April 2026 Blog - "Observation and Detail"

NATIONAL DAY - APRIL 2ND- INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S BOOK DAY

APRIL 15 - WORLD ART DAY ( TAX DAY)

Welcome to April! They say April showers bring May flowers so this is a good time to "pay attention" to the nature of things and take note of all the wonders happening around us. Whether it's a few new buds growing on some plants or construction in a new traffic pattern around town, it is important to be able to see how these often small changes around us can blossom into things that are beneficial to many people.

I know that where I live in Charlotte, there's always something "big" going on in building new houses, apartments and traffic circles. Learning to pay close attentin to these happenings has become second nature for me and others as well. Often times, when you take notice of something, it can cause a ripple effect so that you become accustomed to looking for changes wherever you go. That is the mark of being a good observer to detail, and the part of this blog I've dedicated to the writing piece this month.

1) Writing- When children learn to become more observant, it opens the path to helping them strengthen their writing. Teaching children to notice the small things, like a fence with a lopsided post (as I have in my yard) or a road sign that has letters missing so you can't tell where you are going, improves how they internalize their surroundings and process some of the feelings that can turn into good writing.

By engaging children to use their senses, they learn to "show, not tell," so sentences become more vivid and thoughtful.

Some techniques you can use to teach children to become observant and notice small things are to adopt a "writers eye" and only focus on small details instead of the whole picture. For example, as mentioned in previous blogs, when looking at everyday objects, let children use a magnifying glass to find any differences in patterns and colors, particularly when looking at nature like rocks, leaves even small bugs they can catch and release.

Maintaining a journal is essential for note taking when observing things to record. They will start to write down words that create a habit of asking questions while they write and incorporate the senses into their writing such as, "it looked like a fuzzy blanket is on its back" when describing a caterpillar, which is a far cry from just writing, "I saw a caterpillar." Children often enjoy drawing what they observe so sketching an object on their journal page can help them recall and capture details they don't want to miss. When observing and writing with detail, a walk in nature or listening to sounds of nature in an outdoor area, writing scenes that describe what they hear helps their auditory acuity and brings together the "sound and sights" activity children enjoy.

When I taught preschool, I alternated between "show and tell" days when school first started to "the mystery bag." Instead of students showing their class mates an object and telling about it once they were ready to go to the next step and feel confident leading the activity, they would bring something in a paper bag and select two or three friends in class to guess what it was based on how it "felt" inside the bag. Each student would take turns on a given day assigned and bring an item from a list to use in the mystery bag once they were comfortable talking in front of the class at "show and tell."

The anticipation of someone guessing the item based on touch without seeing it was exciting! It strengthens verbal skills as well as imaginative talk, then as they get older, they become used to writing what they see and hear. They were encouraged to use descriptive language like, "it feels slimy" or "it feels like something my mom uses in the kitchen because it feels like wood." Examples are given first to demonstrate the way to describe the items in the bag. The teachers and TA's would also participate to bring the activity into a whole class experience!

The following printable sheet on "five things I noticed" will help your youngsters with writing and drawing to help strengthen their observational language.

The more observant kids are, the better their writing is!

2) Education- This month, I'll be discussing "Observation Skills as a Learning tool." This comes in particularly handy when working in science, reading comprehension and story telling.

Just as in the Writing section, observation skills aren't difficult to achieve using similar techniques in note taking, and actively using all five senses to gather information, look at patterns and create independent thinking.

The thing about using observation as a learning tool is that it creates authentic results. Using a variety of methods helps to acquire active engagement in subject matter allowing students to achieve a deep understanding of tasks and results.

As mentioned in the Writing section, tracking by using sketchbooks, logs, comparison charts, can establish attention to detail that is necessary in gathering information across different means.

In using observation skills, it is important to train the senses to notice details in your surrounding environment. Paying attention to what you're observing, how they effect your result and why. The how could be any of the five senses; for example, if you are looking for things that move only when touched by something else (as in a door knob opens a door, but the door can't open unless the knob turns to open the door.)

That may be a little deep but giving students a chance to demonstrate these options creates more observations in other ways.

Moving the observation into reading and story telling, the goal is to encourage students to make deeper connections with content, moving from concrete to abstract understanding. By looking for clues, patterns and details in text, students make predictions and engage in more independent thinking, putting active observation above passive reading. Asking "what does this book make you think about," and other like questions helps to deepen their involvement in understanding word choice, imagery and character behaviors such as repeated actions (nervous twitching, constant touching nose or mouth).

All of these techniques lead toward students developing independent and deep interpretations of text and fostering habits to become "analyzers" in everyday life.

3) Parenting- So much of today's parenting has families going in dozens of directions in just one week to fulfill the activities their children are participating in. Learning to keep up with the demands of school, homework, after school activities, family time and time to rest and re-group can be challenging for so many families. You want your child to benefit from the involvement of a sport, dance, horseback riding, swimming, gymnastics or other recreational activity, but at times it is overwhelming to schedule time to check in together and discuss what is being done and learned.

It is so important that while children are growing in their bodies by activity, that they become observers and pay mindful attention in a busy world. Just because children have outside obligations, it doesn't mean they shouldn't practice slowing down to take in all they are learning.

Modeling this "slow-down" behavior is a way to show children how to focus on one thing at a time, and to "Watch, Wait and Wonder" before acting.

Teaching observational learning in order to be mindful and attentive in a busy world does involve modeling. Choosing the right activity to help the slow down process also helps. In our current "instant gratification" world, we must focus on providing ways for learning and processing to take place. As a family, distributing chore responsibilities can be one way to include children to see the bigger picture while getting life done. When it comes to switching gears from activity to activity, try using a group dynamic to start, like going out to eat dinner and waiting to place the order, then waiting for the order to arrive, and then taking time to eat without rushing, as one might do at home.

Try some new techniques like using chop sticks to eat instead of regular utensils. It is not easy to eat a lot of foods on two wooden sticks! Include your child to help you fold laundry by watching how you do it, then asking them to help lighten the load and fold the bathroom towels. Activities that naturally have a slow-paced routine helps to develop the mental mindset that not everything has to be a marathon.

Putting some soft music on while engaging in this type of activity helps.

A fun and healthy family activity this month could be going on a short walk, perhaps after dinner, and write about what was noticed. Once again, the eyes will spot things and a discussion on how it makes them feel (reflective) or tell what it smells like when on a nature trail with no fumes, only clean outdoor aromas.

Regardless of what choices you make with your child, to spend time together, always provide opportunities for them to observe and notice what is around them. It will help them focus, think critically and connect with the environment.

I hope you enjoyed this month's topics and can't wait to bring you more writing and sharing when I discuss STORY STRUCTURE MADE SIMPLE in May!

Keep watching and writing and enjoy time with your families and friends!

See ya next month!

ANITA :)