{"id":46,"date":"2023-11-13T16:09:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T16:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintroductiontoece\/chapter\/context-for-written-plans\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T18:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T18:24:23","slug":"context-for-written-plans","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintroductiontoece\/chapter\/context-for-written-plans\/","title":{"raw":"2.3: Context for Written Plans","rendered":"2.3: Context for Written Plans"},"content":{"raw":"
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Individual Plans<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

One-on-one moments of teaching and learning play a major role in early childhood settings. Early childhood teaching requires that teachers be present to guide individual children when needed, adapting their teaching to support each child\u2019s individual learning. 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\u2019s temperament. The teacher may make a plan to include watching for opportunities to be a \u201csocial bridge\u201d of support for the child who tends to be cautious, helping that child with joining the other children\u2019s ongoing play. The following vignette, taken from volume 1 of the California Preschool Curriculum Framework [1], illustrates the teacher\u2019s role.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Vignettes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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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. \u201cThis train is getting really big,\u201d she comments to Lucas with a soft smile and a gentle hand on his back. Lucas nods his head slowly. \u201cI 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?\u201d Lucas nods his head again and reaches for Ms. Mai\u2019s hand as she gets up to move closer to the train. Ms. Mai provides Lucas with her hand and another reassuring smile. \u201cYou could let Martin know you want to help. Tell Martin, \u2018I can collect the tickets.\u2019\u2019 Lucas pauses and then mumbles (or signs), \u201cMartin, I can collect tickets.\u201d \u201cYou 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?\u201d restates Ms. Mai. \u201cOh! Over there,\u201d responds Martin, pointing over to the basket of torn pieces of paper.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThanks, Martin, for your help. Lucas, let\u2019s go get the tickets and hand them to our friends. I think these builders will want to fill the train with passengers,\u201d observes Ms. Mai excitedly.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

In this vignette, the teacher is aware of Lucas\u2019s 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 individualized curriculum is a component of early childhood teaching, the teacher\u2013child ratio and group size must be kept sufficiently low to allow the teacher to know in depth how each child is developing and learning. In infant\/toddler programs, assigning a primary care teacher who stays with three or four children throughout infancy makes it possible for teachers to know each child well and tailor individualized plans to support each child\u2019s learning and development.<\/p>\r\n

Many programs use a child portfolio system to record ongoing individualized curriculum plans. A portfolio tells the story of a child\u2019s developmental progress. It may include periodic psychometric assessments of the child as well as planning notes specific to the child. 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\u2019s progress. A child\u2019s portfolio allows a teacher to track a child\u2019s individual needs, keep a record of what is planned to support those needs, and document progress in learning. Such individualized planning is not posted, like the plans designed for groups of children, but the plans in each child\u2019s portfolio are regularly reviewed and shared with caregivers. Here is an example of an individualized curriculum plan:<\/p>\r\n

Observation Notes<\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\r\n

Observation: Lucas is somewhat cautious in joining others in play. He stands to the side and watches others as they play.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

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.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

In this example, the teacher knows about temperamental differences and knows how to assume the role of \u201csocial bridge\u201d to assist the child in joining other children\u2019s ongoing play. Planning to be a \u201csocial bridge\u201d for a child with a cautious temperament is part of a larger individual plan. Lucas\u2019 teacher recognizes that Lucas will have opportunities to learn various skills in an integrated way when he joins the social play. The teacher watches for ways in which this social context prompts the child to express and manage emotions, to understand and use language, to collaborate with others, and to solve problems. Individualized planning applies to all areas of learning and tends to highlight those concepts and skills that children would otherwise miss the opportunity to build if teachers developed plans only for the large group of children.<\/p>\r\n

Another of the overarching principles from the California Preschool Curriculum Framework states that individualization of learning includes all children. Of course, some children have individual plans developed by specialists to address the child\u2019s developmental needs. For children under age three, those plans are called Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs), and for children over age 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 legal guardian 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]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nGroup Plans<\/strong>\r\n

Teachers also regularly prepare written plans to organize experiences for the full group of children in a classroom or program. These plans are posted in a predictable place and referenced throughout the day or the week by the teachers and the caregivers. These group plans may be daily or weekly plans. 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:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Vignettes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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During one of their discussions about their observations of the children\u2019s interest in the snails, the teachers decided to do 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 worked together over days to transform a glass terrarium into a habitat for snails, with dirt, plants, and enough space for other small creatures.<\/p>\r\n

Planning for a Large Group Context:<\/i><\/p>\r\n

The \/s\/ sound in the new and now popular words\u2014 snails and slugs\u2014\u201cslippery snails and slugs slowly slithering make slimy stripes.\u201d 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.<\/p>\r\n

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 \u201csnail helpers.\u201d 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nPosting 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 that week and makes the plan for learning 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\u2019s learning.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Some parts of the day that support children\u2019s learning remain the same each day. For example, in preschool, washing hands before meals, inviting the children to notice or to count who is present and who is absent, or setting up the outdoor painting<\/p>\r\n

To build upon the children\u2019s interest in snails, the teachers announced to the children 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 play with easels, which usually occurs each day. These routine experiences do not need to be written into each daily plan. Rather, 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. For example, the California Preschool Curriculum Framework (CDE 2011b, 16\u201319) provides a guide for the design of specific interest areas that support children\u2019s learning as they enjoy self-initiated play. Written descriptions of how teachers plan for each interest area should be included in the program handbook and shared with caregivers when they enroll in the program.<\/p>\r\n

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 \u201cteachable moments\u201d that occur spontaneously during the day. The posted curriculum plan for preschool typically includes the following items:<\/p>\r\n\r\n