Mindfulness and Purpose in Early Childhood Education

  WHAT IS A LEARNING STORY? Learning Stories are a widely used technique to assess children’s learning in New Zealand's, Te Whāriki early childhood curriculum, child care centers . The technique requires teachers to observe children and write narrative ‘stories’ to interpret the learning that is occurring in particular situations. A 'Learning Story' is a record of what an educator has seen a child, or what a group of children do in the program.   The written story can be as short as one paragraph, one page or longer, but usually focuses on a specific incident or episode (like an anecdotal), or a snapshot of time(e.g. 10 minutes at the art table), or a group activity (a nature walk or visit to a fire station). It becomes a 'learning' story when the educator adds their interpretation of the child's competencies and attitude toward learning (courage, curiosity, perseverance). New Zealand educators match up the strands of their ear...

In this ever changing world of early childhood learning and theories, ECE's should never forget the roots and spirit of their early childhood education: CHILD DEVELOPMENT .  ECEs are masters in early child development.  It's what we do.  We know young children and how they develop. OBSERVATION SKILLS .   We watch and learn to make sure we know where our children are on the developmental scales. PROGRAM THROUGH PLAY . We set up play based environments based on our observations of children.  And every ECE, who wants to calls themselves an ECE, should be able to: •Make play dough. •Run circle time.  •Capture and maintain the creative imagination of young children. ____________________________ Want more information on how to become a mindful ECE?   Download the Mindful ECE Resource Collection.