ABC of Child Care: J is for…

ByChristie Burnett


J is for JOURNAL

Many quality centres maintain a learning journal or portfolio for each child as a record of their individual development, learning, interests and skills, and participation in the learning program.

Journals are valuable records of a child’s early learning and development as they;

  • Demonstrate ways in which the child is developing across each area of learning and development,
  • Allow a variety of observations and information about the individual child to be kept together,
  • Are both ongoing (over time) and immediate (information captured at any given moment in time),
  • Record the processes of learning (the way a child went about a task) as well as products of the child’s learning experiences,
  • Allow information to be passed on as a child moves into a new group, a new education facility or to work with an alternative agency, and
  • Can be used to value family involvement – where both educators and family members both contribute to the process.

    • The journal may include;

    • Observations (recorded by educators) of what the child said and did,
    • Notes from educators about what the child has been learning,
    • Group or individual learning stories,
    • Photographs,
    • Video and audio recordings, and
    • ‘Artefacts’ such as paintings or drawings.

    A good journal will clearly demonstrate;

    • The child’s learning through play and investigations,
    • The children’s development and thinking,
    • The evolution of learning projects and experiences that the child is involved in,
    • Educator reflections, and
    • Plans to extend the children’s thinking and learning.

    Photo credit

    Check out the ABC of Child Care series here.

    Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

    4 Comments

    1. PlanningQueen says:

      My kids kinder keep a learning journal and as a parent I love them. We get to keep them at the end of the year and the are such great way to document their kinder experience.

    2. Marilyn Rodrigues says:

      Our girls love their journals, and I'm really glad we've got them. Christie I've left two awards for you on my blog: Beautiful Blogger and One Lovely Blog

    3. The thing I love most about the Journals in our classroom is that the kids have a strong sense of ownership over them as well. We always ask if we can put their artwork in them; they help print out the pictures and paste them in; we have them out and easily to get to on book shelves with comfy beanbags and cushions and find the kids revisiting their journals alone or with their friends. Its truly lovely to watch 🙂

    4. Deborah (Teach Preschool) says:

      Great tips on keeping a classroom journal! Thanks:)

    Comments are closed.