Aussie Childcare Network Forum

hi there i am new to learning stories and i was told by another group leader that when taking a photo of a group of children doing a particular activity of interest that you can write out the one learning story for all that were involved and photocopy it and put in their folders, is this right i thought you would have to write out individual ones for each child on their particular involvement, confused

thankyou again L.A

when i write group learning stories i ensure i had added comments or details for every child in the pictures, i also do individual learning stories for each child as well. as the files need to reflect the "learning" of the individual child. i often put the learning stories in the childrens pockets for the parents and i also do big displays in my room about what we are learning out

hi all. i have been doing learning stories for about 8 months now and this is the way i have been doing them. my director hasnt pulled me up on it so i thought i was doing it right. now its coming to the end of the year and portfolios are just about completed. oh no really don't feel like re doing all that work.
a GL a work told me that was can just white out other childrens names and copy that for portfolios
i thought EYLF was all about less writing and work and more attention toward the children. this sound like more time for writing and less time for GL to spend with the children.this is why i stayed on as a GL as i thought i would get more time to interact but now im thinking its more work.
regards Sue

thank for the reply L.A
when doing my learning stories about a group experiences i have added each children into the learning stories so i have a brief discription about what each children got out of the experience. all my learning stories have sequence photos as we do the activities. so i place those photos and write my story about what happen. so then if i had 5 chn in the group i write individual parts in the learning stories of them. so the parents understand what each child did. should i be writing individual analysis of the learning. im new to this all and im thinking im doing it all wrong. i have no links and im not sure how to link the program
cheers
sue

thank you L.A
sorry to be such a pain but I have another question? its like once I think I get it they change it again or another GL tells me differently we have a school teacher at work and Im alway going to her for advice. I was tell her about the changes and she agrees with me that a learning story is an observation and that we dont have to extra obs on the chn for development stages. is this right? and did development stages go out the window once EYLF came into it. well that the understanding I had.development stage are still there but we use the learning outcomes. principles and practice now. so anyway director want obs(without photo ) i really think she doesn't understand EYLF herself cause now she is telling me the learning stories are like a running record. Im getting more confused each day Igo to work and I'm told different ways. I get used to doing it one way and told i'm doing it wrong. I'm burning out and feel like leaving child care industry all together. please could you explain it in simple form.
thank
sue

Hi Sue,

Yes, you are right a Learning Story is another form of documentation and you don't have to complete extra observations. For example: if you observe each child once a month, for one month you could do a learning story and for the other you could do a photo observation. My point is, this can also be used as an evidence tool to document children's learning. Also, developmental checklists has also been "thrown out the window" since we are now implementing the EYLF and like you said using the Learning Outcomes, Principles and Practices instead.

now she is telling me the learning stories are like a running record.

In a way a learning story is like a running record yet they are not the same thing. A running record is a very detailed description of behavior or an event, which is recorded as it happens. A learning story uses a story telling format instead of a typical observation record to capture the moment in greater detail. You can find examples of learning stories in the Educators Guide, which is available to download from this site in the following article: Understanding the EYLF

I'm trying to complete the Learning Story templates and how to guide over the next few days. I'm sorry it's taken awhile but I want to include the article along with the template so I could explain how to complete a learning story.

Don't worry... I understand how confusing this can all be but don't give up! From what I've read you are not doing anything wrong and I guess your director just prefers a different idea... It's alright, it will be ok!!

Hopefully this answers your questions,

Cheers ,
L.A

Hi Sue,
Running records you write specifically what you see the child doing. Eg. 'Sue used a pincer grip with her right hand to grab a pink small Feather'. Instead of Sue picked up a feather.
Running records add lots more details. Eg. 'Watch continuously for 5 minutes & write as much detail as you can. whereas learning story are like an overview of what has happened.Same as when you are summarising an event to a person. Key points like their comments,body language & interactions with others etc. Eylf is all about what a child can do: achieving or working towards not negative what they can't do. Hope this has not confused you more.