Evaluating the Progress of the Whole Child

---

HealthWiki > Disabled Village Children > Chapter 5: Simple Ways to Measure and Record a Child’s Progress > Evaluating the Progress of the Whole Child

---

In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

A simple way for rehabilitation workers and parents to evaluate how a child is progressing as a whole is to keep a record of her ability to do different things. Each month, or during each visit to the community rehabilitation center, the child’s different abilities are reviewed, tested, or observed. Any changes are recorded.

For children under 5 years old, one way of evaluating a child’s development is to use the RECORD SHEET 6. This chart shows the developmental levels (‘milestones’) for different skills and activities. The first time the child is evaluated, circle the drawing that shows what the child can do in each area.

Each time the child is evaluated, on the same sheet, again circle the appropriate drawing, but use a different color (or a dotted, dashed, or zigzag line). This way, you can see where the child is moving ahead well and where he is behind.

For evaluating the progress of children over age 5, the charts below may help. Two different approaches are used. Chart A is more objective (requires less personal judgment or opinion) but does not allow for small improvements. Chart B is more subjective (is based more on personal judgments). It considers quality of improvement, not just quantity. You can try both and see which you think gives truer, more useful results.

To use Chart A: For each skill, circle whether the child can do it “without help,” “with a little help,” or “with lots of help.” Add all the numbers you circle. Compare the scores of the first and second visits. For example:

	First visit			Second visit
	without help	little help	lots of help	without help	little help	lots of help
How does the child eat?	4	➁	0	➃	2	0
How does the child drink?	4	➁	0	4	➁	0

Here we see the child has improved his eating skills but not his drinking skills.

Note: We question whether the use of numbers may not be misleading. But we think the questions themselves may be a useful guideline. None of these evaluation forms will show all areas of change or improvement. They are not substitutes for detailed notes, drawings, and a good memory!

Click here for PDF of the following chart

EVALUATION OF PROGRESS—CHILD OVER AGE 5

Name______________________________________ Age_______ Disability_______________

CHART A	First visit____________ (date)			Second visit____________ (date)
Daily activities	without help	little help	lots of help	without help	little help	lots of help
Feeding
1. How does the child eat?	4	2	0	4	2	0
2. How does the child drink?	4	2	0	4	2	0
Dressing and washing
3. Does child wash face and body?	4	2	0	4	2	0
4. Does child dress?	4	2	0	4	2	0
5. Does child put on orthopedic equipment?	4	2	0	4	2	0
Bowel and bladder care and control
6. Does child stay clean (bowel control)?	4	2	0	4	2	0
7. Does child clean herself after shitting?	4	2	0	4	2	0
8. Does child stay dry during the day?	4	2	0	4	2	0
9. Does child stay dry at night?	4	2	0	4	2	0
Mobility/transfers
10. Does child move from chair to bed and back?	4	2	0	4	2	0
11. Does child move from floor to bed and back?	4	2	0	4	2	0
Movement
12. Walks on flat surface?	4	2	0	4	2	0
13. Walks on uneven surface?	4	2	0	4	2	0
14. Climbs up and down stairs?	4	2	0	4	2	0
15. Uses a wheelboard or wheelchair?	4	2	0	4	2	0
16. Does child crawl?	4	2	0	4	2	0
Social activities/communication
17. Does child help with housework or farm work?	4	2	0	4	2	0
18. Does child play with other children?	4	2	0	4	2	0
19. Does child go to school?	4	2	0	4	2	0
20. Does child speak?	4	2	0	4	2	0
21. Does child communicate with signs or gestures?	4	2	0	4	2	0
	Total _________			Total _________

CHART B	First visit		Second visit
Quality of activities	make notes for comparison here		much better	a little better	same	worse
Does child move about better?			4	2	0	-4
Does he sit in a better position?			4	2	0	-4
Does he walk better (straighter, with less limp, or with less support)?			4	2	0	-4
Does he walk farther, faster, or easier?			4	2	0	-4
Are his joints straighter (less contractures)?			4	2	0	-4
hip?			4	2	0	-4
knee?			4	2	0	-4
ankle?			4	2	0	-4
Can the child do things he could not do before?			4	2	0	-4
feeding?			4	2	0	-4
bathing?			4	2	0	-4
dressing?			4	2	0	-4
toileting?			4	2	0	-4
Does he play with things better?			4	2	0	-4
Does he speak or communicate better?			4	2	0	-4
Does he get along with other children better?			4	2	0	-4
Does he seem happier or more self-confident?			4	2	0	-4
Has he improved or got worse in other ways?			4	2	0	-4
In what ways?
			Total _________

This page was updated:04 Apr 2024