Child-centered observations embrace the philosophy of pragmatic learning. One of the originators of behaviorist psychology, philosopher John Dewey, identified pragmatic learning as key to understanding a child's wants and needs. Instead of guessing or assuming what the child needs, use basic practices of observation to identify what the child naturally wants to learn. Children often display what they want to learn by demonstrating their efforts through physical activity. Every child-centered observation is specific and provides the onlooker with information about the child being observed.
Giving children daily playtime in both indoor and outdoor settings provides the observer with two distinct environments in which the children will naturally display what they want to learn. An intellectual or artistically inclined child may naturally gravitate toward drawing in notebooks or on sidewalks, for example. Playtime offers you the chance to observe his physical, mental and verbal development, along with emotions and interpersonal behavior, Earlychildhood NEWS states.
Avoid judging or presupposing your observations. Assuming what a child wants to learn, for example, may repress his natural capacity to create, thus frustrating him. Providing a child with a penchant to draw with a multitude of writing tools -- pencils, crayons, chalk or paint brushes, for example -- will further expand your understanding of how your child wishes to progress in his learning. Write down what you see in your observations and any patterns of behavior displayed by the child. Observe how the child does what he does, but refrain from putting negative or positive connotations on it.
Helping the child learn is an active role the observer can play in the learning process. Setting short- and long-term goals, for instance, for the child provides constructive challenges to enhance his learning. If your child is interested in drawing, and you notice through observation he clutches a pencil inappropriately, make it a goal to help him learn how to appropriately hold the pencil.