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According to the Finnish Act on Early Childhood Education and Care, every child in ECEC has the right to receive education and care that is systematic and goal-oriented. In order to achieve this, an individual ECEC plan is created for every child together with the child and their guardians. These plans include goals that are set together and promote the systematic care and education provided for the child. Read more: What is Finnish ECEC?
How is the child's individual plan created?
A child’s ECEC teacher is responsible for creating and evaluating the child’s individual ECEC plan. This is a process and involves several steps. In addition to a discussion and the writing process, the creation of a plan includes an assessment and observation of the child’s strengths, needs, and views, as well as an evaluation of the child’s previous ECEC plan. All staff members working with the children take part in the process, and the creation, observations, documentation, and evaluation are conducted multi-professionally.
The plan is based on the child’s strengths and interests, as well as on their best interest and needs. The pedagogical goals and measures, and any support measures and their implementation, are recorded in the plan. The linguistic and cultural background and linguistic skills and abilities of a child who speaks a foreign language or is bilingual are factored in when creating their individual plan. The child’s cultural and religious background will also be considered when creating the plan.
This is how the City of Helsinki has defined the child's individual learning:
Check the Curriculum from the City of Helsinki for full details!
What is included in the child's plan and how is it used?
The pedagogical goals and measures, which are listed in a child’s individual ECEC plan and based on the child’s strengths and needs, form the foundation for the planning and implementation of the child group’s operation. All staff members working with the child play an important role in promoting the child’s wellbeing, implementing goal-oriented activities, and meeting with and talking to the guardians daily.
The child’s ECEC plan is evaluated and supplemented with the child and their guardians at least once a year and whenever the child’s needs require. Together with the child, the staff gathers documents and creations that are important to the child as part of their ECEC plan assessment and portfolio. The child’s ECEC plan is used to assess how well the child’s needs related to growing, learning, developing, and support have been met and how the child’s strengths and interests have been considered. The plan is updated when necessary. Children’s individual ECEC plans are confidential.
Next steps
Download our Template for the Child’s Individual ECEC Plan.
You can use and modify it freely for your own needs. Start your journey to help children master skills they are dreaming of and gain knowledge of areas they wish to understand.
In our next post, we will discuss: What is a Group Curriculum?
In the meantime watch our video to see how Kindiedays supports the children's learning!
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