How do you program/observe children?

[Corrinne]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading through some of the posts in the forum as I am trying to get ideas for my centres programming and observations. We have been working towards decreasing the amount of paperwork and we are trying to focus on quality as opposed to quantity. I have looked at the formats that this site offers but I'm not quite a fan of filling out boxes.
I have heard a lot of different opinions on this topic: some centres don't have a program up on the wall, some centres use the day book as their program, some centres do 1 learning story a term, some centres do 4 observations per child per month. I am really trying to find some clear direction in how I can encourage quality observations and programming for each and every child instead of setting a quota required for each child that staff struggle to keep up with and end up losing sight of the child's learning and development
I am interested to see more innovative programs and observations that have worked or are working for you in your centre.

Please help me out. I am open to all suggestions and any guidance you have to offer.

Thank you,

Corrinne

[Lorina]

Hi Corrinne,

Completely understand where you are coming from....

It's very hard coming up with a correct format to suit everyone. One of the reasons why the curriculum plan templates available on this site are "boxed" is because it provides a simple and efficient way to document the learning experiences and include all the necessary components according to the NQS and EYLF. It benefits educators in knowing exactly what is needed on the curriculum plan in an effortless way and primarily it is easy to understand. The experiences you provide need to have the learning outcomes (goals) and input keys (where the experience came from) at the least. So it doesn't matter what format you are using these need these 2 elements need to be included for each of the experiences you provide. Whether you are doing boxes, webbing, mind maps, daily journals for programming it all requires the same amount of work in the end... You just need to find a sufficient way for the documentation to get done!

In regards to learning stories and observations these are two separate types of documentation to record children's learning and development. Both of these are used to document children's experiences. An observation is used to record a child's progression towards a goal (learning outcome) and learning story is used to celebrate an event or an experience that has occurred. One should not replace the other. Both of them can be used.

Doing one observation per child per month is sufficient enough. However in saying this you will still need to include children's interests and input within the curriculum plan on a regular basis not just when it is their turn for an individual experience based on the follow up from their own observation. For example: if Mark is showing an interest in Farm Animals although he doesn't need to be observed until next week, you still add this interest onto the curriculum plan and plan for it accordingly. Likewise, if Mary asks for Hama Beads this can be added onto the curriculum plan as child input.


At the minimum the documentation you need to have to show this is a curriculum plan, reflection of our day and for each child observations and learning stories. Once educators have an understanding of what is required and the details needed for each document then it becomes a quality piece of document.

You’re right it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality and I believe that having the correct documentation promotes an ongoing cycle of observing, recording, implementing and reflecting upon children’s learning. Just because you are trying to cut down on the paper work doesn't mean the quality will improve it all depends on who is writing it.

Anyways, I just wanted to share my thoughts with you,

I’d be happy to answer any more questions,

,
L.A

[zulupaula]

I've found this post and response really helpful and in turn its given me a question. On the topic of how many obs to do each month, my director has told us that if we can cover all of the 5 areas in 1 ob we only need to do 1 but at the end of the day we need to cover all of the 5 areas each month on every child. I thought it was in a quarter not a month. Can you clarify this?

[Lorina]

I've found this post and response really helpful and in turn its given me a question. On the topic of how many obs to do each month, my director has told us that if we can cover all of the 5 areas in 1 ob we only need to do 1 but at the end of the day we need to cover all of the 5 areas each month on every child. I thought it was in a quarter not a month. Can you clarify this?

Interesting...So when you observe a child you cover each 5 outcomes per observation.. How do you further extend their learning or achieve future goals? Do you pick a sub goal (1.2, 5.4) etc from each learning outcome to cover what the child has achieved through the expereince. When doing a follow up from the observation do you pick another sub goal from each outcome that the child could achieve from the follow up expereince? Hopefully this makes sense...

A child doesn't have to achieve all the learning outcomes just through observations alone. There are many ways that a child can meet learning goals... Through group experiences, spontaneous learning, developing new skills, group goals etc. You should provide opportunities for children to meet goals in a variety of ways....

,
L.A