Planning help!

[Gemma Perry]

I am a new childminder, only started last week. I currently have an 8 month old, finding it really hard to 'plan' as such, really getting myself in a muddle with it to be honest. We are getting to know each other & I am finding out more about him everyday but I havnt written a thing down as of yet (other than in his daily diary which i share with parents everyday) I have made loads of observations about his play & can see his play patterns emerging and i have a good idea of his likes & dislikes but Im unsure where to go from here! Do i plan with just the 3 prime areas as he is so young? Any help/advice appreciated!

[sarah707]

Planning for under 2s needs to focus on the baby / toddler - their likes, dislikes, interests, things they are doing at home etc...

As they move towards 2 they will be able to join in a bit more with the older children and start sitting for slightly longer, so you can plan a little more for them (that's a requirement in the inspection framework).

The most important things to have now are - starting points from parents (what they can and cannot do) and your initial observations - when used together you will be able to plan around their routines and introduce some new ideas.

it's what you do every day don't over-think it :D

[greenfaerie]

My planning for babies currently consists of Next Steps from their observations. So if a baby pulls themselves to standing for the first time then I say that I'll re attach the legs to a toddler multimedia table, so they can practice this skill more. If a baby starts babbling more then I will Next Step to have a "conversation" with them to model new sounds for them to try out. It's just things that you do naturally, I just write them down (Sometimes even after I've spontaneously done them) as evidence of planning for the child. Or I look at what I've already observed and see if there are any areas where the child could use a little help, so I plan something that will help the child with a new skill.

I've no idea if this is correct, this is just how I've been tackling the planning. :)