![]() My concept of documentation has evolved over the years and will likely continue evolving as I gain new insights about its relevance in the early childhood classroom. Photographs, written observations, samples of children’s artwork, and emergent writing are organized and displayed in different forms to share with children, families, and other teachers. A key aspect of this group is to keep track of the activities my colleagues and I do with our children through visual and written narratives that tell a story in which the children are the main characters. Each month, my colleagues and I attend inquiry meetings as part of the Las Americas Inquiry Group that are cofacilitated by a college professor (Escamilla & Meier 2018). The teachers at our school are required to administer several district- and state-mandated assessments multiple times during the year and to collect work and play samples from all the children on a regular basis. Teachers’ documentation of children is essential to identifying strengths and assessing development (NAEYC 2019, 8). By encouraging teachers to recognize children as competent explorers and learners at any given moment, Learning Stories provide a way to document children’s strengths and improve instruction based on the interests, talents, and expertise of children and their families (Carr & Lee 2012, 2019). This article examines the use of an observational approach in the form of Learning Stories, a narrative-based formative assessment created by New Zealand early childhood education leaders. How can teachers embed story and narrative to document children’s growth and strengthen families’ participation in their children’s education? How can early childhood educators support and make visible children’s emergent cultural and linguistic identities? This has led me to the following questions: As a preschool teacher in a multi-language setting, I am required to conduct classroom observations to assess children’s learning. These observations should include teachers’ reflections and, as much as possible, families’ opinions and perspectives on their children’s learning, curiosity, talents, agency, hopes, and dreams. As an early childhood educator committed to equity of voice, I believe that educational activities with preschool children should be based on daily observations of children at play both in the classroom and outdoors. I am also a preschool teacher: I have taught preschool for 18 years-the past 10 at Las Americas Early Education School in San Francisco’s Mission District. I teach undergraduate courses on children’s language development in multilingual early childhood education settings, classroom observation and children’s evaluation, and more recently, a graduate course on narrative inquiry in ECE and elementary school. I am currently a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership Program at San Francisco State University, where I have been a lecturer for the past five years. Because I lacked the knowledge of child development and curriculum planning required to do this work most effectively, I enrolled in classes at City College and took as many child development classes as I could. I began teaching and learning from young children in San Francisco, California, when I began volunteering in a multilingual early childhood program. I am also an immigrant and an American citizen by naturalization. Their interests, questions, and thoughts should influence what they do and learn at school. As citizens, they have needs, but also rights-one of which is to be seen as contributors to their own education. Young children are today’s citizens of the world, with their own ideas, theories, inquiries, strong preferences, and stories. ![]() When I think of children, the image that comes to mind is that of competent human beings: resourceful, creative, and able to collaborate with peers and adults. ![]() Learning Story: Waiting for Dad on this Side of the Border.Refer to the links below for examples of two Learning Stories:
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