Chapter 1 · planning and evaluation
Two timescales, one child
The overall plan is the foundation. Now it has to turn into something you can actually use on a Tuesday — which means planning at two different distances at once.
The rule
Long-term plans and short-term plans, linked together
Based on the overall plan, a nursery must create long-term guidance plans that take a broad view of each child’s life and development, so that concrete childcare can be appropriately carried out — and, connected to those, short-term guidance plans that follow more closely the actual daily life of each child.
But here’s the key
“Connected to” means they have to agree with each other
A short-term plan isn’t allowed to just be whatever feels interesting this week. It has to visibly serve the long-term plan sitting above it — and the long-term plan only means anything if short-term plans are actually built from it. Neither one works alone.
In real life
Checking this week’s plan against this term’s plan
Before I finalise my weekly plan, I glance back at our term’s long-term plan and ask whether this week is actually building toward it. If a fun activity doesn’t connect to anything in the long-term plan, I either find the real connection or swap it for something that has one.
A common misunderstanding
“Short-term planning is the real work; long-term planning is a formality.”
“The weekly plan is what matters day to day — the long-term plan is something I write once and forget.”
“The weekly plan only does its job if it keeps answering to the long-term plan behind it.”
Why this matters to you
When your weekly plan feels disconnected or arbitrary, the fix often isn’t a better activity — it’s going back up to the long-term plan and finding the thread you’ve lost.
Your turn
Can I explain how this week’s plan connects to our long-term plan right now, without checking?
If not, go check — then try again next week.
About Bond Japan
NPO Bond Japan
Bond Japan connects international schools so they can learn from one another and deepen a shared understanding of early childhood education and care.
