Joining Hands (and Hearts) as Professionals: Part 2

A couple months ago I posted Joining Hands as Professionals about a new adventure in my learning journey

On September 19th five amazing people, Kimberley, Jerome, Annette, Amy, and Sally adventured here as "Team Maine" from England and I got to watch months of planning become real. My experience at the Play Iceland 2014 conference played a huge role in how I chose to plan and organize this next step of the journey.  I knew the importance of visiting different settings, but also ensuring there was time to reflect and compare notes with others at the end of each day.

When we work together, we can climb mountains.

The knowledge and experiences I gained from this would make a list far too long to share. I think overall the highlights of the experience were meeting, sharing, and collaborating with new early childhood practitioners from both near and far! I was able to reach out to and visit new settings and have visitors in my setting who had different perspectives. Forming a unique bond with a small group of individuals who can now extend the knowledge we gained back into other early years opportunities. I strongly believe we all grew as professionals and advocates for childhood, but also as individuals.

The group that was formed was an international one, but this type of professional development could be easily planned with a local group of providers.


My planning process and suggestions:

The Planning

I reached out to programs in a more populated area of my state. They were far enough away from my setting that there was not as much worry about being the competition. I think some of the appeal was having visitors from England visit their school, but there is no reason you can't form a small group of practitioners (or even just yourself) to visit other early childhood programs. It was easier for me to connect with these programs, because I was organizing for an outside group, but realized what a valuable experience this would be for anybody to do. These are beautiful programs right here at home, that I would never have experienced on my own and I had to ask myself "Why?"

I met several of the people in person ahead of time. It seems to be a growing trend that daycare providers and directors form small groups to meet with once a month to network and share ideas. I was able to sit in on one of these meetings in the area we would be visiting. I became familiar with many of the providers that we would be visiting.

I set up specific dates and times with the programs during a three day period. And made sure that I was clear what type of involvement they wanted us to have while we were visiting. Some of the programs allowed us to be involved with the children's activities, while others preferred we sit quietly and take notes. Some allowed photos with children and others asked us to take photos without. We visited in pairs, so that we wouldn't overwhelm the staff or children, but would still be able to reflect with somebody after the visit.

The Visits

The team made time at the end of each day to discuss how our visits went and what we were going to take back to our own classrooms. It was so helpful to have a the small group of people to reflect with about the visits. I am happy that we mostly visited settings in pairs, so that we came to the "table" with more than one perspective on each setting.

Reflection

One of the directors (The Children's Center) was so enthusiastic about our visits that she and I planned an evening mixer where we could meet with her staff and have a chance to talk. "Team Maine" shared a video presentation of their settings at Child First Day Nurseries. It was a magical evening filled with inspiration and like-minded individuals who all shared the same passion for working with children.

Hosting Visitors

Another important part of the experience was having visitors observe and spend time with me at my preschool. They were able to share ideas, suggestions and feedback on our philosophies and daily routines. The relationships that were formed during our week together made it so easy to have them come into my classroom. I was so worried about the way the children would respond to so many new adult faces. Everybody was so comfortable with being there together. The children still ask about them and we have a picture hanging in our classroom. The impact that they left on us teachers and the children will never be forgotten.

The Grand Finale: Joining Hands

At the end of the week, I hosted a free event at my preschool and invited about 15 other practitioners to attend. The attendees were Team Maine, teachers from the some of the settings we had spent time in and also colleagues of mine from another state who were able to share photos and information about their settings. 

 I had a tie-dyeing activity available in the middle of the day to give people a chance to be creative and to continue their discussions during a break. Everybody brought food to contribute for lunch.

We had three different speakers and time in between to talk and share. I asked that people bring any paperwork they were willing to share including: handbooks, assessments, planning sheets, etc. We had time scheduled in for small group discussions and brainstorming, but unfortunately ran out of time. I think in the future two speakers would be sufficient at this type of workshop.

There is just something about a room full of people talking about their love for children that will stick in your heart for a long time. Everybody just seemed so relaxed and happy to be there together sharing conversations about why we do what we do!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

A special THANK YOU! to all the people who were involved in this amazing experience, including Tom Shea, Team Maine, all the settings that welcomed visitors into your programs, our wonderful speakers, and all of the teachers and providers who joined us in the evening and on a Saturday to share your passion!




Stay tuned for more information on Play Iceland 2016 (now Play International)! Iceland, UK, Australia and USA.

Preschool Around the World: Sweden

I have asked several of my international friends to write a guest post about what preschool is like in their part of the world.

Suzanne Axelson lives in Sweden and is the writer behind the blog Interaction Imagination.  Suzanne and I were in the same group during Play Iceland 2014 and had a lot fun discussing and learning with each other on our journey. She is also one of the people behind the International Fairy Tea Party that we take part in every September. 

Is preschool private or public?

In Sweden there are a mix of private and public preschools... but all are funded by the state and all parents regardless of what type of preschool they send their children to pay the exact same amount of money - 1,260kr per month being the maximum amount a parent will pay for the youngest child in the family - 840kr for the next youngest, then 420kr for the next and any other children are cost-free. This is for full-time preschool (preschools are legally required to provide care between 6:30 and 18:30) - parents with a household income of less than 42,000kr per month are entitled to reduced preschool fees. Parents who are on parental leave (there is a generous parental leave in Sweden (you can read more about it here.)

These children in Stockholm can be at preschool for 30 hours per week (at a reduced cost) while in most parts of Sweden children with infant siblings may attend preschool for 15 hours per week.

I have worked at both public and private preschools - and these can have as much differences between the same sector as they can have similarities across the sector. There are Reggio, Montessori, Ur och Skur (outdoor/forest preschool), traditional Swedish, Waldorf - there are also parent co-operatives and teacher co-operatives.

My children attended a parent co-operative preschool, where we as parents contributed to the running of the preschool. Right now I am working at a private preschool, Filosofiska - we also happen to be Sweden's truly only non-profit preschool (and this includes the public sector - as they can be sold at a profit).



What does a typical day look like?

Children will start arriving between 6:30 and 9:00 in the morning... so there is free play when most children arrive. The group that I have just now (those turning 5 and 6 this year) are also a group that tend to turn up late... so I have not been getting going with our morning routines until 9:30, to ensure that it is an inclusive group.

Preschool is not something children HAVE to do, so I feel that I should not be forcing them to get up early - let them have their slow mornings for as long as possible, as school will start between 8:00 and 8:30 - so there will be plenty of early morning to come in their future.
We start with a morning meeting with a sandwich or fruit snack, where we talk about what we will be doing during the day. Then we have our morning activity... which could be anything from art, to philosophy, to dance, to outdoor excursions... but by lunch at 12:00 we have completed the activity and played outside - we are outside for at least an hour every day... often longer.

After lunch we have rest time. We lie down and relax, listening to stories or just daydreaming for 30 minutes.. those who sleep have the opportunity to do so... and yes we have 5 year olds who regularly sleep and are healthier and happier for it. 

Having a sleep research husband means I see great value in rest and sleep.

In the afternoon until 14:30 we have quiet play and then we eat snack. After snack there is free play... either indoors or outdoors.

ALL of the activities we do are based on the children's play and interests... we have a basic plan for what we hope to do, and we have the curriculum to guide us on the learning outcomes we as teachers need to be scaffolding in order to enable the children to reach their potential.

We work at Filosofiska in a philosophical way... the children and teachers alike... this being that we are a community of learners. if you would like to learn more about how we work with philosophy then please check out http://interactionimagination.blogspot.se/2015/03/philosophy-and-prephilosophy-with.html

Of course, it is not common practice to use philosophy with children here in Sweden, especially with preschoolers.

As preschools are open long days we teachers work shifts.. this means we are only fully manned between 9-15 every day - so even if the ratio sounds great there are times when the child-adult ratio is not as fantastic. Some preschools have a great ratio - we at Filosofiska have a 1:5.5 ratio while there are those with many more children per teacher. Also when we need to do our planning it also means that we leave the child-group, and there is no replacement teacher while we do this. Teachers get often 2 hours of planning reflection time a week, assistants get an hour - this can vary from preschool to preschool, but on the whole this is what I have worked with the most. 

Once a week we get a 30 minute planning as a team (each class/group teachers getting the chance to plan and reflect together). This too can vary from preschool to preschool, sometimes it has been an hour each week, sometimes 90 minutes every second week. When I interviewed preschool teachers as part of my masters thesis all of them had concern for planning/reflection time - as they all felt there was a huge need to be able to plan TOGETHER to be able to offer a great learning environment, but at the same time felt guilty that the child-teacher ratio was so affected. 

This is something that teachers in school do not experience as they have other teachers that take care of the children (with the same or even better ratios) when they have their planning. They also get more planning days than teachers in preschools... I assume this is due to the fact the preschool is still viewed as care compared to school.

Our preschool does not have its own yard... this of course means that we have no outdoor space to develop with the children... which makes me a little sad, I have to admit, BUT it does mean that we are a part of the community we are in... the square is right outside our window, and is a place the children play in... there are many parks and the forest to visit... which means we can meet their play needs in many different ways. AND we see just how competent children are, even from the age of one, managing to go out on excursions every day... many preschools I have worked at have said 1-2 year olds were too young to be able to go on excursions.

We work hard on the children being able to do things themselves... a hand just behind, as a safety net, to allow them to feel safe, but also to discover just how much they can do themselves.

The great thing in Sweden is that we do not have to write risk asessments to be able to go on excursions... if the children say we need to go to the forest to look for fairies we can up and go to the forest...

In Sweden the weather requires us to wrap up a lot... either in full rain gear to deal with the cold puddles...

or wrapped up warm to deal with the snow and minus degrees... We are usually wearing winter gear between early October and late April (sometimes even early May)

We also take part in International Fairy Tea Party every year - the first year just being a small one group celebration... and last year all the children in both the preschools celebrated... and they are all looking forward to celebrating again this September... it is so much fun to see how the celebration inspires their play and learning... they have learned to see and appreciate the small and insignificant things - and to see magic in the everyday.

We always try to make use of everything... like when a big delivery arrives the boxes become a maze with so much play potential. We are lucky to have a large room specifically for movement on a big scale.

How old are the children?

Preschools serve children aged between 1 year and 6 years. These can be divided up in mixed age groups, in groups with each year in their own group (like the school system) there are sibling groups... which means that there is a 1-3 group and a 3-6 group. There is no one way to have a preschool.
The year children turn 6 is the year they will start a preschool class in a school environment in August. The year after, the year they turn 7 is when they officially start school.

The routines of starting school should be a smooth transistion, but experience has taught me that some schools are better than others at reaching out to the preschools. Some will insist on meeting the children in their preschool environment before school starts and check with the preschool teachers about any possible strategies that would enable the children to transistion better, some schools only have contact with the parents and the children visit before hand with their parents... although when we contact the school we are welcome to visit as a preschool, and then there are sadly some preschools that just ignore us in preschool altogether...




Like most places in the world, preschool is not valued in the way that it should be and more focus is placed on the importance of school. But hopefully this is something that will slowly change.

Play Iceland 2014

I have just returned from Play Iceland 2014. This is the second year this event has taken place, planned and started by Hulda and Tom of Fafu. 

The group consisted of 29 people from different parts of the world. Many were from the United Kingdom, two from Northern Ireland, one from Sweden, myself and one Icelander. I learned so much about the educational systems of not only Iceland, but also those of the my travelling companions. Some of the settings that were represented were Child First Nurseries, Naturally Learning, Filosofiska, The Factory Where We Build Anything, Serendipity Preschool and also some private early years consultants and practitioners.

The first day of the trip was about getting to know each other. We spent the morning at The Blue Lagoon soaking in the geothermal heated pools and sharing our first of many meals.

The second and third day was our chance to break into our groups and visit playschools.

Leikskólinn Aðalþing 

Leikskólinn-Stekkjarás 

On the evening of the third day we hosted a two hour conference for our own group, but also invited early years teachers from near Reykjavik.  

There were six presenters, including myself. Despite difficulties with technology a lot of information and inspiration was shared. This evening really tied together a lot of the conversations that we had been engaged in over the course of the trip so far. It also gave a chance to connect further and begin more dialogue for the remainder of the trip.

The last day in Iceland was a touring day. We all travelled together outside of the city. We visited two nurseries in seaside villages. We were also able to stop by a few landmarks. The long bus rides gave us more opportunity to connect and chat about all the things we had seen and learned.

There will be more specific blog posts to follow over the next week or so. I have learned so much and made so many wonderful connections. I have already received invitations to visit some of my new colleagues at their settings in other parts of the world. I love reflecting at all the photos, but it is the many conversations that took place that I wish I had record of. 

Many of us plan on keeping the dialogue going and staying in touch.

Here are a couple other posts I have written about my experience in Iceland:

Dining Inspiration

Play Iceland 2014: Simplicity

Wasting time on Facebook...?

Three years ago I started a group on Facebook. I had no idea what I was doing. I had never even been part of a Facebook Group. I invited local preschool teachers that I had connections with and also invited several of my favorite bloggers. Can't hurt to ask right? Before I knew it the group had grown and I was communicating with a couple hundred teachers both locally and worldwide. There were parts of our daily interactions with children that seemed universal, but each program also had its own uniqueness and differences. 

We had many ideas to share and many hot topics to debate. Through social networking I have gained more knowledge and inspiration than through any class or training I have attended.

Last November I was fortunate to be able to attend the NAEYC Conference in DC.  A conference that hosts over 10,000 early childhood teachers. At the conference I met up with several of the group members face to face. It was so refreshing to attend conference sessions together and be able to reflect afterwards.  

I was able to leave the conference for a short trip on the metro to visit another teacher that I had connected with through the group. My short visit with Lesley at Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School, made me realize how much I have gained through my connections on social media. Although I had already gained a lot from our interactions online and following her blog, seeing it in action was enlightening and inspiring. I am very thankful for that opportunity.

Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School

Another great discovery through these connections was Fafu. Many of you have seen our bright colored and open ended dress up clothes. I was first introduced to Fafu from following the blogs of both Lesley and also Kierna from Learning for Life.  The moment I saw the photos of children wearing Fafu, I knew that they would fit perfectly in my program. My darling husband surprised me with an order last fall. 

Through Facebook and connecting with "The Fafunians," I am so honored to share that I have been invited to join the 2014 Play Iceland. 

I am very excited for this opportunity to meet both Hulda and Tom in person, as well as the other educators and child advocates who are participating, including Suzanne of Interaction Imagination. 

We will be visiting several different Icelandic Playschools and hosting an event for the local teachers at the end of the trip to share our own experiences.

I have always said that when I "retire" I wanted to travel and visit preschools around the world.  I guess I won't wait. :)