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Observation
When it comes to children in childcare; observation is the first step when screening a child for mental health symptoms. Without observation, the educator doesn't know whether or not a child is displaying mental health signs and symptoms. Observation allows educators to "provide children with a safe and nurturing learning environment and to maintain program effectiveness, teachers must incorporate observation, documentation and assessment into their daily routines" (Peterson et al., 2020.) In order for educators to know how children are developing, they must fully observe the child on a daily basis before coming to any conclusions about symptoms of a mental health disorder.
(Observation template downloads, 2019)
Observation Chart
Observation Chart
The purpose of this observation sheet is to allow educators to ensure they are fully observing children and their developmental milestones.
The observation sheet can be used everyday to allow educators to keep track of different symptoms a child may be displaying. It should be used when the educator needs to keep track of the child's progress in their class. This allows the educator to have evidence of the child showing symptoms and may also allow the parents to bring this sheet(s) to a medical professional if they wish to seek outside support.
A link that provides multiple observations templates is https://ourpreschool.ie/observation-templates-downloads/
Pediatric Symptom Checklist
The Pediatric Symptom Checklist is important for children as "psychosocial problems are relatively common, affecting about 12% of children. Such problems often go unnoticed by pediatricians, teachers and even parents and can lead to more serious problems in later life" (Pediatric symptom checklist, n.d.) At times children's mental health can go unseen by many people in their life, which is why it is important to take advantage of this checklist to ensure the child is showing no symptoms of mental health; if they are showing symptoms, it is important to get them the support they need.
(Pediatric symptom checklist, n.d.)
Symptom Checklist
Symptom Checklist
The purpose of the pediatric symptom checklist is to assess children for mental health disorders early in life. It allows professionals to be able to recognize mental health disorders and treat children appropriately.
The pediatric symptoms checklist may be used in different ways. Yourself as the educator may assess the child to detect if any mental health issues are present, it is important to have consent from the caregivers before performing an evaluation. Another way this could be used is having a conversation with the parents about how you have noticed symptoms and then giving them this checklist and asking them to fill it out. It would be best for both the educator and parents as this would allow for more data about the symptoms that are being exhibited. This would help support a child as the parents may wish to bring this to the attention of a mental health professional.
A PDF to the checklist and what to do with the findings of this checklist can be found here:
https://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/treatments-and-services/pediatric-symptom-checklist
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