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Curricula just got smarter: Introducing Program--> group planning, tailored to each child

Group plans and learning stories now tailor to each child and "Suggest" spots learning threads across your children's goals to help you plan meaningfully.

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Written by Marlon Randeniya

Curricula has just evolved to "Program". There are two new ways to help you plan individually even within a group context:

  1. Suggest spots learning threads across your children and proposes group plans.

  2. Group → individual tailoring lets you write one document for a group and have Mana create a personalised version for each child.

Here's how each one works, and when to reach for it.

Your centre can enable Auto add and tailor group docs to Journey in Settings → Program. Eligible saved group documents can then be tailored automatically for relevant focus children. The separate Do not auto add plans to Journeys setting excludes Plans from this automatic process. Check Follow Ups → Focus children and review any child versions before creating a manual copy.

Suggest: find learning threads across every child

Tap Suggest in your curriculum. Mana reads across every child's Journey goals, looks for threads of similar learning, and proposes group plans that serve those children together.

Each suggestion comes with the why- a short explanation of how the plan connects to each child's individual goal.

Mana’s suggestions for Art and Craft, with group plan ideas, a Why this? explanation linking children’s learning focuses, and Create plan.

Why use it

  • Spots threads you might miss. Finding common threads across 20–40 children by hand is hard. Mana does the cross-child scan in seconds.

  • Stays genuinely child-led. Suggestions come from your children's actual goals, not generic activity templates.

  • Shows its reasoning. The why tells you which goals each suggestion is responding to, so you can sense-check it before you act.

  • Strong evidence for assessment. A clear line from individual goals → group experience makes intentional, child-led practice easy to demonstrate.

How to use it

  1. Make sure your children have current Journey goals / content. Suggest reads from these.

  2. In your program, click Suggest.

  3. Review each suggestion. You'll see the program area it fits and the why behind it.

  4. Accept a suggestion to create the group plan.

  5. Check the relevant children and any tailored versions. Use Add to Journey when a manual copy is needed (see next section).

Group → individual tailoring

Write a group plan or learning story once. Depending on your centre’s settings and the document type, Mana can create tailored versions automatically for relevant focus children. You can also use Add to Journey for a manual copy. Review each child’s version before using or sharing it.

Started in one child’s Journey? Return to the Journey board and use the story card’s Options → Copy to menu. Copying duplicates the wording, so personalise each copy. See Use one learning story for several children.

Group plan with Follow Ups open, showing Focus children, Add child and an Add to Journey button beside each child.
The same group plan during tailoring: the Focus children list shows Open plan for ready child versions and Tailoring for versions still being created.

Why use it

  • Write once, individualise everywhere. No more bulk group documents that lack individual learning.

  • Each child still gets a personal record. Their tailored version sits in their journey, ready for next steps and reflection.

  • Use it for group documents. Create child-focused copies of plans, learning stories and observations.

  • Review privacy before sharing. AI tailors the text for the selected child. Check the wording and any copied photos for other children's private details.

  • Strong evidence for assessment. The link from group document → each child's individual journey is captured automatically.

How to use it

  1. From your program, open or create a group document. Save it, then open Follow Ups. Check Focus children; select Add child if someone is missing.

  2. Check whether a child’s tailored version is already available. If a manual copy is needed, select Add to Journey beside the intended child to create an AI-curated version in their Journey.

  3. Select Open document to review each child’s version before using or sharing it. Mark the group document and each child’s version complete separately as the work happens.

Tip: Check the focus children whether tailoring is automatic or manual. Include only children the document is genuinely for, keeping their Journeys focused and meaningful.

Get the most out of these updates

  • Start with individual journeys. Suggest is only as good as the journey content it reads from. Keep each child's individual context current.

  • Link with intention. Keep the focus children relevant and review both automatic and manually tailored versions.

  • Use tailoring for stories, not just plans. Write one group learning story and let Mana individualise it for each focus child.

  • Reflect at completion. When you close a cycle, complete each child's tailored version first, then mark the group document done. That keeps reflection grounded in what actually happened.

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