Our daycare is already very child centred and I am trying to start transitioning to a Reggio-inspired approach. I just wanted to ask some teachers with experience about what they are doing for documentation.
We already do very extensive daily reports for parents. This typically amounts to about 3/4 of a page typed, with a picture, daily for each child. These reports describe learning, annecdotes, quotes, and also the more mundane like time napped. Parents are very enthusiastic about these reports.
Now, I am working on display-type project documentation but find myself disappointed. We are putting sooo much effort and money into wall displays with the children's work, quotes, and photos compiled by our very artistic lead teacher. The results look fabulous and ought to be very inviting to both children and parents, but no one pays any attention or ever steps off the entry mat to take a closer look at their children's work.
I resolved that the displays were too high for the children to view properly. Displays had been done more at adult height since we have toddlers who tend to destroy anything posted less than three feet off the ground.
So, I purchased plexiglass and made some 2'x4' framed display panels right at their height, to showcase work and allow the toddlers to pat and mouth the displays as they wish. While this did garner some more interest from the children, the parents still seem to pay no attention.
I think each display probably costs at least $200 of staff time, writing explanatory text and putting together all the pictures, work and children's quotes. I wonder if we are just wasting resources and if we should devote those hours to more take-home documentation such as newsletters. Or, perhaps channel more of those teacher documentation hours into adult-child interactions.
- Krysta
We already do very extensive daily reports for parents. This typically amounts to about 3/4 of a page typed, with a picture, daily for each child. These reports describe learning, annecdotes, quotes, and also the more mundane like time napped. Parents are very enthusiastic about these reports.
Now, I am working on display-type project documentation but find myself disappointed. We are putting sooo much effort and money into wall displays with the children's work, quotes, and photos compiled by our very artistic lead teacher. The results look fabulous and ought to be very inviting to both children and parents, but no one pays any attention or ever steps off the entry mat to take a closer look at their children's work.
I resolved that the displays were too high for the children to view properly. Displays had been done more at adult height since we have toddlers who tend to destroy anything posted less than three feet off the ground.
So, I purchased plexiglass and made some 2'x4' framed display panels right at their height, to showcase work and allow the toddlers to pat and mouth the displays as they wish. While this did garner some more interest from the children, the parents still seem to pay no attention.
I think each display probably costs at least $200 of staff time, writing explanatory text and putting together all the pictures, work and children's quotes. I wonder if we are just wasting resources and if we should devote those hours to more take-home documentation such as newsletters. Or, perhaps channel more of those teacher documentation hours into adult-child interactions.
- Krysta
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