… the great scrapbook debate!
Are you an Early Childhood Educator who spends precious time compiling a hard copy portfolio/scrapbook of children’s learning stories, photos and artwork to parents at the end of the academic year? No doubt this is a treasured collection of documents and pictures. However, scrapbooks serve only to look back on learning of 3, 6, 9 months previous. This short article highlights why this approach is not ideal from a quality early education perspective and is an obstacle to best practice for a number of reasons:
– Time Sensitive Learning Moments: Parents may only find out about their child’s critical learning moments long after they have taken place. Parents miss the opportunity to reinforce dispositions, skills and concepts at home in a timely way.
– Building Self-esteem: Not being aware of significant achievements as they happen bypasses important opportunities for parents and wider family to build the child’s self-esteem and confidence.
– Respecting Children’s Rights: Often children’s prized pieces of artwork are held back for adding to scrapbooks. This can be a struggle for the child to understand as they have the right to ownership of their creation to take home if they choose.
So how does MOSAIC address all these challenges?
Mosaic was designed to include parents and wider family in the child’s early education (It takes a Village to Raise a Child) as a means of laying firm foundations for the child’s emotional learning competence.
Mosaic Educator enables the Educator to compile learning stories, quick picture stories and short videos to capture all aspects of learning and send immediately to parents. Parents will see all updated learning stories, messages and pictures through their Mosaic Family App.
Parents know in ‘real time’ what learning juncture their child has reached and can encourage this at home. It is well accepted that if parents are keep up to date with all aspects of their child’s pre-school education, they are more engaged in their child’s learning and development.
Mosaic offers both parents and educators many opportunities to add to the child’s ‘emotional toolkit’ for lifelong learning. Parents and extended family members can keep up to date with the child’s electronic storybook and celebrate key achievements and accomplishments.
During a quiet moment with the child, the parent/grandparent/educator can review learning stories or images and encourage the child to explain what’s happening in the child’s own words. This is a valuable mechanism for truly listening to a child, building self-image, self-esteem and confidence as a learner.
Cherished pieces of artwork created by the child do not have to be held in the pre-school for scrapbooks. Instead, the child can be supported engage with technology to take photographs of their work for uploading to his/her personal photo gallery on Mosaic. The child can then take their work home and the educator can use the image for a picture story or learning story and it is captured on the electronic storybook forever.
Below is one of our favourite testimonials from a parent in Donegal …
‘The Mosaic Family App is fantastic! It’s really lovely to see my child’s progress on a regular basis and to see her face light up when I talk to her about what she does at pre-school. It’s further reassurance for parents that they enjoy being at school and other family members (especially those away from home) adore being able to enjoy watching their relatives grow up!’ … G. Crossan, Donegal (Parent).
Mosaic represents documentation and assessment for the professional educator working in a high quality early childhood environment for the benefit of the child, parents and the early childhood service.
Join the growing tribe of professional educators using Mosaic. For more information and to contact us go to www.mosaicelc.ie or call us on 086 243 1695.
