Tag: Educator Professional Learning

Filtering emails to avoid cluttering your inbox

I have an admission. Sometimes I avoid checking my email, even when there are important things in it for me to deal with – because the mere thought of the chaos that is my inbox is enough to make my head feel like polystyrene and my cortisol levels to rise.  Luckily, many of the emails I receive are quite similar...

/ February 15, 2017

Children and technology

The use of technology by children has changed rapidly in a short period of time. Many children as young as 3 years own their own devices, but how are they using this technology and what sort of learning is happening with it? Watch this interview with researcher Dr Joanne Orlando about how children are actually using technology at home, and...

/ January 15, 2017

The workout for children: A different kind of Village

Our latest guest post is from Beth Clements from Affinity Education Group in Australia. Beth is a passionate educator who works as a consultant in the Early Years framework with a mission to empower educators to change the lives of children one connection at a time. A child arrives into this world with knowledge and capabilities, they are wired to...

/ December 14, 2016

Supporting an effective transition to school

The end of year is a busy time for everyone, so we’ve prepared a few practical tips from experts to help you save time and create the best outcomes for children. In the run up to holidays children are excited, parents are frantically trying to prepare and educators’ workloads increase as they prepare to farewell a group of children. Across...

/ December 5, 2016

The Golden Gift – Marte Meo at home

Dutch born, Maria Aarts, studied parent-child interactions for 40 years across varies countries and cultures. She recognised the difficulties in explaining scientific observations of a child’s problems to parents and other educators and in turn developed ‘Marte Meo‘. Marte Meo means ‘One’s own strength’ and is a method which is widely used in 43 countries. It gives parents and caregivers information that’s not only...

/ November 1, 2016

Helping Children to Identify and Manage their Feelings

How do we raise children to be empathic human beings? One of the biggest challenges faced by those working in early childhood care and education services is managing the behaviour and emotions of young children. “Brain research studies have shown us that when we try to use distraction, punishment or logic with children to help them calm down then they...

/ October 17, 2016

The role of men in teaching young children

Men in early childhood education are a minority, not just in New Zealand but around the world. We spoke with Dr David Brody a Lecturer, Author, Academic Dean and Head of Early Childhood at Efrata College in Israel about his research and findings on the topic of men who teach young children. Dr Brody provides us with an international perspective...

/ October 4, 2016

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...

/ July 27, 2016

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...

/ July 24, 2016

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...

/ June 30, 2016