Early childhood teachers sometimes write plans for an individual child, a small group of children, or the entire group of children.[1]
Individual Plans
One-on-one moments of teaching and learning play a major role in early childhood settings. Early childhood teaching requires teachers to be present and guide individual children when needed, adapting their instruction to support each child’s unique learning needs. For example, some children may be somewhat cautious in joining others in play, but may become excited about the possibility if the teacher accompanies them into the area where a group of children are playing together. An early childhood teacher will note this cautious aspect of a child’s temperament. The teacher may create a plan to watch for opportunities to be a “social bridge” of support for the child who tends to be cautious, helping that child join in other children’s ongoing play. The following vignette, taken from volume 1 of the California Preschool Curriculum Framework (CDE 2010a, 76), illustrates the teacher’s role.
Vignettes
Lucas stands close to his caregiver, Ms. Mai, who is sitting in the block area. Ms. Mai observes Lucas watching his peers at play as they build a large train. “This train is getting really big,” she comments to Lucas with a soft smile and a gentle hand on his back. Lucas nods his head slowly. “I wonder if Martin needs a helper. He said he is the engineer, but an engineer needs a conductor. Would you like to hand out and collect tickets?” Lucas nods his head again and reaches for Ms. Mai’s hand as she gets up to move closer to the train. Ms. Mai provides Lucas with her hand and another reassuring smile. “You could let Martin know you want to help. Tell Martin, ‘I can collect the tickets.’’ Lucas pauses and then mumbles (or signs), “Martin, I can collect tickets.” “You all look like you are having fun over here. Lucas wants to help, too. Where are the tickets for Lucas to pass out to your riders?” restates Ms. Mai. “Oh! Over there,” responds Martin, pointing over to the basket of torn pieces of paper.
“Thanks, Martin, for your help. Lucas, let’s go get the tickets and hand them to our friends. I think these builders will want to fill the train with passengers,” observes Ms. Mai excitedly.”
In this vignette, the teacher is aware of Lucas’ caution in entering the play, yet his strong awareness and most likely his desire to enter the social play become part of his individualized curriculum plan. Because such an individualized curriculum is a component of early childhood teaching, the teacher–child ratio must be kept sufficiently low to allow the teacher to know each child in depth as they develop and learn. In infant/toddler programs, assigning a primary care teacher who stays with three or four children throughout infancy enables teachers to get to know each child well and tailor individualized plans to support their learning and development.
Many programs use a child portfolio system to record ongoing individualized curriculum plans. A portfolio tells the story of a child’s developmental progress. It may include periodic psychometric assessments of the child, as well as planning notes tailored to the child's specific needs. It may also include notes of what the child did in response to the plans, photos, or work samples that give insight into the child’s progress. A child’s portfolio enables a teacher to track a child’s individual needs, maintain a record of planned support for those needs, and document progress in learning. Such individualized planning is not posted, unlike the plans designed for groups of children; however, the plans included in each child’s portfolio are regularly reviewed and shared with families. Here is an example of an individualized curriculum plan:
Observation Notes
Observation: Lucas is somewhat cautious in joining others in play. He stands to the side and watches others as they play.
Interpretation and Plan: Lucas appears to want to join the play, but may need just a little bit of support. I plan to watch for moments when he is on the sidelines of play, find ways to invite him into the social play, and stay with him to support him in his encounters with the other children.
In this example, the teacher is aware of temperamental differences and knows how to take on the role of a “social bridge” to help the child join in with other children’s ongoing play. Planning to be a “social bridge” for a child with a cautious temperament is part of a larger individual plan. Lucas’ teacher recognizes that Lucas will have opportunities to learn various skills in an integrated way when he joins the social play. The teacher observes how this social context influences the child's ability to express and manage emotions, understand and use language, collaborate with others, and solve problems. Individualized planning applies to all areas of learning, highlighting those concepts and skills that children would otherwise miss the opportunity to develop if teachers created plans only for the large group of children.
Another of the overarching principles from the California Preschool Curriculum Framework states that individualized learning is inclusive of all children. Of course, some children have individual plans developed by specialists to address the children’s developmental needs. For children under the age of three, these plans are referred to as Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs). For children over the age of three, they are called Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). For children who have one of these, it is helpful for the teacher to know how to support the identified goals, outcomes, or objectives in the early childhood setting. With parental permission, the teacher can either be a part of the planning process or communicate with the team that developed the plan. More information on this process can be found in chapters 1 and 5 of Inclusion Works! (CDE 2009b).[2]
Group Plans
Teachers also regularly prepare written plans to organize experiences for the full group of children in a classroom or program. These plans are often posted in a predictable location and referenced throughout the day or the week by teachers and families. These group plans may be daily or weekly. Group plans describe possibilities for experiences that relate to either a small group or a large group of children. A small group is typically a teacher-guided experience with four to eight children. The following vignette from volume 1 of the California Preschool Curriculum Framework (CDE 2010a, 17) illustrates how teachers plan for a small-group context:
Vignettes
During one of their discussions about the children’s interest in snails, the teachers decided to conduct a focused exploration of snails with small groups of four to six children. In a small group, children would have an easier time building relationships with each other and with the teacher, a learning goal for the whole class. With each small group, the teacher helped the children create a snail habitat in the science interest area. The children could return to the interest area throughout the day for exploration. The teacher and a small group collaborated over several days to transform a glass terrarium into a habitat for snails, complete with soil, plants, and sufficient space for other small creatures.
Planning for a Large Group Context:
The /s/ sound in the new and now popular words— snails and slugs—“slippery snails and slugs slowly slithering make slimy stripes.” She knew how much the children enjoyed chants, songs, and finger plays. She also knew the value in helping children to hear and make distinct sounds of oral language.
In the large group, the teachers pointed out that a new kind of helper had been added to the helper chart. Now, two of the children would be “snail helpers.” From then on, each day during large-group time, children checked to see whose name cards had been placed next to the snail photo on the helper chart. In the large group, children reported on some of the things they had been doing in their small-group explorations of snails.
Posting the daily or weekly group plan is important. What teachers record on the posted daily or weekly curriculum plan organizes the possibilities for that day or week and makes the learning plan visible to anyone who reads it. The posted plan should serve as an organizing tool for teachers to know easily what comes next. In an early childhood setting, unless the program is a small family child care home, there are typically two or more staff members who care for the children. A written plan posted in a central location serves as a useful reference throughout the day for all those involved in supporting the children’s learning.
Some parts of the day that support children’s learning remain the same each day. For example, in preschool, washing hands before meals, inviting children to notice or count who is present and who is absent, or setting up an outdoor painting area. These activities eventually become routines.
To build on the children’s interest in snails, the teachers announced during large-group circle time that the snail trays would be available for exploration. The teachers also used the large-group circle to read books and tell stories about snails. One teacher invented a simple clapping chant to accompany easel activities, which usually occur each day. These routine experiences do not need to be written into each daily plan. Instead, a record of these regularly occurring opportunities for learning can be included in a description of the program schedule, along with a description of the distinct interest areas set up inside and outside. Written descriptions of how teachers plan for each interest area should be included in the program handbook and shared with families when they enroll in the program.
Teachers write on the posted daily or weekly plan what they expect to do to supplement the ongoing learning experiences built into the well-supplied interest areas, the thoughtfully designed daily routines, and the interactions and conversations that lead to “teachable moments” that occur spontaneously during the day. The posted curriculum plan for preschool typically includes the following items:
- Topics to discuss or books to read at group time
- A focus of small-group activities planned for the day
- Materials to add new challenges and experiences to the interest areas, both inside and outside
Similarly, the curriculum plan for infants and toddlers includes the following items:
- Books to look at or read with children
- Songs, finger plays, and rhyming games that will occur during the day
- Materials to add new challenges and experiences to the environment, both inside and outside[3]
Note
You will notice in our preschool program that we include a weekly overview in the binder, which we refer to as "the book," that highlights the different plans for meetings, small groups, and adding materials to learning centers. The weekly overview is followed by plans for each large and small group activity scheduled for the week.
Pause to Reflect
“Being in the Moment with Children”
Meaningful experiences are also created spontaneously in the moment with children. Sometimes teachers must act in the moment, without a pre-existing plan, to foster children's ideas.
For example, I was observing a child building a structure with blocks. After observing the child and discussing his work with him, the child said to me, "I need more stuff for my project!" So, I simply asked him what he needed and how I could assist him. He listed some items: glue, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, tape, and cardboard. We went on a mission together and gathered all his materials, which he used to build with for quite some time. He was proud and satisfied with his work, which he took home.
There are countless ways that teachers can be present with children and foster their ideas without a specific plan. Plans often don't go the way we expect. When we are flexible, we can honor the children's decisions and ideas.
Reflect
Why is it important to follow the child's lead in their play? How can teachers reflect on these spontaneous experiences and document the learning that occurred for the children involved?[4]
Family Focus
Children’s experiences with their families also inform the curriculum. Teachers look for ways to connect the children’s learning in the early childhood program to their experiences at home. The following moments in the investigation of fresh foods that come from the garden illustrate how teachers can make connections to the children’s lives at home (CDE 2011b, 33):
Vignette
Once the investigation of fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden was underway, the teachers in the four-year-olds’ room wondered whether they might tap into the life experiences of the families for stories related to fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden. The teachers decided to display a photo of the children’s cucumber-tasting experiences near the classroom’s entrance. They added a note and a clipboard. The note was an invitation for families whose home language was not English to write down in their home language the name for a cucumber (or a similar vegetable eaten in their culture). Once gathered, the teachers added these names to the laminated photo cards of cucumbers stored in the food box in the writing area. If a family had described a vegetable that was similar but distinct from the cucumber, they were invited to bring a picture of this vegetable, or even the vegetable itself, for children to compare with the cucumber.[5]
From the perspective of developmental scientists who study how the mind of the child develops, early childhood curriculum is most effective when teachers provide generous opportunities for children to engage in meaningful play, well supported by materials and experiences that fascinate them and engage their natural ways of making meaning (Gopnik 2009; Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2009; Rinaldi 2001; Singer, Golinkoff, and Hirsh-Pasek 2006; Zigler, Singer, and Bishop-Josef 2004). When early childhood teachers are asked or attempt to follow a prewritten scope and sequence of instructional activities, the essential features of an integrated curriculum—co-constructed, responsive, and dynamic—are often lost.
However, even when using a prewritten scope and sequence of activities, early childhood teachers can still find ways to modify the planned activities to respond to the unique cultural and family contexts of their program and their specific group of children. For example, investigating fresh foods from the garden could be implemented within a curriculum that includes a theme about plants or spring.[6]
Connecting Families to Curriculum Planning
Documentation is an invitation to families. Family and community partnerships create meaningful connections. Documentation not only guides curriculum planning and provides evidence of children’s learning, but it also offers an easy and effective way to engage families in planning for their children’s learning. A note, a photo, or a work sample serves as an invitation to families to participate in interpreting the observed play and exploration made visible by the documentation. The following example illustrates how teachers use documentation to invite families to join them in the work:[7]
