Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:43 pm**

Released: Online EYLF Tools
Version: 0.3.1

What is “Online EYLF Tools”:

“Online EYLF Tools” is a web project developed by Aussie Childcare Network for Early Childhood Professionals as our attempt to create new innovate tools that everyone can use with ease in order to reduce the amount of paperwork involved in Early Childhood Settings. This tool offer users an advanced online editable pdf version of programming documentation templates with pre-designed styles & formats that can be used in Early Childhood Settings (Family Daycare, Long Daycare and OOSH Before and After School Care centres). This digital tool should hopefully make your programming time a lot easier by giving you an opportunity to complete your documentations directly from your computer in 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Select your style of documentation.
Step 2: Simply type in the fields, import the photos, centre logos, learning outcomes, etc..
Step 3: Finalize form and Print it off.

Each template had been created with “efficiency” in mind as well as finding a simple and easy solution in incorporating EYLF into documentation. Each template design compliments one another and shows clear links on how you are using elements of the EYLF in your documentation. (Click here to know more about Online Tools, Difference between Online Tools and EYLF softwares, how to use Online Tools efficiently, how to create your own Online Tools templates and a lot more...)

Online Tools Features:

No need to purchase any App or Software from us. You can donate what you can.
All the programming documentation styles and formats are already designed and available.
Documentation templates are created for Family Daycare, Long Daycare and OOSH Before and School Care settings in Australia.
High Quality Portfolio templates, linking to the EYLF.
Complete your documentations directly from your computer itself.
Highly flexible pdf forms with rich viewing and interactivity that allows you to manipulate and customize the form elements according to your needs.
Documentations are designed as per the new Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), My Time Our Place (MTOP) and NQS.
Easily assign the various input keys, EYLF learning outcomes and other elements to your documentations.
Easily import photos to the documentation from your computer with a single click. The photos will be automatically re-sized and inserted into your documentation.
Re-size the printing size and paper size of the documentation form to your preference. (A4, A3, postcard size, massive chart size, etc..)
No Special software to install.

Current features list for version 0.3.1:

This is the eight release and this tool now offers the following documentations at the moment:

"Play Based Learning" Curriculum Plan Sheets (Both Daily and Weekly format available for Family Daycare and Long Daycare Centres)
"Learning Outcomes" based Curriculum Plan Sheets (Both Daily and Weekly format available for Family Daycare and Long Daycare Centres).
OOSH Curriculum Plan (Weekly Curriculum plan for Before and After School Care).
Learning Stories (2 different templates available for For Long Daycare, Family Daycare and OOSH Before and After School care settings).
Reflections of our Day (1 Daily Reflections and 1 Weekly Reflections available For Long Daycare, Family Daycare and OOSH Before and After School care settings).
Child Observations (8 different styles of Child Obs templates available).
Portfolio Templates (17 portfolio templates are available)
Daily Information Sheet (For LDC and FDC centres)

Please note that we are constantly working on improving these tools so that it is easy for all educators to use. New tools and further updates will be released in the future based on the feedback and suggestions we receive from our users. The unique aspect of these tools are, it is a collaborative project where our members, “online tools” users and support team pass on their suggestions on ways to improve these tools further. With the suggestions that are provided, we incorporate them into the template design if it benefits the documentation. So please make sure that you are subscribed to receive updates on the latest stable release of these documentations.

License: If you are a Business, Partnership, Company, Trust or any commercial for-profit organisation and are currently using these Online Tools, please consider making a Donation.

Copyright: Online Tools Templates are copyrighted to Aussie Childcare Network. Please do not copy, imitate, reproduce or re-distribute these templates.

Online Tools Link: http://www.AussieChildcareNetwork.com/online_tools

Online Tools Path: To open Online Tools, go to: Online EYLF Tools, which is located at the top navigation bar.

Support: Support for this tool will be provided here in this topic. You can use this topic to post any troubleshoot related questions or even simple comments to pass on your thoughts and suggestions.

Subscribe for updates: Remember to click the “Subscribe” button at the bottom of the “Online EYLF Tools” page to subscribe for updates on Online Tools. Subscribing for updates will keep you informed on the changes and all future releases and will ensure that you are using the latest stable version of this tools. (Note: "Subscribe" feature is only available to members.)

Donation: If you find this tool useful, please Donate to support us with future development.

Click here to go to Online Tools!

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:53 pm**

I want to thank you L.A..cant thank you enough for all the hard work you put in to create this awesome tool for everyone to use..This is gonna make life sooo much easier for all childcare workers! This site is gonna be the top site for EYLF documentations!!

I loved testing these tools over the weekend and it works great! I can't wait to use them at my centre. I am gonna start using them from tomorrow itself!! yay!

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:24 pm**

Ooooooooooooooooooooh LA you are amazing!!! You dont have any idea how much this means to me... I am working in a centre where I basically just have my head above water.. We are an oshc centre and most of the emphasis with eylf has been placed on the ldc centre .. THANKYOU x x x

Posted: **Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:57 am**

Hi L.A, This is the best site ever!! have been a long time follower but this is my first post here. I read your update on your new online tools you have released and I couldnt resist but to register so I can say 'Thank you" from the bottom of my heart..

When I was reading the other posts here I can see that everyone struggles with the amount of paperwork and getting them completed. i was recently inquiring around to find someone who can design a e-version of eylf programs we use at our centre so our staffs can just type from their own laptops to get them done and I was quoted around $200-$300 for each of these docs to be designed by computer professionls. I cant pay that much of money. My only other option was to create these programs myself in microsoft word but they dont look very nice and I dont have that much computer knowledge to do this by myself. You are doing the exact same thing like these IT profs (probably even better) and your style and templates are sooo much better than the ones I use at my centre. I could not believe my eyes when i saw that you are doing this for free and without charging anything... You have taken such a load off my shoulder and most importantly saved me a lot of money..so THANK YOU L.A!!

I dont know if everyone realises how important and useful this site is..I was lucky to come across this in google and I totally applaud your real hard work and the amount of effort you put in to help others and not expecting anything back. I know that you dont need to do this and I totally admire that since there arent many people around who do things without a price tag!! I have also been to other sites who claim to help out in eylf but no one wants to share any templates. No one has gone to the extent of helping others like you do. People who have searched many other sites like me would know how valuable this site is.

thank you to you and all the team members of aussie childcare network. You have got yourself a big fan!!

Posted: **Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:35 pm**

You are a superstar LA!
Can't wait to get started - will be so good to simply have the tools for programming etc under the eylf online and easily accessible and so easy to input/change data.
THANK YOU

Posted: **Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:27 pm**

I know L.A would rarely mention this but I feel inclined to let everyone know that you CAN donate to the site to help with running costs. This site is a labour of love for L.A and Admin. BUT the site is not free,

here is the link if you feel so inclined to help these wonderful people out.

http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com/donate/index.php

Posted: **Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:57 am**

wow i have just been playing around with this and it great so much faster than writing everything out in pen and really looks good, i have one question though if i was to use weekly program template how would i display this on wall daily, as my director said i would have to have a complete daily program up on wall at the end of day, but as you add documentation on a daily basis as you go along on the pc dont understand how i can do this, sorry if this sounds confusing, or would it be better if i use the daily program mmmm, but love the learning story template and others, thankyou so much, it does make it so much easier 3 cheers for you LA and admin

Posted: **Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:00 pm**

Hi, have been trying to use your templates today and I love them but I'm a bit confused. Why is there a date box under each activity section on the weekly curriculum, what is it for?

And, are you evaluating each activity you add onto your curriculum. I assumed you were sort of doing this in your daily reflection but I only fit three parts of the day onto the daily reflection today when I had 7 activities on the curriculum. How do these other ones get evaluated?

Are you adding any follow ups from individual or group learning stories onto your curriculum in any type of forward planning?

Our centre had previously been advised to steer clear of box type/on the wall curriculums but I'm beginning to think your way may be much easier and less time consuming so thought I'd test it out but am not quite sure I'm covering everything needed in the EYLF.

Thanks

Posted: **Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:51 pm**

Hey Beth,

I'll have some time tomorrow to go through your questions... Hope this is alright.

Cheers

,
L.A

Posted: **Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:58 pm**

I hope someone can help with my small problem. I am happily using the online tools however when I try to print out my daily reflections for my parent board I cant get it all onto my A4 paper. It seems to have a very wide margin on the left and I lose half the extension area at the bottom. I know there is probably a simple solution however I am not sure how to do this in the pdf files.
Would appreciate some help!!!
Taa
Grandma

Posted: **Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:13 pm**

Re the previous post from me. Im sure in the tutorials there may be an answer to my questions however I am unable to listen to them. Not sure why. I am working on finding out what my problem could be.
grandma

Posted: **Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:13 pm**

Hi Grandma,

When printing in Pdf, in the printing options, select "Fit to Printable Area" which can be found in "Page Scaling". This will then adjust the document to print properly.

Cheers

,
L.A

Posted: **Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:45 am**

grandma wrote:I hope someone can help with my small problem. I am happily using the online tools however when I try to print out my daily reflections for my parent board I cant get it all onto my A4 paper. It seems to have a very wide margin on the left and I lose half the extension area at the bottom. I know there is probably a simple solution however I am not sure how to do this in the pdf files.
Would appreciate some help!!!
Taa
Grandma

its pretty easy to do this with adobe reader. The video tutorials shows you how you can do this. if you are not able to view these, here is a link that will show you how you can fit these pages to printable area: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/896/cpsid_89621.html

You can resize these documentations to whatever size you want so its pretty awesome.

Posted: **Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:52 pm**

I am now a donator

only small donation but huge appreciation

Posted: **Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:54 pm**

ummm a bit of a question LA - will you be uploading one of the tools to reflect an oshc service at all??

Posted: **Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:58 pm**

Hi Beth,
Just getting back to your questions,

Why is there a date box under each activity section on the weekly curriculum, what is it for?

This is to be used when adding experiences or actvities that have come from the child directed obs, extension of learning and family input keys. Sometimes, when using a weekly curriculum you will need to follow up on activities or experiences that may not be possible to extend upon then and there so if you add a date it helps link to where it has come from. For eg. Thomas only comes on Tuesday's and in the afternoon when his parents come to pick him up they tell you that he plays soccer on the weekend. So, if you wanted to add it onto the curriculum I will plan an experience for the following week when Thomas comes back to the centre. The dates are there to help link where the experiences has come from during the week.

How do these other ones get evaluated?

Typically when adding experiences onto the currciulum plan, some experiences continue on to the following days. So, when this happens if you have multiple experiences running across the entire week you will not need to evaluate it each day. In your daily reflection just focus on the learning opportunities that arose through experiences that the children were interested in on that day. It's also important more so in your daily reflection to mention any spontaneous experiences or interests that emerge.

Are you adding any follow ups from individual or group learning stories onto your curriculum in any type of forward planning?

Yeah for this all you will have to do is in the currciulum plan, when adding your follow up experiences use the "extension of learning" input key and link the date back to when this learning story took place.

Our centre had previously been advised to steer clear of box type/on the wall curriculums

Yeah, everyone has their thoughts and opinions on what type of format suits them. There are so many types "web", "boxed" etc. For me I found that using the box format is the simpliest and clearest way of incorporate the EYLF into it and I say if it can do this than it shouldnt matter which format you are using. As long as it works for you.

Hi Magpies,

if i was to use a weekly program template how would i display this on wall daily, as my director said i would have to have a complete daily program up on wall at the end of day

Ok, for this I will try to complete the curriculum plan from the previous week itself. At the moment as I am using a weekly curriculum plan, I gather all the experiences and activities from the daily reflections and interests that emerge from the past week and add it onto the following weeks curriculum. So this means, on friday you should have enough experiences and activies from your daily reflections throughout the week that you can add onto the following weeks program. Then you are able to complete the program using that information. So, the curriculm plan is basically complete by monday morning already. I hope that this doesn't confuse you even more... LOL

Don't forget you can use a daily curriculum plan instead.

Hi Kristy,
Thank you for your generous contribution to this site. It's very much appreciated and it will definitely help us out.

will you be uploading one of the tools to reflect an oshc service at all??

Yes, definitely... I am currently working on a curriculum plan for oshc services and it should be released along with the child directed obs. I would like to find out more on how I can easily fit the EYLF into oosh settings and what exaclty needs to be covered. I'd love to get your input if you have any ideas.

I just like to say Thanks once again to all of you that have donated to this site. We are very thankful for your kind support!

Much obliged,

L .A

Posted: **Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:54 am**

Hi LA - well im probably the last person to input as Im still getting my head around things. All i know is that an oshc service is pretty much play based learning. We can start with a blank canvas of a program and add to it daily, so my understanding is alot of spontaneous activities. We arent to do an observation if we cant get anything out of it (which i guess is standard)haha Aslong as we have our Principles, Practices and Outcomes ticked

) When school holidays is over we start with our Reflection Diary which all carers input into daily. I was told by a director that an oshc service to implement eylf is way easier than a LDC and involves far less paperwork, if thats correct it sounds good to me

) sorry LA ive been no help at all

Posted: **Sat Jan 21, 2012 5:28 pm**

Hi LA!
Just returned from holidays to be greeted by these FANTASTIC EYLF Tools! You have made my day...actually you have made my year! I cant wait to share these tools with the girls at work! I hope they will be as excited as I am! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Like everyone else on this site, I am very appreciative of all the hard work and time you have invested in creating these on-line tools! So, having said that, I'm off to test them out!

Cheers, Sonja

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:01 pm**

Hello LA
Just regarding the question from Kristy, i was wondering if there will be a tool for family day care as well. I am really happy with all the tools however I would like to change some of the headings. Not rushing you as you have done such an amazing job to get this done already.

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:24 pm**

grandma wrote:Hello LA
Just regarding the question from Kristy, i was wondering if there will be a tool for family day care as well. I am really happy with all the tools however I would like to change some of the headings. Not rushing you as you have done such an amazing job to get this done already.

Yeah.. No problems... I will be happy do it if their is a need for it... Let me know what headings and what changes to it that you would like to see that suits family day care. Everyones welcome to add their suggestions... Tell me your ideas and we can work on it from there.

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Online EYLF Tools

Online EYLF Tools

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!

Re: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.1 Released!