Storypark’s Families App offers parents and guardians Australia’s most relevant and useful parenting resources through an exclusive partnership with the Raising Children Network.
Up-to-date articles, videos and other information about children from birth to 5 years old are tailored for families according to the age of their child or children and delivered in a relevant, useful way.
‘Toileting training signs’, ‘language development’ and ‘healthy food inspiration’ links were all accessed over 20,000 times last month by families.
Quality Area Six of the Australian National Quality Standards is about creating collaborative partnerships with families. This encourages families to be supported through current information being available about the service and relevant community services and resources to support parenting and family wellbeing.
It says “Collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children, and community partnerships based on active communication, consultation and collaboration are essential.”
Providing evidence-based content on hundreds of topics about raising children and child development to parents in a timely way that doesn’t overwhelm them AND is relevant to their child is a great way of strengthening their understanding, confidence and relationship with their child’s early childhood educators.
“PhD research has proven that Storypark helps improve parents’ understanding of curriculum. Giving parents new ways to grow their understanding of their child’s development is another exciting step in our work towards our purpose of helping every child fulfil their unique potential by connecting and empowering the community around them.” says Storypark Co-CEO, Peter Dixon.
“This knowledge changes the questions parents ask at pick up and drop off. It helps them better appreciate their child’s context AND the value of the work that educators are doing.”
Raising Children Network Board Director Associate Professor Julie Green said the partnership was a great result for parents and families.
“We are delighted to be able to share our many evidence-based resources in a new forum – especially one that is so well used and valued by families with young children in early childhood settings.
raisingchildren.net.au helps families grow and thrive together by placing usable information at the fingertips of busy parents and carers. We think this collaborative approach to connecting families to trusted information benefits children, families and communities.”
How do parents access the information?
In Australia, if a child currently has a Storypark profile, and their parents are using the Storypark for Families app, then they will automatically have access to the information from raisingchildren.net.au in the ‘community area’.
Parents whose children don’t already have a Storypark profile can download the app and create a profile for their children for free and continue this for the lifetime of their child. As well as getting access to this great information from raisingchildren.net.au, the Storypark for Families app is a great way for families to record and share special moments in their child’s lives with extended family in a safe and secure way.
How can educators encourage family engagement with the resources?
- Ask parents if they’ve seen any articles that have interested them recently. If they’re not aware of the resources, encourage them to check them out
- Post an article a week as a community post to provoke discussion and interest. The articles could be related to the current interests children are following, or to challenges that some families may be facing such as toilet learning, biting or sleep-related issues
- In children’s learning stories, add links to raising children network articles that relate to the learning you are sharing with children’s families. There are articles on almost any topic imaginable
- In newsletters, add links to articles that would be informative or relevant to families
- Create a “room” similar to an online library, linking to the raising children network website
What if a parent doesn’t want the resources?
- Parents can control these notifications and turn them off if they wish
About raisingchildren.net.au
raisingchildren.net.au – is a complete online resource for Australian parents and carers. It offers trusted, reliable, free information on everyday parenting issues from pregnancy through to teens.
Home to thousands of independently reviewed resources on children’s health and development, it is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and is our joint venture with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.
As well as written articles, raisingchildren.net.au features videos, guides, interactive tools and apps on hundreds of topics, spanning health, nutrition and fitness, play and learning, connecting and communicating, school and education, entertainment and technology, sleep and safety.
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