All posts by Sonya McIntyre

Sonya was born in Lower Hutt and went to Rata Street Kindergarten and Petone Kindergarten. A qualified ECE, she studied at Victoria University in Wellington and has worked with home-based educators, in community-based childcare and in kindergarten. With childhood memories of reading books and writing stories, combined with her passion for all things social media, Sonya segued into her role with us at Storypark as social media manager.

How to Teach Kids about Caring for the Environment

How can we support children to care for the environment? We’re brainstorming different ways an early childhood education centre could live its values out loud and make a big noise about these wonderful things we want our children to pick up on. Today we’re looking at caring for the environment, and we’d love to hear your ideas and tips in...

/ August 27, 2017

Perfectionism in Young Children and How to Help

Perfectionism in Young Children and How to Help Written by Dr. Kaylene Henderson, Child Psychiatrist, and Parent Educator There’s a perception in our society that perfectionism is a good thing, akin to ‘being perfect’; That it’s something to strive for or to drop into conversation in job interviews… Yet the reality is quite different. Perfectionism leads people to place unreasonably...

/ August 27, 2017

Values in action : Hospitality

Values need to be lived out loud I said at the start of this series on values in early childhood education: Children pick up on an awful lot without us saying it – they learn to talk, walk and jump without specific lessons, and they’ll pick up on lots of ‘the way we do things at our centre/in our family’...

/ August 16, 2017

Values In Action: Wisdom

Values need to be lived out loud I said at the start of this series on values in early childhood education: “Children pick up on an awful lot without us saying it – they learn to talk, walk and jump without specific lessons, and they’ll pick up on lots of ‘the way we do things at our centre/in our family’...

/ August 9, 2017

Values need to be lived out loud

Children pick up on an awful lot without us saying it – they learn to talk, walk and jump without specific lessons, and they’ll pick up on lots of ‘the way we do things at our centre/in our family’ unconsciously. But for some things, especially in the area of values, virtues, and character development, it’s necessary for us to live them...

/ July 26, 2017

Amazing results at Little Diggers

Little Diggers provides quality care to defence families in Moorebank NSW. Little Diggers is a vibrant and welcoming 2 room service that caters to 45 children daily, with 14 staff members on site. The educators at Little Diggers are committed to delivering a high level of service. They recognise the importance of being, becoming and belonging and these principles are implemented...

/ June 28, 2017

Finding Common Ground

Finding Common Ground with Families from Different Religious Backgrounds Human beings are more alike than we are different, right? We all need food, rest, love, and laughter, as every early childhood teacher knows well. The good news, when considering how to cater for families from different religious backgrounds, is that the same principle applies. To a very large extent, all...

/ June 25, 2017

A better way to connect school and home in California

      The Gillispie School is an independent, coeducational day school in La Jolla, California, enrolling 250 students from age two to Grade Six (age twelve). The school began as a small cottage that served hot meals to the underprivileged children of single mothers or working parents in La Jolla in the lean years of the Great Depression. Its founders, pediatrician...

/ June 21, 2017

An evolving outdoor classroom at The Gillispie School

At the Gillispie School, we have long aspired to an ‘Outdoor Classroom’ but always felt limited by our concrete playground situated in the middle of a residential neighborhood. With a small lawn and a scattering of trees, it didn’t seem to offer very many opportunities for the children to interact authentically with nature. Although we made an effort to provide...

/ May 24, 2017

Opening lines of communication at Boronia Early Childhood Centre

Mission Australia Early Learning Boronia is a not for profit service with an aim to help provide early learning support for the local community. The service offers 85 places, providing care and education for children from the age of 6 weeks, with a programme that is led by children’s interests in a play based environment. Located at the foot of the...

/ May 17, 2017