ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the different uses of documentation, focusing on its principal purpose, planning for the next stages in children's learning on a daily basis. It also discusses the ways of information gathering and the type of evidence to look for and record, both with babies and with older children. Documentation underpins the whole approach to understand young children's learning in the preschools and infant-toddler centres of Reggio Emilia. It gives an opportunity for reflection and self-assessment for the children, and helps the parents to know what their child does and how they learn. Documenting the learning processes of children involves capturing evidence of skills, dispositions and feelings; conversations and discussions; interactions and relationships; gesture, stance and posture. Documentation in the infant-toddler centres begins with building an understanding of how parents view their children. Finally, the chapter looks at documentation as a means of communicating the importance of early childhood to the wider world.
