L'inspiration qui nous pousse

Au mois de septembre, Krystal Faubert du Centre de santé communautaire Pinecrest-Queensway a écrit un message au sujet de leur arbre de succès qui est utilisé dans leurs programmes pour encourager la prise de notes par les parents, les responsables de garde et les intervenantes.

Vu que c'est souvent un défi de faire des observations dans nos groupes de jeu car le groupe n'est jamais pareil, nous avons décider de fabriquer nos propres arbres de succès. Nous espèrons que cette stratégie piquera la curiosité et l'intérêt des parents et des responsables de garde afin qu'ils et elles participent à l'observation des habiletés et des intérêts des enfants.

Nous allons vous garder au courant des résultats!

Inspired by others on the blog!

In September, Krystal Faubert at Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre posted a message about the Achievement/Success Trees that they are using to encourage parents, caregivers and parent support workers to jot down their observations of children.

Here, at the OEYC Ottawa South, we loved the idea so much that we were inspired to put together our own. It is always a challenge to capture observations in a drop-in playgroup since the group is never exactly the same! We hope these trees will help pique the interest of parents and caregivers and get them participating in the observation process.

Our large Success Tree at Don Reid (the main location of OEYC Ottawa South)

We will let you know how it goes!

Winter Wonderland - Observations of a Different Nature?

How do you plan curriculum based on observation and documentation when you run drop-in programs?  That is a question that our OEYC constantly revisits.  We do have our regulars, but with 18 drop-ins per week in 6 locations, the only consistency is change. 

The other day I was talking with a couple of staff and we were trying to come up with a great idea for our resource area at our main site.  The space is large, but our clients tend to see it as a grown-up space, thanks to the bookshelves around the perimeter.  I threw out the idea of turning it into a winter wonderland, complete with a white sheet for snow (the area is carpeted so no slipping), and boxes painted white to build forts and snowmen.

Now I like to challenge my staff with ideas like “no crafts planned for 3 months-just art” so my staff like to challenge me right back when they can.  Once I proposed this idea, one person smiled wryly and asked “Why would you pick winter wonderland?  Don’t you think that sounds like a theme?” 

She was right in the sense that I did not base this idea on my observations and documentation of the children in the drop-in.  Rather, I based it on a presentation recently made at my agency by a Program Effectiveness Data Analysis Coordinator (PEDAC) and patterns of attendance at our drop-ins over the years.  Knowing that the community we serve has:

·         a higher than average population of New Canadians (many of whom come from climates warmer than Canada);

·          a higher than average population of people living in apartments;

·         children who score lower on physical health and well being (mostly in the category of gross motor skills) on the EDI; and

·         families who venture out less frequently as soon as the weather gets cold

I think it is programming based on observation and documentation.  The only difference is that this is a more global approach. 

Having a winter wonderland allows the children to use gross motor skills during play and hopefully they will transfer the indoor play to outdoor play once the freezing ran ends and the snow starts to accumulate! 

As an OEYC with parents in attendance who play alongside with their children, I also have an ulterior motive and that is for the parents to see how fun it can be to take the kids outside and let them play in the snow.  For families living in apartments, playing outside is very important to help their children develop those gross motor skills and to promote overall physical health and well being. 

How has the winter wonderland been received?  Well, we knew the children would love it, but we didn’t anticipate the parents becoming so involved in the play with their children.  We even had one mom on her cell phone calling her friend to come quick to the playroom because they were having a snowball fight.  We swear no one has poke out an eyeball… yet!

So when faced with the challenge of how to observe and document in an OEYC/PFLC, all I can say is that sometimes you just have to think globally and act locally! 

Séance de formation: l'observation interactive et le cadre d'apprentissage

Cette séance de formation vous permettra d'améliorer l'utilisation de l'observation et de la documentation en offrantcdes stratégies d'utilisation des outils en accordance avec le cadre d'apprentissage de la petite enfance de l'Ontario.

La séance de formation aura lieu:samedi le 16 Février 2013

de 9 :00 à 12 :00
au Centre communautaire Routhier
172 Avenue Guigues
Ottawa, Ontario.

L’inscription est limitée aux 10 premiers Programmes de la Petite Enfance, Centres de Développement de la Petite Enfance de l’Ontario et Programmes de Ressources pour la Famille francophones à s’inscrire en appelant l’ECCDC au 905.646.7311 poste 304 ou par courriel à eccdc@eccdc.org. Pour de plus amples renseignements, cliquez ici pour consulter le dépliant.

Individual Portfolios

At Main Street Childcare, we use hanging files on the counter for each child. Located in the front of the folders is the ELECT document to encourage staff to read when time allows.
In the files, a collection of "stuff" is inserted in the appropriate child's file folder. This may include a drawing, painting, a photo or a scrap of paper where we/ they jot something wonderous down. This could be a first English word, comment, a story or picture.
This hanging file method works for us and provides us the flexibility to add more to each individual file later. When completed we then meet with the parents to share their child's creations and successions. It also gives us the opportunity to introduce ELECT to parents.

Daily Explorations

At Adult LINC Childcare, the staff capture children's play and discoveries with pictures and download the pictures onto the computer desktop for the parents to view upon pick up.