Recording and viewing observations

Observations in Montessori practice

Observations are the foundation of Montessori documentation. They capture what a child is doing, how they engage with materials, and what they are learning. In FutureNerds, observations become part of each child's permanent record and can feed into report cards and parent communication.

Two ways to record

1. Quick Record (recommended for during the work cycle). Tap the floating button, select a child, type your note. See the Quick Record guide for details.

2. Full observation form. Open a child's profile and go to the School Records tab. Click New observation. This gives you a full form with:

   • Child selector (one or more children).
   • Observation type (general, competency, social-emotional, or progress assessment).
   • Linked competency (optional -- connects the observation to a specific competency in the curriculum).
   • Description text.
   • Date (defaults to today).
   • Share with parents toggle.

Writing good observations

Focus on what the child did, not your interpretation:

• Good: "Amir picked up the pink tower blocks, built the tower from largest to smallest, then rebuilt it twice without assistance. He corrected his own errors by comparing block sizes."
• Avoid: "Amir is great at the pink tower."

Include:

• What materials the child used.
• How long they engaged.
• Whether they worked alone or with others.
• Any new skills or behaviors you noticed.

Sharing with parents

Toggle Share with parents to make an observation visible on the parent's dashboard. Keep the language professional and positive. Parents see the date, category, and your description.

When the toggle is off, the observation is staff-only. Administrators and other teachers at your school can see it, but parents cannot.

Viewing observations

• By child -- open a child's profile and click the School Records tab to see everything recorded for them, sorted by date.
• School-wide feed -- the progress page shows recent observations across all children.

Bookmarking to portfolio

You can bookmark any observation to a child's portfolio. See the portfolio guide for details.

Tips

• Aim for at least one observation per child per week.
• Record observations the same day while details are fresh.
• Link observations to competencies when they relate to a specific presentation. This builds the child's curriculum progress history.