The most important planning you write is individual and follows on from...
• Your observations and assessments of the child’s learning - what the child can do already
• Comments from parents about what the child does at home
• Things the child tells you they enjoy doing - their likes, dislikes and interests
• The characteristics of the child’s learning which help you to recognise how they learn
• Information in Development Matters about what the child might be doing next - also called ‘next steps’ or ‘PLODS’ (possible lines of development) planning
• Interests you know children have (usually depending on their age or home influences) which you want to teach them more about eg preparing for school or nursery, minibeasts, finding out about people who help us etc. I will talk more about ‘themed’ planning in a moment
• Comments from other settings about what the child is doing there - if appropriate.
Individual planning should be linked to Development Matters and checked regularly to make sure you are supporting children across all 7 areas of learning and development.
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There are 3 different types of learning noted in the EYFS - adult led / adult guided / child initiated - and they all play a different role when you are writing your planning -
• Adult led - these are the activities you plan for the child, often planned to check their understanding, develop their learning or ensure they are busy, happy and engaged during their time with you.
• Adult guided - you will often find yourself guiding children’s play. You might step in to give them a new direction for their game, ask them a question to check their understanding of something or be the customer in a café game and give them some new ideas to extend their play.
• Child initiated - children play freely, choosing toys and games that they want to use. They access the house and garden during their play, depending on what they want to do.
The EYFS says that your days must be a balance of each type of learning. Think about how you evidence this in your documentation. It doesn’t need to be complicated - some childminders add it to the child’s individual routine.
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It is a requirement of the EYFS 2012 that all parents are provided with their child’s individual routine, including information about -
• Daily outings
• Inside and outside play opportunities you offer the child
• Meal and rest times
• The child’s activities and experiences through the day
• Any planned learning you organise through the day eg daily reading or singing sessions.
The routine is part of your individual planning for the child. You do not need to duplicate the information elsewhere if you already have it written down in the child’s routine.
A lot of childminders find it useful to link each child’s routine to Development Matters - this helps to show evidence of how you are covering all 7 areas of learning through the day.
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The other popular type of planning for slightly older children (usually from around 3 years ish) is group planning.
Group planning follows on from individual and routine planning and helps the children learn about new things and gain new experiences.
The popularity of themes / topics etc waxes and wanes through the years as educational theories come and go - I use themes with the children because I know the benefits and I am ready to argue them with an Ofsted inspector. My inspector liked our themes - but was more interested in how I differentiated / changed them to accommodate individual needs - so this is what you need to show on your planning.
You write group themed planning by -
• Noting the children’s individual interests
• Using Development Matters to guide you, ensuring the activities you are planning are appropriate for each child’s age and stage of development
• Looking back at your observations and thinking about how each child learns (their learning characteristics)
• Finding out what children are interested in at home and in other settings.
The main types of planning include -
• Long term - you annual plan should be very brief. It will include birthdays and special occasions for all the children and celebrations and festivals you want to cover through the year.
• Medium term - my medium term planning is in 2 big files -
- A folder of monthly activities linked to festivals and celebrations
- A folder of themes / topics in alphabetical order including magazine articles, things I have downloaded from the internet, my own planning from previous years etc.
This is my planning - you might have yours set out in a different way. Every childminder is unique.
• Short term - this is mostly individual planning, filed in each child’s individual folder with their observations etc. My play plan records most of the information - I might write extra focussed observations linked to my short term planning as needed.
You will find a copy of my play plan here - http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...-children.html
• Continuous provision - a lot of childminders find it useful to write continuous provision planning but it is not a requirement.
You will find more information about it here - Continuous Provision
• Themed - as we have already discussed, themed planning covers different topics such as -
- Dinosaurs
- People who help us
- Planting and growing
- The seasons
- The weather
- Flowers
- Pets
- Caring for the environment
- Farm animals
- All about me
- The circus
- Bears
- Wild animals... and many, many more.
You can use your group planning time and time again once it is written. Just make sure you show how you have changed it for the individual child in their file.
You must share your planning with parents and involve them where possible... it is very important that they know what their child is doing while with you.
You need to make sure all your planning is inclusive, appealing to boys and girls equally and including elements of the multicultural and diverse society in which we live.
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Your aim when you are writing your planning is to show that you are helping every child to make good progress in their learning and development journey towards the Early Learning Goals.
It is up to you how you record this - what forms you use - how hard or easy you make it for yourself.
There is more information here about how to support children to make good progress in their learning and development -
Making Good Progress.
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