01 Oct Early Childhood Interview
PYCL512 Human Growth and Development
Assignment Early Childhood Interview
Interview a parent of a child between the ages of two and six using the questions below. In interviewing the parent, be sure to tell him/her that the interview is for a project for your course in development. Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can. You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while talking to the parent, but be sure to cover all of the issues included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using follow-up probes to get longer answers:
–Can you tell me more about that?
–I don’t understand. Can you give me an example?
–How does that make you feel?
–How important is that to you?
–using “uh-huh” and head nodding may also lead to more responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.
PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
A. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Comment on the health of the mother during pregnancy. __________________________________________________
Comment on the health of your child during delivery and infancy. __________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
When did your child walk? ______________________ When did your child talk? _________________________
Is your child adopted? __________________________ Does he/she know it? _____________________________
Does your child have bladder control? _______________ Child’s terminology ______________________________
Does your child have bowel control? ________________ Child’s terminology ______________________________
Does your child need help when going to the bathroom? _________________________________________________
Does your child need reminding about going to the bathroom? _____________________________________________
Does your child usually take a nap? _________________ At what time? ___________________________________
Does your child have any difficulty saying what he/she wants or do you have any trouble understanding his/her speech? _______________________________________________________________________________________________
B. EATING HABITS
What is your child’s general attitude towards eating? ____________________________________________________
What foods does your child especially like? ___________________________________________________________
For which meal is your child most hungry? ____________________________________________________________
Does your child dislike any food in particular? _________________________________________________________
Is your child on a special diet? ______________________________________________________________________
Does your child eat or chew things that are not food? ________ Explain ____________________________________
C. PLAY AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
Has your child participated in any group experiences? ____ If so, where? ___________________________________
Did your child enjoy it? ___________________________________________________________________________
Does your child relate to other children? ______________________________________________________________
Does your child prefer to play alone? __________ with other children? ____________________________________
Does your child worry a lot or is he/she very afraid of anything? ___________________________________________
What causes worry or fear? ________________________________________________________________________
Does your child have any pets? _____________________________________________________________________
What are your child’s favorite toys, books and activities? ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
What is your child’s favorite TV program? ____________________________________________________________
How long does your child watch TV each day? _________________________________________________________
How many times a week is your child read to? _________________________________________________________
D. DISCIPLINE/ PARENT’S IMPRESSIONS
In most circumstances, do you consider your child easily managed, fairly easy to manage, or difficult to manage? ___
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
What concerns do you presently have about your child? __________________________________________________
How are these concerns dealt with? __________________________________________________________________
How would you describe your child at the present time? __________________________________________________
Does your child have any behavior characteristics which you hope will change? _______________________________
In what ways would you like to see your child develop during the school year? ________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please also complete a 20 minute observation/interview of the child.
Student question. Based on what you’ve learned, ask at least one more question; what else
would you like to know about this person’s life?
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After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of the prenatal/first year? (What did you think before? What do you think now?)
