EarlyWorks - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

EarlyWorks is an Australian based childcare documentation and programming system which simplifies and streamlines all aspects of childcare planning and management across the organization. Childcare managers, administrators and educators are provided with features for child files and portfolios, daily or weekly journals, photo and document sharing, tasks and events, quality improvement plans, family engagement, and more.

EarlyWorks enables users to utilize a variety of childcare observation styles for individuals or groups including learning journeys, running records, child notes, anecdotal records, jottings, photo journals, time samples, and more. Users can generate planned or spontaneous programs and cater experiences to each child, which can be linked back to observations. Families are able to see their children engaged in learning experiences via daily or weekly photo journal entries via the EarlyWorks platform, and can share photos and documents to educators by uploading them from home.

Educators can view each child’s current learning and progression towards goals with a click, and access their individual documentation in one place. As each child’s EarlyWorks profile grows, it becomes a comprehensive learning summary complete with family input and communications. Families are able to access real-time information on their children’s bottle times and quantities, meals, portion sizes, nappy changes, sleep times, and more through their EarlyWorks portfolio online, as well as view important documents such as policies and handbooks at any time, via any connected device.

Childcare managers, administrators and educators can view all upcoming tasks and events via the calendar such as excursions, birthdays, and special events, as well as any important compliance tasks such as first aid box checks. Customized dashboards provide insights on a room by room level, and can be tailored to the requirements of specific roles such as team leaders, managers, and educator assistants. EarlyWorks also enables users to generate their organization’s entire quality improvement plan (QIP) in a click, and create regular reflections of pedagogy for support in continuous improvement.