<![CDATA[Early childhood education is an educational effort aimed at children from birth to six years of age through the provision of educational stimulation to support their optimal growth and development. One of the important developmental aspects that needs to be fostered in early childhood is independence behavior. Independence behavior can be observed through various routine activities at school, one of which is shared mealtime activities. Shared mealtime provides children with opportunities to perform various activities independently, such as washing their hands, opening their lunch boxes, using eating utensils properly, and tidying up eating equipment after use. Therefore, appropriate assessment is needed to identify the development of children’s independence behavior. This study aimed to describe the indicators of independence behavior assessed by teachers, the assessment methods used by teachers, and the assessment instruments used to assess the independence behavior of children aged 5–6 years during shared mealtime activities at TK Negeri Pembina Lubuk Pakam. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach using a narrative research method. The research was conducted at TK Negeri Pembina Lubuk Pakam. Data were collected through observation, interviews, documentation, and document analysis. The collected data were analyzed through the stages of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results showed that teachers assessed children’s independence behavior by observing various indicators of independence that emerged during shared mealtime activities, including washing hands before and after eating, preparing eating equipment, opening lunch boxes independently, using eating utensils correctly, finishing meals, and tidying up eating equipment after use. The assessment methods used by teachers included observation, interviews, and documentation conducted continuously throughout the activities. The assessment instruments consisted of developmental checklists, anecdotal records, and documentation of children’s activities. The assessment results were used by teachers to identify the development of children’s independence behavior and as a basis for providing appropriate stimulation and habituation activities according to children’s developmental needs. However, the assessment records were still focused more on the achievement of behavioral indicators, so documentation of the process of children’s independence development needs to be improved to provide more comprehensive information regarding each child’s development.]]>
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