Documentation part 1: Using the daily diary as a tool for reaching your families

There was a lot of feedback asking for a post on documentation. As documentation is a rich and varied area, I thought I would start with the trusty daily diary.

I know a lot of preschools don't use a daily diary but it is a lovely way of filling families in on their child's day. Also, it can be used as a way of demonstrating to children that their contribution to the day is valued and if you are organized and detailed enough you can use it for your observations.

At our centre, we do the diary in a number of ways:
- we have pictures of the children and what they have been interested in and add text explaining what is happening and if possible a quote from the children
- secondly, we cover any group activities undertaken
- we also list the art experiences
-And finally, the books we have read

The diary is in constant evolution and half of above were added as a result of parent feedback.

In the past week, I have endeavoured to add a few more dimensions as a result of the conference:
- a couple of highlighted boxes explaining the value of a particular type of play especially maths and dramatic play.
- I have changed our generic "parent feedback/ comments" line to a " for our families: what you can do a home?". Here, I have tried to provide suggestions to families on how they can extend a interest of their child e.g visit a museum to see fossils, dinosaurs; talk to your child about the weather e.g. Is it cold, hot, wet, dry? How can you tell?
- I have also added a paragraph about our latest project

The diary is at the same level as our children's sign in sheet which makes it very accessible for the children and they will often check the photos and ask to be read what it says. I have also started putting a copy into a plastic sleeve book so the children can easily read the diary and look back over time.

And next week.... I am going to add some stronger links to the early years learning framework using the five overarching outcomes. I'll let you know how that goes.

How do you use your daily diary?
Do you use one? If not, how do you let the families know about their child's day?
Do your parents read your daily diary?
How do you reach families from non-English speaking backgrounds?
Do you use technology e.g. Email or blogs to reach your families?

If you're a parent who uses long day care, what do you think of the daily diary? Do you read it? What would you like included?

Posted by Wendy

"the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" -Martin Luther King

Preventing sudden unexpected infant death (SUDI)

I realise this isn't part of the upcoming post list but this is such an important issue I had to make it a priority.

On Thursday morning I attended the National Investment For The Early Years (NIFTeY) NSW branch meeting. This meeting is attended by key stakeholders in early childhood including government, Gowrie NSW, SDN, and others. I attend as a independent member as I asked pretty please if I could join as I am very interested/passionate about the work they do.

Anyway, on Thursday, we were honored to have a presentation made to us by Professor Heather Jeffery. Heather led and co-author the recent NSW Child Death Review - 'a preliminary investigation of neonatal SUDI In NSW 1996-2008: opportunities for prevention '.

For access to the full report click here: http://kids.nsw.gov.au/uploads/documents/FinalSUDIneonates.pdf

The key findings were:
The three key risk factors for sudden unexpected death of an infant are:
- co-sleeping. Therefore never sleep in the same bed as your child, they can be in the same room but not the bed. Cultures that do co-sleep, eg China and Japan, have a separate safe place for the child to be moved to when asleep.
- safe sleeping i.e. The child should always be put to sleep on their back, NEVER on their tummy
- smoking

If these three risk factors are removed, most deaths will be preventable.

This is a link to the SIDS and KIDS brochure about safe sleeping: http://www.sidsandkids.org/wp-content/uploads/SidsSafeSleeping14ppa1.pdf

The SIDS and kids website is : www.sidsandkids.org

I know this is a sensitive issue and there is a lot of misinformation about what is best for your child. However, this is the very latest research and it may prevent your healthy child from dying.

As a result of this presentation, there will be a substantial government campaign implemented to raise awareness to the findings.

If you have any questions just let me know and and I will endeavor to point to in the right direction


Posted by Wendy

"we are the change we have been waiting for" - Barack Obama

Maths Links: Early mathematical thinking

Thank you for all your feedback and positive comments about yesterday's post. Hopefully I can live up to everyone's expectations now :)

I think off the top of my head the winner was documentation as a place to start which I will try and do a post about over the next few days. If you are keen to look at template/ ideas Carly over at Early Childhood Resources did a post today about observations, the format she recommended is similar to one of the tools I use (probably the influence of the same uni at very similar times).

But as today is Monday it's time for Joyful Learner's maths links... Head over and check it out for some great maths ideas www.joyfullearner.blogspot.com

The main thing I wanted to share with you was some quick places that will quickly get you up to speed on the latest maths research if you haven't studied recently.

One of the best places to start is the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers position statement on early childhood maths which you can find here: http://www.aamt.edu.au/content/download/721/19509/file/earlymaths_a3.pdf

A article about common misconceptions about maths education in the early years: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/ajec_index_abstracts/early_childhood_teachers_misconceptions_about_mathematics_education_for_young_children_in_the_united_states.html

Dr Jenni Way highly recommends the following book for excellent practical and up to date advice on applying maths in the early years:
Dr Kate Tucker,2010, Mathematics Through Play in the Early years (2nd ed.) Sage books. This is the book depository link for you: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781848608849/Mathematics-Through-Play-in-the-Early-Years.
To paraphrase Jenni "I have been waiting for years to find one I could recommend and this one is it". It's only $33 and free worldwide delivery! And tax deductible if you work in the industry. Have just ordered it myself.

So there's some reading to whet your appetite... Next Monday I will write about the vital importance of developing patterning skills in the early years.


Posted by Wendy

"we are the change we have been waiting for" - Barack Obama

A post about upcoming posts

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending a Sydney University conference about the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality standards.

As a result, I have lots of excellent material that I plan on sharing with you over the next few weeks/months.

A broad summary of what I intend to write about for you...
- documentation within the context of the eylf so portfolios, observations, assessment and daily diaries
- ensuring that families are integrated into your practice
- language and literacy in the early years
- using popular characters e.g. Superheroes, barbie and Thomas in your practice - what the research is saying
- maths in the early years. This particular presentation was so fantastic I have enough for the whole year
- working together as a team to achieve the eylf outcomes
- how to use the reflect respect relate document
- how to demonstrate continuous quality improvement ( for this, I will also draw on my previous experience in hr)
- more about advocacy

Posted by Wendy

"we are the change we have been waiting for" - Barack Obama