Storykate: an early childhood teacher and trainer, armed with ukulele and the gift to generate endless curriculum ideas.
Hello, fellow educators!👋🏻 I'm Kate, an experienced early childhood teacher and tertiary education instructor passionate about enriching early learning. With extensive experience across various roles—from nanny and storyteller to educational leader and early childhood trainer—I bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative teaching strategies to the table. At Storykate, I'm dedicated to sharing engaging educational practices through stories, puppet shows, action songs, ukulele, mind maps and circle games. Whether you're teaching young children or training future educators, you'll find invaluable resources here. I offer a treasure trove of free resources, creative ideas, and digital products designed to enhance your teaching methods and pedagogy. I helped hundreds of students and educators achieve their professional goals. 👇Why Subscribe? Subscribe to get your hands on exclusive content that blends storytelling, puppetry, and music with effective teaching techniques. These resources are perfect for keeping your programs lively and educational, especially during circle time. 🐞Join me at Storykate to explore new ways to jazz up your teaching style and connect with a community of like-minded early childhood educators. Let’s make learning fun and meaningful together!
Storykate Stories: October
Welcome to storytime with Kate!Hey Educators!Spring has arrived in Melbourne. The cherry blossom near my place is already dropping petals on the grass, and children everywhere are bringing flowers inside in their pockets. This month I have been sorting through years of photos from my rooms, and I turned some of them into new resources for you.
Kate's story from practiceI have been to many, many, many early childhood services, childcare centres, family day care services and schools as well, as part of my many years as an early childhood educator, consultant and early childhood trainer. What I have seen is that most services usually have markers or pencils, but not all of them are sharp or actually work. So as a relief teacher, I would always bring good pencils, and I would always bring excellent markers. My favourite brands are Crayola permanent markers for drawing, and Sharpies. You might say, why do babies need that? Well, babies maybe not, but all the other children definitely do. Babies can enjoy fat wax crayons and anything that fits their little hands while they are learning to grasp nicely. I also bring a whiteboard and whiteboard markers, which were one of my group's favourites. Then I trialled it in many, many other rooms that I visited as a relief teacher. One of the reasons why I bring very good tools is that children can feel the difference between low-quality and high quality. Come on, if we say that children are the flowers of life and precious, why don't we give them the best tools? Seriously. Reggio Emilia supports that, and I think we should all push our management to invest in good tools for our precious children. Resource of the monthA free booklist for relief days Relief work has one hard part that permanent staff rarely face. You hold a group of children who do not know you, in a room you have never seen, often within twenty minutes of walking in. A book is the fastest way to win them. My new free booklist, Grab-and-Go Books for Relief Educators, has 15 reliable reads grouped by the moment you need them, plus the 60-second check I do before I sit down. storykate_books_for_babies_0-2.pdf If you want the rest of the day covered too, the Storykate Relief Educator Kit has a first-hour checklist, routine cards for each room and a handover note you can leave behind. Learning resource in the spotlightIf you would like ready-made songs, rhythm stick games and printables for your program, my Music and Movement in Early Childhood bundle has 14 resources for A$19.99. Question of the monthHow do you invite families to share their culture at your service? This month, a mother showed our group how she wraps a baby on her back, and the children carried dolls around the home corner for days afterwards. Hit reply and tell me your story. I read every email. All the best,
P.S. Share the Love! Explore More on Storykate What would you like me to make articles and videos about? What resources would you like me to create? Send me a message via DM or FB, and I will try my best to make it. |
Storykate: an early childhood teacher and trainer, armed with ukulele and the gift to generate endless curriculum ideas.
Hello, fellow educators!👋🏻 I'm Kate, an experienced early childhood teacher and tertiary education instructor passionate about enriching early learning. With extensive experience across various roles—from nanny and storyteller to educational leader and early childhood trainer—I bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative teaching strategies to the table. At Storykate, I'm dedicated to sharing engaging educational practices through stories, puppet shows, action songs, ukulele, mind maps and circle games. Whether you're teaching young children or training future educators, you'll find invaluable resources here. I offer a treasure trove of free resources, creative ideas, and digital products designed to enhance your teaching methods and pedagogy. I helped hundreds of students and educators achieve their professional goals. 👇Why Subscribe? Subscribe to get your hands on exclusive content that blends storytelling, puppetry, and music with effective teaching techniques. These resources are perfect for keeping your programs lively and educational, especially during circle time. 🐞Join me at Storykate to explore new ways to jazz up your teaching style and connect with a community of like-minded early childhood educators. Let’s make learning fun and meaningful together!
Welcome to storytime with Kate! Hey Educators! It's hard to believe, but the winter (in Australia) is almost over. We are entering the season of orchids and true spring, when everything is in bloom and I hear a lot of birds every morning I wake up and every night when I sit at my computer working long hours. Spring is the season of rejuvenation and I hope we will enter a new era of fewer wars and conflicts, more happiness and joy. What do you like about spring (or autumn, if you are from the...
Hey Educators! OK, this is quite cold and chilly in Melbourne right now. In winter, it may be hard to keep yourself joyful and full of beans. I know it may be summer where you are - in the US or UK, Europe or Ireland. But we all have those moments when we are tired and need something to lift our mood. In search of joy, I started to write about things/people/events in life I am grateful for; I indulged in a shopping spree and bought an inexpensive but wonderful table lamp and a lot of books...
Hey Educators! Term 2 is nearly done. If you are reading this curled up with a hot drink, wearing three layers, I see you. June in Australia has a particular kind of exhaustion to it. The novelty of the new year has worn off. The children are tired. You are tired. This is exactly when I want to check in. You do not need to overhaul your program before Term 3 starts. You need three or four things that work, and you need to know why they work. That is what I am here for. Check out my channel...