you, too. In all cases, by watching carefully, you can respond quickly if dangers arise. Figure 1.13 Each time this student observes and takes notes, she learns to see more. When was the last time you observed a child’s behavior? What did you learn from that observation?