Category: Early Learning
Articles on early childhood education
How to support rainbow families at your early learning centre
What does heteronormativity mean? How does it relate to early childhood teachers? In this Mat Time interview, early childhood education lecturer Kath Cooper shares tips on how to include rainbow families in your early learning centre. Some families have two mums, some have two dads. Some children have one parent, and some have four! The important thing is that we accept...
Experimenting with science for kindergarten and early learning
Children are natural scientists, always asking why, endlessly curious about the world around them. There are infinite ways we as educators can ignite their imaginations and feed their natural desire to experiment. These are just a few ideas for supporting science for kindergarten and early learning in your centre, school or home. Before each experiment, try asking the children what...
Reading with children to improve communication and early literacy skills
Recently on our new early learning web series “Mat Time” we interviewed speech and language therapist Amanda White about using books to develop communication and literacy skills. Amanda told us that it’s never too early to start reading with children and babies, and shared some really helpful tips for both educators and parents about how to make reading enjoyable, as...
Quick and easy recipes for sensory play
Here are a bunch of resources for sensory play ideas that are so easy for you to make yourself! You don’t have to spend a lot of money and time creating exciting sensory and play materials for children to spend hours exploring with touch, language and imagination. For more early learning inspiration and professional development, subscribe to the Storypark YouTube channel...
Learning in a puddle
One of my clearest childhood memories is of a friend and I walking to school and coming across a gigantic puddle. It was like a magnet that drew us closer and closer. I remember us looking at each other, no words were needed as we both knew what we had to do. We jumped in that puddle, splashing each other,...
Mentoring advice part three – your words
In our third and final article focusing on advice imparted on educators by their mentors, we have a wonderful collection of your own words and personal stories. We have no doubt that they will inspire you in different ways and we hope you find something that speaks to you. One mentor told me to look at my teaching and learning philosophy regularly as...
Why do educators really struggle to engage with parents?
As CEO of Storypark I have the good fortune of working with great educators from all over the world. My job is to listen and understand our partners, educators and advisors to ensure that Storypark evolves in the ways that best serve children, educators and families. All this listening lets me see common challenges and trends, so this is my...
A whole new way of engaging with families at Bambini Worongary Childcare
“I’m also a parent – I saw Storypark as a great tool for families. I was at the centre, working in the industry and still not reading what my child was doing. Storypark is perfect because at 10pm I can look at what they are doing and can come in and chat with their educators in the morning. It makes...
Finding the right pre school for your child
At Storypark we like to share diverse opinions on our blog. This is a guest post from Jane Frazerhurst who founded The Mother Hood – an online community for supporting and empowering all Mothers. She shares her story about when her child started preschool and offers advice to other parents embarking on this journey. I am currently on the hunt for a daycare...
Mentoring advice part one – Working with children
We had the most overwhelming response to our recent give away where we asked you to share with us the one piece of advice or lesson learnt from a mentor that has influenced your teaching the most. We compiled your entries into lists, defined by category and filled with all of the best advice given to our Storypark users by their mentors...