There’s nothing better than receiving updates showing your little one thriving at childcare. Documenting children’s learning is an essential part of keeping tabs on your child’s education and development. Plus, it’s a requirement under the National Quality Standard (NQS). Here’s how your childcare should be documenting your child’s learning and development.
What is documentation?
Documentation is the process of observing and recording evidence development and learning in childcare to make it more visible. As part of the documentation process, educators are required to observe the child’s thinking and experiences during their time in the childcare setting.
Documentation is more than just compiling a report. Instead, it includes a variety of forms, including reflective journals, photographs, videos, samples of children’s work, recordings of children’s ideas and suggestions, portfolios, narratives, floor books or learning stories, digital stories or reflections. Ideally, detailed documentation should draw on several different perspectives besides the educator and the child, like their peers, family and other professionals to provide a rich insight into your child’s development.
The importance of documentation in childcare
Not only is documentation an essential part of following your little one’s learning journey, but it’s also a requirement of the NQS. It’s also one of the 8 pedagogical practices detailed in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
Early childhood education and learning documentation is important for several key reasons, including:
- Planning and designing a child-centred curriculum,
- Implementing teaching strategies that support the child to achieve their goals,
- Describing the child's skills and abilities, and
- Providing feedback to parents about their child's learning journey.
As a parent or caregiver, documentation in childcare provides you with essential information to help you make informed decisions when it comes to your child’s learning and development. It also offers information on your child’s progress and can provide insight as to whether their learning and development needs are being met.
Types of documentation in childcare
If your little one is attending childcare, you can expect to receive a range of different documentation from the service. By providing several different types of documentation, childcare providers are able to observe your child’s learning and development from a number of perspectives.
There aren’t any compulsory templates or processes for documenting children’s learning and development in childcare settings. With that said, the ACECQA requires documentation for children of preschool age or under to include assessment of:
- Developmental needs,
- Interests,
- Experiences,
- Participation in the educational program, and
- Progress against the outcomes of the educational program that are consistent with the learning outcomes of the approved learning frameworks.
Instead, early childhood educators are encouraged to utilise a variety of documentation methods to avoid limitations and instead provide a thorough and holistic overview of your child’s learning journey. Here are some of the documentation your childcare provider might use to observe your little one.
Jottings
Jottings are quick, brief notes or phrases recorded on the fly at the time of the observation. They capture spontaneous moments and thoughts about a child's behaviour.
Anecdotes
Anecdotes are written narratives that focus on a specific incident or behaviour. They’re often written after the event has occurred, so they tend to be written in past tense. Anecdotal observations can provide insights into a child's interests, needs, development, abilities and skills. As a parent, anecdotes are a great way to learn about your child’s development and understand how they’re progressing across different areas of their learning experience.
Running records
Running records provide a continuous recording of a child's activities and behaviors over a specified period. Running records can provide insight into why a child behaves in a certain way while providing additional information on other important developmental areas.
Photo and video observations
The addition of photos and videos often helps to supplement written observations to provide a more holistic view of a child’s development. It involves using cameras to record children's activities, behaviors, and interactions.
Photo and video observations can be accompanied by a brief description that can help to provide more insight into the child’s development and any changes to their play and skill over time.
Learning story observations
These narratives highlight a child's learning journey by incorporating observations, reflections and future plans. They help to provide a more comprehensive and personalised understanding of a child's development.
When it comes to learning story observations, there are four key areas that should be incorporated, including:
- The learning story itself,
- An analysis of learning,
- Extension ideas, and
- A link back to the EYLF outcomes.
Samples of work
Early childhood educators will often include a few samples of your child’s work, including artwork and writing, to showcase their development and achievements. These samples can often be linked to certain learning outcomes or curriculum objectives. For example, writing samples can demonstrate how your little one is progressing in terms of their literacy, numeracy, cognitive and fine motor skills.
Early childhood educators will often provide their own interpretations of your child’s work alongside their samples. This can help to enhance the meanings behind the work and link them to the EYLF or specific areas of development.
Electronic records or Apps
These days, many childcare services provide daily updates of your child’s time at childcare via online portals or apps. This allows you to easily login at a time that’s convenient for you to see how your child is and what activities they’re participating in on the day.
Portfolios
Each type of documentation is added to your child’s portfolio. These portfolios are shared with the children and their families to provide insight into the child’s interactions and development within the childcare setting. This collection of documentation is also used by early childhood educators to support children in their learning journey and tailor their approach to best support the child’s development
Documentation isn’t just important for meeting regulatory standards, but it also helps to provide a comprehensive understanding of your child's unique development. But remember, documentation is likely to differ depending on the early childhood education and care service as well as your child.
