two teachers sharing an ipad screen

Recruitment and Retention: Standing Against an Outgoing Tide

According to Gallup, the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. They calculate that this means U.S. businesses are losing a trillion dollars every year due to voluntary turnover. A New Zealand expert goes deeper, and suggests: For entry-level employees, it costs between 30-50 percent of their annual salary to...

/ February 3, 2022

Setting professional goals in early childhood education

Setting Professional Goals in Early Childhood Education Teaching goals are slightly different from the usual ‘drink more water/walk more’ type of goals. Nowadays, there is a lot of advice about goal setting for early childhood professionals. Professional development goals for early childhood educators are deep, mindful, and have the potential to impact others around you as well as yourself. So,...

/ January 28, 2022

The Top Five Updates to Storypark in 2021

To end 2021 on a positive note we are reflecting on the privilege we had to learn and create awesome things! This year, we chose to double down on our commitments to children and educators – we love that we get to help you do great things, your way. We asked our Chief Product Officer Melissa for her top five...

/ December 17, 2021

2021 – The year in review

2021, how did you speed by so fast!?! After another year of uncertainty, one thing has stayed the same… the love of inspiring content to help you in the important work you do with children and their families! That’s why it is time to dig up and dust off the most popular articles from our blog in 2021. These articles...

/ December 9, 2021

A strong sense of community in British Columbia

Storypark has been a wonderful addition to our childcare programs at the Alexandra Neighbourhood House Children’s Centre. During the global pandemic, our families had limited access to our programs, and couldn’t fully experience the classroom documentation in our spaces. It was the best thing we could have done for our families as it was a way to reconnect our families...

/ December 2, 2021

What happens when your child leaves their learning service?

It’s that time of year here for transitions, changes and wrapping things up! Lots of parents ask our support team what happens to their child’s Storypark profile when they leave. Whether your child is going to school or simply moving to another service, we’ve got you covered. Storypark doesn’t own your child’s stories and information, we simply store it for...

/ November 11, 2021

An infant and toddler curriculum – what does it look like?

The learning curriculum for infants and toddlers Documenting infants and toddlers learning If you work with infants and toddlers, the requirement to plan for and document a learning programme can seem a little bit out of reach. This means it can feel like you are spending large portions of your day helping children with meals, changing diapers/nappies, in the sleep...

/ November 11, 2021
boy on digger in sand

Educators are researchers

Educators are researchers If I said to you “you are a researcher”, would you brush that off as being untrue? It’s true though, educators are researchers! Historically, an educator was the holder of all knowledge. And a student was the recipient of this knowledge. The child learnt by listening, reciting, copying, observing and remembering all of the knowledge and information...

/ November 8, 2021
teacher researching and supporting children's interests in playing with water

Researching children’s interests

Researching children’s interests Researching children’s interests is part and parcel of our work as educators. But do we often rush to make assumptions about what they are truly interested in, without really digging below the surface? If we rush this process, we can make the mistake of veering off course with our programming, and miss the opportunity to deepen children’s...

/ October 31, 2021
New Canaan Nature Center Preschool

When nature meets technology

When nature meets technology When nature meets technology, wonderful things can happen for your learning community. The New Canaan Nature Center Preschool is the oldest nature-based preschool in the United States. The children who attend the preschool are lucky to have access to 40 acres of gardens, forests, fields, ponds and streams. “Every day we see children grow their confidence,...

/ October 10, 2021