Tips for getting the most out of Storypark
There are a whole range of ways you can get the most out of Storypark! The following are a list of tips and suggestions to help you and your team get the most out of Storypark. Each tip links to a help centre resource, and these can be shared with your team all at once or one-by-one over time. Share resources...
Mat Time chats at the 53rd Annual ECNZ Conference 2016
Did you attend the 2016 Te Rito Maioha conference this year? Missed some talks that you really wanted to see? Well we’ve got that for you! Watch this highlights reel of some of the fabulous speakers who presented. And while you’re there, you really should subscribe to the Storypark YouTube channel for early learning inspiration. We share regular videos to...
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...
Storypark is the platform of choice for IB schools
This blog post was written by Matt Dolmont who is the IB PYP Technology Coach at ISPP The International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) is a non-profit IB World School based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It hosts learners of over 50 different nationalities from Early Years (pre-kindergarten) to Diploma (Grade 12). Increasingly, families turned to the teacher’s school blog to get weekly...
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...
The créche that built a family
Emily is a 31-year-old mother of two boys under three. Her first blog post in March 2015 went viral, reaching more than one million people in a few days. Emily is the New Zealand Herald’s parenting columnist, and parenting columnist for the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. She founded and runs a charity called Ballet is for Everyone that provides free ballet...
An open letter to my son’s teacher
Emily is a 31-year-old mother of two boys under three. Her first blog post in March 2015 went viral, reaching more than one million people in a few days. Emily is the New Zealand Herald’s parenting columnist, and parenting columnist for the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. She founded and runs a charity called Ballet is for Everyone that provides free ballet...
Including all children – the criteria is breathing
Recently on our new early learning web series “Mat Time” we interviewed Janet Dixon, who is an early learning educator and mentor, as well as a researcher, author and advocate for including all children. We talked to Janet about the skills early childhood teachers already have to be inclusive of all children and to be supportive of the families of...
Supporting a child’s transition from kindergarten to school
Recently on our new early learning web series “Mat Time” we interviewed Carol Hartley, who is the head teacher at Mangere Bridge Kindergarten in Auckland, New Zealand. Carol was part of a 10 year research project about supporting children from early childhood to primary school, and helped author a book on transitions called ‘Crossing The Border – a community negotiates...
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...