Practitioners working with children in the early years setting can be uncertain about how to assess their progress. This book will take them through the process step by step. It explains the terminology involved, shows how to turn 'observation' into 'assessment' and in the final chapter sets out how to manage and interpret all the information that has been gathered. This book will be an essential for all early years bookshelves because it enables assessment of progress towards the early learning goals to be based on observations of children in child-initiated play environments.