Liperi Municipality Early Education and TinyApp are collaboratively developing a digital approach to early education. The TinyApp team has been thrilled to walk hand in hand with Liperi Early Education since 2019. From the start, we've collaborated closely, and our annual discussions about development projects and plans have melded into a shared operation model. This March, we had the pleasure of visiting Liperi in person. We met extensively with early education leadership and staff, and it was genuinely fantastic to exchange experiences and consider future development needs face-to-face.
TinyApp team's pedagogical expert, Heini Mäntynen, received a warm welcome in Liperi, complete with homemade Karelian pastries.
Communication in Liperi has transformed with the TinyApp service.
From the beginning of the partnership, Liperi focused on developing communication. Sirkka Helisten, the Director of Early Education in Liperi, states that communication has transformed with the TinyApp application. Service Designer Katja Penttinen, one of the main users, feels that communicating with the entire client base in Liperi has become more manageable, and messages are conveniently sent to all families.
In Liperi, it's been noted that families expect and appreciate communication about group activities. If communication is lacking, many parents actively inquire about messages, as the educators in Liperi explain: "Families look for pictures and videos of their child. And if no message comes, they wonder why not."
How does secure collaboration and communication with families work for you? Reach out if you want to learn how TinyApp can help!
Communication is interactive and structured
Various forms of communication effectively support family engagement. In Liperi, communication between parents and kindergartens is regular and consistently facilitated entirely through the TinyApp application. Daily, information about group activities and children's daily life is shared. It's great that the communication is also interactive. Families read messages, and they also respond!
Additionally, parents actively and easily communicate with the kindergarten through the TinyApp chat service about everyday changes and observations, such as missing rain trousers or changing who is picking up the child. Educators can see in the application that the messages reach the families, so there is no need to worry about messages not getting through. Communication about activities is organized around weekly or monthly newsletters. It's easy in a TinyApp message to tell what will be done in the coming days and weeks and what parents should know. Following the weekly newsletter, messages are sent in which the groups document the executed activities through pictures, videos, and text. This way, the realization of plans is visible to parents.
Parents report that pictures and messages from the children's groups are often brought up in coffee break discussions at their workplaces. Therefore, it can be joyfully concluded in Liperi Early Education that communication is very successful. Parents read and know about group activities and participate in the daily life of Liperi Early Education.
Communication also supports the director's activities.
From the director's perspective, TinyApp helps to stay involved in the everyday life of early education. These days, the director rarely gets to participate in the daily life of kindergarten groups, so TinyApp is an invaluable assistant.
Taikametsä Kindergarten director Taina shares: "As a director, I also stay involved in the individual children's daily life and see the children's development, realizations, and learning. Even though I don't meet all the children daily, I can start a conversation and praise them for their doings and experiences through messages. This way, I can strengthen trust between the director and the children."
Taina has made it a habit to read the "My Day" messages sent to families from the groups. The "My Day" message is sent to a child's parents, focusing on the child's experiences of the day. Individual observation also better engages parents in early education, Taina continues.
Plans for the future of communication in Liperi.
Liperi Early Education aims to provide good, quality, and developing early education. In terms of communication, this means continuous development. In Liperi, it's felt that parents' involvement in early education must continuously be strengthened, and it should be made more visible to them what happens in kindergarten. Liperi municipality's early education plan also outlines communication principles, how often, and what kind of communication the municipality wants to support.
In spring 2023, the goal in communication development is to create a communication plan in Liperi, with which the content and regularity of messages support equality in every unit and for every child and family. While making the plan, considerations will include the kind of language and narrative educators use, the recipients of the message, and how pedagogy is reflected in the content of messages.
TinyApp is involved in implementing the communication plan in daily use. The best outcomes of good collaboration are born when goals and operational models are considered together. Liperi's communication plan can be evenly implemented daily, and its execution can be monitored and developed.
Early education is constantly developing, and so is TinyApp.
On 1.8.2022, child support received a reinforcing change in the Early Education Act. At the same time, child support was divided into three levels: general, enhanced, and special support.
During the TinyApp expert's visit to Liperi, discussions were held about how the new support model is reflected in the child's early education plan and through daily activities. We explored the child's early education plan form offered by TinyApp and collected experiences and feedback on its use. We agreed with Liperi's support team on a follow-up meeting, where we will discuss the developments and needs in Liperi regarding the child's support section in the plan. We wrote down all suggestions and discussed more about documenting support, transferring information to other parties, and documenting the development of support.
The collaboration between Liperi Early Education and the TinyApp team continues with new development themes. So stay tuned and pick up ideas for your activities!
Would you like to explore the TinyApp service and ways to develop with us the operating methods that are just right for you, for example, in terms of communication? Get in touch at hello@tinyapp.biz, and let's discuss more!
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TinyApp Team's pedagogical expert Heini Mäntynen met with Liperi Municipality early education team.
From the left: Taina Kuivalainen (Kindergarten Taikametsä Manager), Sirpa Kinnunen (Kindergartens Puoliväli and Paloaukea Manager), Sirkka Helisten (Liper Early Education Director) ja Sanna Partanen (Kindergarten Liperi and Lautasuo Manager).