How To Write Individual Learning Stories and Child Obs

[MEGGY]

I AM NEARLY TWO YEARS WORKING WITH CHILDREN, I STARTED AS AN ASSISTANT AND NOW A GROUP LEADER. IT STILL CONFUSES ME THIS GROUP LEARNING STORIES THAT CAN BE EDITED TO INDIVIDUAL ONES. I HAVE 35 CHILDREN IN MY ROOM BUT THEY DON'T COME AT THE SAME TIME. EVEN THOUGH, SOME WHO COMES ONCE A WEEK STILL NEEDS AN OBSERVATION AND LEARNING STORY ONE EACH PER MONTH BECAUSE THEY ARE INVOLVED IN THE ACTIVITIES AND LEARNING IS TAKING PLACE SO IT MEANS THAT OBS AND LEARNING STORIES FOR THEM MUST BE WRITTEN. IN A MONTH, FOR 35 CHILDREN, CAN WE IMAGINE HOW MANY INDIVIDUAL OBSERVATIONS, INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STORIES AND GROUP LEARNING STORIES WE NEED TO WRITE. HOW CAN I SIMPLIFY THIS? EVERYDAY, AS A GROUP LEADER, I HAVE LESS TIME INTERACTING WITH THESE CHILDREN AND MORE TIME DOING PAPERWORKS, PLUS ALL THE COMMUNICATION BOOKS, REMINDERS, ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEXT DAY ETC THAT I NEED TO WRITE. I'M ACTUALLY BEHIND IN MOST OF OBSERVATIONS AS LAST YEAR, THE OTHER GROUP LEADER DID NOT COMPLETE THOSE OBS WHILE I WAS AWAY FOR HOLIDAY.
HELP ME WHAT TO DO AS OUR ACCREDITATION WILL BE NEXT WEEK.
MEG

[Lorina]

Hi Meggy,

First off with group learning stories they can be transformed into individual ones by adding individual child photos, their comments within the expereince and what they did during the experience. You can use the same story as the group learning story however you main need to edit it to include what that specific child did throughout the experience. Also in the evaluation/reflection it may differ for each individual child as they may achieve the overall goal differently from one another. Group learning stories can only be made into individual ones for the children that were involved in that experience on the same day. You can't make an individual learning story from a group one for a child that only comes on Wednesday when the experience happened on a Friday (for example)...

Observations are an important part of documentation that you collect that provides evidence on how a child is achieving or working towards their goals (learning outcomes). At least these need to be completed monthly for each child. If you are having difficulty getting these all complete you need to work out a timetable for the month and each day observe 2 children until each child is complete for the month. As a group leader it is not necessary to complete these all yourself, divide the work up among the assistants in the room. They are there to help and support you so delegate these tasks to them. I suggest however you look over their observations to make sure they write them correctly as a group leader, it is your responsibility to make sure they are done correctly.

Also there seems to be a misconception that there needs to be a certain amount of learning stories completed per child per month etc. This is not the case at all. Learning stories are just another way of documenting and not every experience requires you to complete a learning story and you don't need to do a learning story every month for children. You can just complete learning stories for special events, specific experiences, special moments, incursions etc. You can also use a learning story as another form of observation instead of your typical format during a month. For example, if in February you are using a photo observation format for individual child obs, in March you can do a learning story format instead. They don't need to be done both together as an individual learning story as well as an observation. You are just doubling up your work.

As long as each child has observations (at least once a month) then that's the least you should do... Having a few learning stories here and there is fine but not compulsory.

There are other methods of recording children's learning that can also be used such as when they do a drawing you can ask what they drew, write it on their work and hang it up. During group time have discussions about their interests, write up mind maps, brain storm ideas and write children's responses on a big piece of paper and display these for parents to see...

Assessors aren't so much looking for the paperwork, they will probably ask about how you observe children, plan their learning, linking to the curriculum etc however they are also interested to see other types of learning that the children are involved in.

Have you got a copy of the National Quality Standard? It provides information on what assessors may look for when doing accreditation... This can help you get an idea of what to expect.

Don't panic, it will be OK...

Hope this helps,

,
L.A