What is documentation in early childhood

Children will also take their work seriously which encourages them to work in a responsible, joyful and dedicated way. The learning process and results will be more satisfying for them if their learning process is recognized, appreciated and displayed in a respectful manner. Teachers use documentation to continuously plan based on evidence in documentation as work progresses.

Teachers use the documentation to discuss ideas and thoughts and new possibilities with the children during their work. Planning decisions can be made based on what individual or groups of children have found interesting, stimulating, or challenging. The documentation provides ongoing planning and evaluation that can be done by the team of adults who work with the children.

Fifth, teacher research and process awareness is fostered by documentation. As teachers examine and document children's work, their understanding of children's development is deepened in ways not likely to occur from inspecting test results.

Sixth, children's learning is made visible through documentation, which provides information about children's progress that cannot be obtained from standardized tests. When children are engaged in absorbing and complex projects, documentation can make a contribution in these six ways.

Documentation used for guiding instruction is typically collected while the learning is happening and reflection on the documentation is usually immediate.

This documentation is often referred to as raw or unprocessed documentation and has been a common practice in nursery schools and laboratory schools. It is usually not copied, framed, or carefully displayed but used immediately. What the teacher and his or her colleagues gain from this documentation is a sense of where the learning experience might go next, what materials and resources might be helpful to introduce, and how to shape their own interactions with the children. Documentation for guiding instruction enables teachers to be more productive and effective.

Teachers may or may not choose to share this raw documentation with others, including parents and members of the school community. Another purpose of documentation is the assessment of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of an individual child. Individual child assessment enables the teacher to be sure that each child is progressing.

The most appropriate type of assessment for the young child is authentic performance assessment, that is, assessment based on activities in which children engage on a daily basis Meisels, Authentic performance assessment relies on the collection of good quality evidence or documentation.

There is often an individual developmental checklist which the teacher uses to document the growth and development of skills over a period of time. Teachers examine and discuss the documentation at prescribed intervals and record their conclusions sharing the documentation and their conclusions with parents. Documentation also provides insight into the teaching and learning process.

When documentation is collected and studied for the purpose of understanding this process, it is sometimes called pedagogical documentation Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence, Pedagogical documentation is a major component of the philosophy of the schools of Reggio Emilia, where, as shown in the excerpt below, reflection and in-depth documentation shapes their pedagogy and is the major source of professional growth and development.

Rinaldi, An excellent example of pedagogical documentation in U. Through this captivating documentation of the exploration of a car by children in a community college child-care center, the reader participates in the reflections of the teachers, the parents, and the automotive center staff where the project took place.

You can incorporate several types of documentation and approaches to fit the needs and desires of the child. Learning documentation examples can be seen in most educational settings. Learning documentation moves from the traditional educational focus of "before and after" to a modern focus on "the journey. Kids Children's Education Importance of Documenting Children's Learning Most parents and educators agree on the importance of documenting children's learning as part of their learning process.

What Is Learning Documentation? Documentation and Learning objectives Learning objectives serve as guidelines for what is appropriate in terms of learning at each developmental age.

Learning documentation relates to learning objectives because it: Provides written goals Provides a way to evaluate progress toward goals Shows strengths and deficits in learning and curriculum. How Documentation Benefits the Student Kids benefit greatly from educational documentation both internally and externally because it: Shows their process of learning Allows kids the chance to self-reflect Makes the child's learning process feel important Focuses on the positives which can enhance self-esteem and confidence Provides relatable examples to look back on.

How Documentation Benefits the Teacher Learning documentation supports the teacher's ability to guide and mentor each child because it: Enhances and focuses communication with parents Guides lesson and activity planning Holds teachers accountable for providing appropriate learning opportunities Allows teachers the chance to self-reflect on their methods Helps teachers get to know each student better.

How Documentation Benefits the Parents Parents don't always get to see all the learning their children do, especially if their kids go to a public or private school, so documentation is helpful because it: Enhances and focuses communication with school Shows what their child is capable of Helps parents get to know their children better Provides talking points for parent-child conversations.

Approaches to Documenting a Child's Learning There are several approaches to learning documentation and your first step is choosing one to embody with your child at home or in your classroom. Classical Documentation This form of learning documentation is what most people are probably familiar with. Pedagogical Documentation A pedagogical approach to documentation is all about understanding how learning takes place for each child and sharing that information with stakeholders in the child's life.

Holistic Approach to Documentation The Alina Dan Holistic Approach to Documentation out of Australia seeks to document learning from multiple angles and places value on educators as "critical and unique. Reggio Emilia Inspired Documentation The Reggio Emilia approach is a way to view and implement childhood education used in a small Italian village.