Part one: What are the benefits of data-informed decision making in ECE?
Welcome to the series on data-informed decision making in ECE! We’re looking at how data and analysis coupled with our own professional intuition and insight can inform better decision making in early childhood education. Data-informed decision making is simply leveraging data such as parent feedback, ECE market trends, educator and services’ performance, and financials to guide the process of making...
Reggio Emilia – Documenting my inspiration and learning (from a New Zealand perspective)
My learning about the Reggio Emilia educational project began as I listened to a presentation by Leila Gandini, editor of The Hundred Languages of Children. Leila Gandini’s session challenged my (limited, then) view of how capable preschool children could be as thirsty knowledge seekers. She showed pedagogical contexts in Reggio Emilia preschools that expanded children’s explorations across different ‘languages’, fed their...
Attachment Theory For Early Childhood Educators
Introduction The significance of attachment between an infant and a primary caregiver has long been recognised (Ainsworth et al., 1978, cited in Gonzalez-Mena & Eyer, 2015; Bowlby, 1958); in fact, John Bowlby began investigating this idea in the 1950s. Developing a healthy attachment relationship with an educator is also essential for infants and toddlers in Early Childhood Education and Care...
Welcoming parents and families with Storypark
As we return to work with fresh energy and inspiration for an exciting year ahead, now is a great time to prepare for a thoughtful and stress-free welcome for children, parents and families as they return or start their journey with your early learning service. This blog post shares some of the most successful tips and techniques practised by leading...
Help is at your fingertips
How to Find the Help You Need Do you sometimes find when you are using Storypark that you have a burning question to ask or a problem to solve? Thankfully, Storypark is relatively straightforward to use, but figuring things out through exploring or trial and error costs you the one thing you don’t have a lot of. Time! To help...
Top Tips for Welcoming New Educators
Top Tips for Welcoming New Educators We all know what it’s like to learn something new, a new sport, a new recipe – how about new digital documentation software? When you have a guide, it can be that much easier! We’ve crafted some handy resources to get your new educators onboard. We also know that each service uses Storypark in...
Empowering educators through collaboration
Continuing our commitment to ECE software that supports quality: Introducing collaborative story tools! There’s many benefits to working together. It’s a fulfilling experience to work with peers, share ideas, get feedback and new perspectives. It makes problem-solving faster, helps us express our thoughts and broaden horizons so we’re really excited to announce the introduction of collaborative tools to the story...
Story types: Consistently create quality documentation
If one of your goals is for your educators and centre is to deliver high-quality documentation consistently, then story types are a key tool to support your achieving this. Story types are customisable prompts – or scaffolds – that help guide and inspire educators to create meaningful, quality stories. Story types are especially useful to guide and help educators gain...
Reflections on the 2023 ECA Conference
Like many others, I am now recovering from this year’s wonderful ECA Conference. As usual, Storypark took a team to the conference and this year I gave my very own presentation–a somewhat scary but exciting experience! From powerful keynote speakers to engaging sessions and meaningful conversations, this conference left a lasting impression. In this blog post, I will document my...
Improving documentation and enhancing engagement
Improving documentation and increasing family engagement at Network Child Care Services Offering child care services to over 1,800 children across Toronto, Network Child Care Services is a non-profit organization licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Established in 1991, Network has expanded from its roots as a home-based child care service to providing high-quality child care services and programs to...