Understanding Programming in Early Childhood Education

If you’ve ever heard educators talk about “programming” in child care and wondered what it actually means, you’re not alone!

Programming in early childhood education is the ongoing cycle of observing, analysing, planning, implementing, and evaluating children’s learning. It helps educators create meaningful experiences that support each child’s development, interests, and wellbeing.

In Australia, early childhood programs are guided by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), the National Quality Framework (NQF), and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).

At Little Treehouse, we believe programming should be responsive, child-led, and meaningful — built around children’s interests, strengths, and everyday experiences.

Observations

Observations are meaningful moments captured by educators throughout the day. Sometimes they are simple and quick, while other times they become rich learning experiences that continue over days or even weeks.

An observation might be:

• noticing new skills the child has developed

• seeing a child trying something new

• An important milestone in their development

These moments help educators understand children’s development, interests, learning styles, and emerging skills.

Observations can be documented in several ways:

Jottings

Short, brief notes used to quickly record important moments or milestones.

Examples:

• “Johnny sat on the potty today independently.”

• “Johnny used a tripod grasp while drawing.”

These are often simple observations that may not require a full write-up but still help educators track development and progress.

Learning Stories

Learning stories are longer, narrative-style observations that describe the environment, experience, children’s emotions, interactions, and responses. These stories capture the learning process in a meaningful and engaging way.

Photos

Sometimes a photo truly does speak a thousand words. Photos help document children’s engagement, experiences, creativity, and interactions.

Time Samples

Time sampling helps educators observe patterns in children’s play and engagement, such as where children spend most of their time throughout the day or which experiences they are consistently drawn to.

Developmental Milestones

Educators also monitor developmental milestones to ensure children are progressing and being supported appropriately across all areas of development.

Analyse

After observing, educators analyse the learning that occurred.

We reflect on:

• What did we see?

• What was the child doing or saying?

• What skills were being developed?

• What learning outcomes were achieved?

This helps educators gain a deeper understanding of the child’s learning and how to best support future development.

We analyse children's learning against the Early years Learning Framework:

-Belonging, being and Becoming

-Principals

• Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships

• Partnerships

• Respect for diversity

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives

• Equity, inclusion and high expectations

• Sustainability

• Critical reflection and ongoing professional learning

• Collaborative leadership and teamwork

-Practices

• Holistic, integrated and interconnected approaches

• Responsiveness to children

• Play-based learning and intentionality

• Learning environments

• Cultural responsiveness

• Continuity of learning and transitions

• Assessment and evaluation for learning, development and wellbeing

-Learning Outcomes

• Children have a strong sense of identity

• Children are connected with and contribute to their world

• Children have a strong sense of wellbeing

• Children are confident and involved learners

• Children are effective communicators

Plan

Educators then plan future activities and experiences that extend on the learning observed.

Where possible, we aim to extend learning in the moment or shortly after the experience, as this helps maintain children’s curiosity, engagement, and interest.

For example, if children become interested in bugs found in the garden, educators may plan:

• bug hunts,

• nature investigations,

• books about insects,

• drawing experiences,

• or sustainability discussions.

Implement

The planned experiences are then implemented into the program.

Children are offered opportunities to revisit ideas, build on their knowledge, and further explore their interests through intentional teaching experiences and spontaneous play opportunities.

Evaluate

Once an experience or project has been completed — whether it lasts one day or several weeks — educators evaluate the experience and reflect on:

• how the children responded,

• what learning occurred,

• what children enjoyed,

• and how the experience could be extended further.

Educators also reflect on their own teaching practices and the effectiveness of the programming cycle itself.

Children’s Portfolios

Each child has an individual profile on our parent app, which is privately accessible to their family.

This is where families can view:

• observations,

• learning stories,

• photos,

• developmental progress,

• and follow-up experiences connected to their child’s learning.

For group experiences, families of participating children may also have access to shared learning moments.

Our Program

The program within each room reflects both intentional teaching experiences and children’s spontaneous learning.

Programs include:

• Intentional teaching experiences

• follow-up experiences,

• children’s emerging interests,

• family input,

• community involvement,

• and developmental goals.

At Little Treehouse, we use the floor book approach to program. It appears as a mind map that grows over the day and leads to in the moment extensions. It leaves educators with more time on the floor, less time off the floor focusing on documentation. Children participate in the development of the program, assisting with adding writing/drawing to the program, their voices are documented on it, photo-children can cut and paste them their selves. This incorporates a sense of belonging and achievement to their program. We find families love to see the children's voices visually represented on the program. It assists with the parents giving more input to out program also.

At Little Treehouse Child Care Centre, we highly value family input and believe strong partnerships with families help us work together to support each child’s individual goals, interests, and development.