Documentation

Making Children's Learning and the Process of the Educational Experience Visible to Parents

Documentation is the interpretation of keen observations and attentive listening, gathered with a variety of tools by the caregiver contributing their point of view.  The nanny makes a deliberate choice to observe and record what happens in the environment in order to reflect and communicate children's discoveries.  

Why Document?

• To remember

• To make visible children's ways of learning

• To revisit in reflection to better understand learning and to better plan for future activities

• To hold children's discovery for them and return it to them to continue their inquiry

Tools for Recording Observations

• Videos

• Photos

• Voice recordings

• Notebook

• Post It notes

• Calendar

• Printer

Communication Through Documentation

When nannies work to select, organize, arrange, and identify documentation, they give new meaning to the experience that first produced them.  In producing documentation, nannies see more clearly what happened before, thereby gaining further understanding.  

What to Do With It

• Display - Documentation panels showing process or evolving of a project

• Use as emergent curriculum