When you walk into our centres you will notice we have numerous learning stories posted. Often parents ask us what is a learning story and why do our staff write these learning stories?
Learning stories are a form of documentation and observations done by the educator and written in a narrative format. Educators will listen and watch as children explore in play, the educator takes notes and writes a learning story to help capture her observations and to be able to share them with the children and families. As we all know stories can be very powerful, we encourage our educators to write their learning stories as they are being read by the children.
Learning Stories can be done in so many ways; we encourage our educators to focus on the following:
Child-initiated play, engagement, conversations between children, building relationships, learning opportunities, etc. These stories give the reader a play by play of what was happening in that moment and what learning opportunities were presented.
Learning stories help to connect the families with the what learning opportunities happen during the day. It helps to build strong relationships and allows parents content when speaking to their children, parents are able to reference the learning stories and ask questions.
Learning stories allow teachers to become great observers and allows more opportunities to share and acknowledge the interests within the classroom.
