Self care part 2
In part two, the thread of self-care continues with some ideas about control, choices, and saying yes. In this two-part blog, I talk about self-care as not being a ‘one-shot deal’- it is more a bunch of little things repeated time and time again to ensure that you are at your peak. In part one, I talked about ideas about...
Self Care
Self-care is one of those trendy ideas right now. It’s a funny mix with people who are ‘typically Kiwi’, and are ‘just getting on with it’, and for the most part that’s ok. But, sometimes it’s not. Leading up to Christmas, I find it an ideal time to reflect on what I can manage, and what I have to do...
Putting the love into Christmas
What do you want your children to remember about family Christmases? The world is a pretty diverse place so Christmas will mean lots of different things to us, but I bet your list has ‘love’ on it, and something about having a lovely time together. The reality for lots of parents, of course, is that as well as all that...
Supporting relationships and attachment in the early years
Relationships are broadly defined as the state of being connected or related. This can mean an association by blood or marriage, a kinship or the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties. It is also recognised as a type of dependence or alliance in the way that we behave or regard one another. When considering the National...
Family engagement makes a huge difference for children at Auckland YMCA early learning services
Lorraine Duncumb, Group Manager ECE for YMCA Auckland In New Zealand wrote about her experiences using Storypark to engage families in their children’s learning and communicate important information about their services events and procedures. Storypark has been a huge part of our development in communicating with our families in our early learning centres. When we were using a scrapbook to share...
Healthy recipes for children
Finding new, delicious and nutritious recipes for young children can be a struggle at the best of times. We have created a printable selection of recipes that have been tried and tested by some of our youngest scrutineers. This involved testing using all of their senses, and we can safely say the selected recipes passed with flying colours! Cauliflower Tots Healthy Fruit...
Storypark provides a time efficient, holistic planning platform for whole centre planning
Lynne, an early childhood educator for Nelson Tasman Kindergarten Association in New Zealand has been using Storypark’s new planning feature for several months with Nayland Kindergarten and shared with us her experiences and how this service plans holistically with their staff, children and families. Due to the successful experience, NTKA is hoping to roll the new planning platform out to...
Planning with Storypark helps teachers succeed at Te Puna Reo o Ngā Kākano
Tānia Gaffey is a dedicated early childhood educator and mentor who has shared her experiences with using Storypark’s new planning tools and how Te Puna Reo o Ngā Kākano (an urban-based, kaupapa Māori, Bronze Enviroschool in Thorndon, Wellington) have customised plans to suit their unique curriculum. In New Zealand, Provisionally Certificated Teachers (often newly qualified educators) need to complete induction and training...
She’s perfect
A mother’s letter she wrote to herself 2 years after her beautiful daughter was born with Down Syndrome. Frankie has just been born, she looks up at you with her beautiful almond-shaped eyes and you know immediately that she has Down Syndrome. In that moment the first words that tumble out of your mouth are ‘she’s perfect.’ And she is....
Families collaborate on planning for children’s learning at Norman Park Kindergarten
Kara is a dedicated educator at Norman Park Kindy in Brisbane, has been a Storypark user for three years, and has written before about the impact Storypark has on her work as a teacher and on the lives of the children she works with. Before the new planning tool was released, the teachers at Norman Park Kindy planned using a...