How young is too young to learn about politics?
Yesterday my six-year-old and I went on a trip to Parliament, with his five-year-old friend and her dad. We had a picnic on the big lawn, and they climbed the magnificent trees, and had running races, but only after...
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool in a curriculum and pedagogy unit in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University. Dr Rebecca Andrews and Ms Paula Haalebos. The staff and second year early childhood students in the Department of...
Making teaching visible
We talk a lot about how documentation makes children’s learning visible and the importance of this, but have you ever stopped to consider what else is made visible? It makes teaching visible too! As teachers, it seems to be a...
Farewell Teaching
After 17 years as an early childhood educator, I have hung up my teaching hat and moved onto a new career with Storypark. It has been 17 years of fulfilment, joy, and immense rewards. I have laughed more than I’ve...
Living a sustainable centre life
Here are some simple, every day practices you can implement to lead your early learning service on a journey to living more sustainably. At the dining table Place a compost bowl on the lunch table for food scraps that can...
Reflective practice – growing as educators and learners
Reflection has been described as a process of turning experience into learning. That is, of exploring experience in order to learn new things from it. Reflection involves taking the unprocessed, raw material of experience and engaging with it to make...
It’s Just a Phase! The Negotiator
If your child is somewhere between three and four years old, you have probably noticed her newfound negotiating skills. Maybe your first clue was a bedtime conversation like this: “Let’s get your pyjamas on and I’ll read you a story.”...
Supporting high quality ECE outcomes in Toronto
The Quality Early Learning Network (QELN) is a group of leading not-for-profit early learning and family support agencies who are dedicated to the impact they make for children, families, educators and communities in Southern Ontario. Although the organizations who are...
The Importance of Family within the Early Learning Environment
Located in the Ottawa Valley, Petawawa, Ontario is home to Garrison Petawawa, one of Canada’s largest and busiest military bases. The Petawawa Military Family Resource Centre (PMFRC) provides a wide-range of programs and services for the families of Canadian Armed...
It’s Just a Phase: The Interrupter
You’re having a catch-up phone conversation with a friend. She’s sharing the nitty-gritty details of her life when your 3-year-old decides he wants to share the nitty-gritty details of his life. “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.” You try to shush him,...