Death by EYLF

Hi Steffelz,

I think everyone feels that way about it in the beginning. Don't stress yourself out about it. There are days when I am sure the EYLF is written by my cat! lol

just break it down into small pieces and go 1 step at a time.

I agree, break it down. Don't over analyze things. Alot is left to you're interpretation so don't doubt how you feel or view things as long as you feel secure in your understanding and can explain your reasoning and this will come in time. Being subjected to different scenarios etc.

I put the eylf in a circle in the middle of the page then get my staff to branch off smaller bubbles of the main elements they think build the eylf. They come up with, being belonging becoming, principles, practices, learning outcomes. Then we branch them off again things like cultural awareness, sustainability, patent input and we keep going until we feel like we have it covered then we revisit it again in a month or so and you will be surprised what you add as we are always learning.

Goodluck

Theres just SO much documentation that goes on and what confuses me is how it all fits together

What documentation in particular are you struggling with? I will try help.

Remember Steffelz - we are all in this together. We can learn off one another, get new ideas and (most importantly!) vent when things seem overwhelming. Take it little by little and don't get too caught up in people telling you that you 'have to' do things a certain way. Google eylf myths and realities and there is a good newsletter/article that might help

Cathie K

I think that the documentation part is one of the most confusing parts of the EYLF. Each educator will interpret their understanding of the EYLF in their own way which in turn enables them to come up with their own style of programming and planning.

With the EYLF there is no right or wrong. As long as you are documenting children's learning and interests, adding the learning outcomes and linking with principles and practices, you are on the right track. It doesn't have to be overly complicated.

One of the main reasons we created EYLF online tools is to give educators an idea of the documentation that can be used and show how easy and simple it is to incorporate the EYLF within centres. There are so many various documentations available that it does get overwhelming in knowing what is required. You just need to get back to the basics and I believe that the documentation on this site is as basic as it comes. However, it is not the be all and end all, you just need to find what works for you.

I suggest you download a copy of the "EYLF Educators Guide" this is a great document to use when doing learning stories, obs etc as you can refer to the evidence under each of the learning outcomes and add it into your evaluation.

If you have any other questions that I can help you with let me know,

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L.A

Ive been meaning to reply to this post for a while, I spent ages reading and re reading your stuff for EYLF beginners and after a week, something clicked and its starting to make sense... HOORAY!!!

Do you have any information/template things on child profiles? I thought you did but now I cant see them

I'm so glad that you are beginning to understand the EYLF. I'm not going to lie at the beginning it is very confusing but once you get your head around it, it all seems to make a lot more sense.

Regarding the child profiles are you talking about Individual Portfolio's or Observations?

Observations can be found in Online Tools

Samples of the Child Portfolio templates can be found here: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.4 - Support Forum! They will be released in the near future.

If you're after something else, let me know and I can try and help you out,

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L.A