Planning for January — Using Floorbooks® to Reset and Re-Launch
Dr Claire WardenJanuary planning in early childhood education often feels like starting with a blank slate. It's an opportunity to implement new systems, introduce fresh themes, and restart with renewed energy.
However, children don't naturally segment their learning into calendar years or academic terms. Their curiosities are brought forward from December, their relationships continue evolving, and their understanding builds over time rather than resetting periodically.
The Floorbook Approach® offers a way to approach January as an opportunity to refresh our attention to what children are genuinely curious about, rather than replacing their interests with seasonal themes.
Beyond Theme-Based Resets
Traditional January planning treats the new term as an opportunity to impose fresh starts through predetermined themes and activities like "New Year, New Me" projects.
This approach assumes children experience January the same way adults do – as a natural breaking point requiring new beginnings.
However, children's learning flows continuously. Their relationships with materials, ideas, and peers develop organically. When we impose artificial fresh starts, we risk interrupting natural learning momentum while missing authentic new beginnings emerging in their thinking.
Responsive January planning creates conditions for genuine curiosity to flourish rather than predetermined outcomes to be achieved.
Preparing Without Predicting
Effective January planning requires preparing thoughtfully while remaining open to surprise. It's about having the right kind of plans that create conditions for authentic inquiry.
Environmental Preparation: Arrange spaces with materials that could spark multiple investigations. Natural objects with interesting textures, light sources and reflective materials, collections that invite sorting and comparison.
Documentation Tools: Prepare multiple Floorbooks® for different purposes like collective investigations, curriculum specific research and individual Family Books ready to capture personal learning journeys.
Practitioner Mindset: Most importantly, prepare to listen with genuine curiosity. Review previous documentation to remember what authentic child-led inquiry looks like when you trust the process.
The goal is readiness for possibilities rather than predetermined outcomes.
Family Books: Individual Journeys Within Collective Learning
Family Books provide powerful tools for January reset by capturing each child's unique learning journey while connecting to shared investigations happening in the setting.
Unlike group Floorbooks® that document collective inquiries, Family Books follow individual children's interests, questions, and discoveries as they evolve over time. They become bridges between home and school, connecting family knowledge with setting experiences.
Family Books can begin with simple opening invitations: a photo of each child in their favourite thinking space, paired with "What are you curious about this term?"
What makes Family Books different from traditional portfolios is their focus on authentic interests rather than predetermined skills. When children return with genuine fascinations—ice formations from winter walks, patterns noticed in holiday decorations, questions about family traditions – these become starting points for documented learning journeys.
PLODS™: Mapping Possible Learning Directions
PLODS™ (Possible Lines of Development) provides a documentation strategy that maps multiple directions children's interests might evolve, recognising that authentic learning develops organically rather than linearly.
When children show interest in particular materials or concepts, PLODS™ helps practitioners prepare for various directions without predicting specific outcomes.
For example, when children become fascinated with ice formations, PLODS™ might map mathematical possibilities (measuring, comparing), scientific pathways (states of matter, temperature effects), artistic directions (light refraction, pattern creation), and cultural connections (winter traditions from different families).
Rather than choosing one direction and planning activities around it, practitioners prepare flexible resources that can support whichever pathways children's genuine interests actually follow.
This approach honours both children's authentic curiosity and educational requirements by preparing for possibilities rather than prescribing outcomes.
Authentic Assessment Through Responsive Documentation
January planning often involves balancing child-led learning with assessment requirements and curriculum expectations. Responsive documentation through Floorbooks®, Family Books, and PLODS™ generates assessment evidence that's both authentic and comprehensive.
When children pursue genuine interests, their learning journeys provide rich documentation of development across multiple areas—often more detailed than traditional assessment approaches because it captures authentic engagement rather than performed tasks.
Getting Started
You don't need perfect systems to begin responsive January planning. Start with genuine curiosity about what children are actually interested in exploring.
Prepare your listening: Create space in your first week to observe and document what children naturally investigate. What questions are they asking? What materials capture sustained attention?
Trust the process: Let genuine curiosity build momentum before shaping it into structured inquiry. Some of the most powerful learning happens between initial interest and organized investigation.
Document authentically: Use children's exact words, capture real questions, honor genuine thinking patterns. This becomes the foundation for a truly responsive curriculum.
January planning doesn't have to impose fresh starts—it can create conditions for authentic new beginnings to emerge through partnership with children's genuine curiosities.
Ready to transform your January planning from prediction to partnership? Pre-order Leadership Floorbooks® — Collaborative Strategies for Educational Excellence (releasing March 2026).