The full story
Families and the full story
Early childhood teachers and parents use blogs to capture a fuller picture of their children’s learning and development
hen four-year-old Jaden Movold took some steps in his walker it was a big moment for a little boy with spina bifida.
His steps in the playground of Meadowood Community Crèche were video-taped by teachers and his mother Lise Baldwin was happy to put the clip on a private blog that she set up in collaboration with the teachers.
Two weeks later, Jaden walked more confidently without any adult support and that too made valuable footage, enabling a comparison of his progress over time.
Teachers at this ECE service on Auckland’s North Shore are using the blogs to post video clips that provide themselves, families and support workers with a more direct view of children’s learning experiences.
The blog has been welcomed by Lise, who continues to post new entries since Jaden moved to another preschool.
“It’s a great information sharing tool. This is something that you can access all the time and it gives you a visual representation of what he is doing, rather than just talking about it, so therapists can go online and see. I think it’s a fantastic tool.”
Therapists can observe from a distance how Jaden functions within different learning environments. Individual planning meetings occur only every six months, so the videos provide useful direct evidence of his progress.
Crèche supervisor Valma Wills says she and her colleagues were looking for a more immediate and interactive way to document children’s learning than the digital diaries on DVD they previously used.
Through their involvement with the Ministry of Education’s ECE ICT professional learning programme they latched onto the idea of using blogs for several children with special needs – those like Jaden who live with a disability.
“We thought there could be a better way to celebrate their successes and have more forward planning,” says Valma.
She says it is easy to upload short video clips and takes no more time than collating photos for printed learning stories. And the direct audiovisual format is a powerful way to communicate.
The whole support team around a child can access the material at any time and bring their own expertise to assessing each child’s development, she says.
“It allows for multiple perspectives rather than the assessment coming through the teachers’ lens only.”
Valma says the blogs remain under the control of parents who can continue to use them once children leave the crèche. Unlike public blogs, they can only be accessed by people who the parents invite and teachers undertook a cyber-safety course to ensure risks were minimised.
The families initially came to the crèche to learn to set up their blogs. Both parents and teachers could then add entries, says Valma.
“With us and the parents being the authors, it does require having good trustful relationships.”
In fact the blogs reinforce those relationships. Parent Natalie Pearson says the blog lets her see how teachers are supporting her son Nathan and see milestones he reaches while attending crèche. A recent post shows him speaking assertively to another child, something his family wanted to encourage for some time.
Without the blog, Natalie says she would have missed seeing him use such skills. She also uses the blog with her son to reinforce his self-image.
“It’s great because six months ago Nathan wasn’t walking, but now he is. I take him to his blog and show him this is where he was and where he is now.”