Welcome to the Forgotten ECE, the show where
before and after school educators, summer camp
and PD staff and CYWs have a place where they
are seen, heard, and valued. I'm your host, Jamie
Wakeler, and I am so excited you're here. Hello,
everyone. Welcome to the Forgotten ECE Podcast,
the podcast where we explore, uplift, and advocate
for the incredible work being done in before
and after school programs, PD day programming,
and school age care. I'm your host, Jamie Wagler,
and today I want to talk about something we don't
talk enough about, and that, my friends, is collaboration
between programs. Now, I am not just talking
about collaboration with one room or team. I'm
talking about real intentional collaboration
between centers, between sites, shifts, programs,
and even across agencies. Do you understand?
Sorry, that was so conceited. I don't, I don't
clap at people. Anyways, that kind of collaboration
that doesn't just help us survive, it actually
helps us thrive. The truth is here that we are
stronger together and our children deserve that
strength and that's what I want to bring here
today. So I am so happy you're here. Let's dive
in. Let's dive into the actual, the reality that
we're living in. So let's name what it is. The
reality we're living in, really. Let's start
by naming what so many of us are experiencing.
Maybe it's your before and after school program
is in a school that doesn't see you as part of
the learning community. Maybe you're operating
alongside another agency or even under the same
organization, but you never meet, never share
and never plan together. Maybe your morning and
your afternoon teams have zero overlap in communication.
It's not that we don't care. It's that we are
all stretched so incredibly thin. But that disconnect,
it creates cracks and those cracks show up in
how our children transition, how families communicate
with us and how supported or unsupported our
educators feel. And here's the thing, collaboration
is not just a buzzword. It's a lifeline for quality
care, for educator wellness, and for consistent,
meaningful experiences for kids. You gotta know
that, right? You gotta be here with me. Let's
imagine for a second what it could look like
instead. In a collaborative environment, staff
teams across shifts or sites share common philosophies
of care. There are regular touch points for communication,
even if it's something as simple as a shared
notebook or a digital platform. Text each other.
Have a social media group just for this. If you
use Bright Wheel or Seesaw or any of those digital
platforms for communication with families, make
a group for the staff or a five minute check
in. Educators co -create shared visual schedules,
SEL strategies and language used with the children.
Staff don't just know each other's name. They
know each other's strengths and lean on each
other. This is the world's perfect thing. This
would be amazing if we could do this. Ideas,
challenges, celebrations, move between rooms,
not just within them. And think about this as
outside of your center. What if you're collaborating
with another center? What if you have similar
views? What if you have similar outlooks? Like
here in Ontario we all go by the How does learning
happen with the four foundations, belonging,
expression, engagement and well -being? Why can't
we talk about this with other centers? Why can't
we lean on each other to provide a quality, high
quality program? It is not us against them and
them against us. It is being there the best we
can for our kids, for the students. And kids,
kids feel that continuity. They don't have to
reorient themselves every time a new adult is
in the room. They feel safe, known and held by
the team, not just a shift. Now, let's be real
for a second. Now, let's be real. If collaboration
was easy, we'd all be doing it. Here are some
common barriers that I've noticed over my time
scheduling. Obviously morning and afternoon shift
staff never overlap sometimes. Or the person
who starts early in the morning and the person
who starts later in the afternoon don't overlap.
What if we lived in the perfect world and we
had different staff for each of those programs
because we didn't do split shifts? They would
never see each other. So how do they stay connected?
It could be hierarchy as a barrier. One program
in your center might look like school and the
other might be just care. Thinking of your school,
if you're connected to a school and you're a
before and after school child care center. Burnout
is real. We are tired and collaboration feels
like one more task. I know people are stretched
thin. People are feeling it in all sorts of ways.
And I see it as a supervisor. I see it in before
and after school programs. I see it in the children.
I get it. But we could use collaboration as our
superpower, as a strength. Turnover. Turnover
is huge in before and after school programs.
New staff means starting over again and again
and again, and it's exhausting for everyone,
I know. And then isolation. Some centers feel
like islands, even when they're across the hall.
I feel this to my core. I know a lot of centers
that don't. have good communication with their
before and after school program. I was recently
in BC which was incredible for a conference there
and we talked a lot about how sometimes the before
and after school programs aren't even in the
same building as the school age programs and
I lived that in my first job and I live it now
I guess because We have two before and after
school programs, one that's in the main site,
I'll call it, and the other one that's at a different
school. And I know they feel isolated. And I
mean, me as a boss, I'm pretty great, okay? I
try a lot to make people feel connected, but
it's still hard. My favorite part about this
summer is that we're all under one roof, so we
can really work on those connections. But there's
gotta be more we can do throughout the year.
See you and I want to say something important
collaboration doesn't have to be perfect to be
powerful It just has to be intentional. So how
are we gonna do it? You're asking me. I know
you're sitting there I can see it right now and
you're shaking your head like oh my gosh. This
woman is crazy She has no idea how we're supposed
to do this. Actually. I do I do know because
I'm going to tell you I'm gonna give you some
some ideas Hopefully that helps. We're gonna
take some steps together towards stronger collaboration,
even if we're short on time and energy. So first
and foremost, we gotta look at the shared language.
We're gonna create common toolkit of phrases
and visual cues and behavior support. Whether
a child is with the morning staff or the afternoon
team or another site. They hear the same message.
You are safe, you are capable, and we believe
in you. And we need this across all of our programs.
Next, what about a mini meeting? Even 10 minutes
weekly huddles or voice memos between shifts
that can build connection. If you're doing these
mini meetings with other centers, maybe it's
jumping on a quick Zoom call at the end of the
week or the beginning of the week. As a quick,
we got this. Use sticky notes for the people
across your programs, digital logs or a Google
form to pass messages between teams. Think about
joint planning days. Let's advocate for a joint
PD day or reflective practice time where both
teams or centers or multiple sites come together.
This could be twice a year and that would build
momentum. It doesn't have to be an every week
thing. It doesn't have to be an every month thing.
We could do this. What about quarterly? Hey,
what did happen in the first three months? Hey,
what happened in the next three months? Let's
utilize our strengths and our brains to build
this together. Next, the other thought was buddy
site systems like pair up with another program
to swap ideas, monthly books, century setups.
If you do circle time with your before and after
school, circle time prompts, gross motor activities,
games outside. This would be an awesome way to
reduce planning burnout and get fresh inspiration.
And again, this could be done across centers.
You could team up with a center and have a rotation
of these excellent Materials. And my last idea
is to celebrate together. Collaboration isn't
just linguistics. It's relationships. Celebrate
each other. It's time to share a success story.
Leave a thank you posted. Build that culture
of gratitude and recognition between each other.
Because no one feels what you're feeling as much
as your partner or people in the same program.
They get it. They're there with you. They're
on the floor running. When you have a bad day,
when the kids have a bad day, they're the ones
that will be able to pull you out of this funk.
They're the ones that are there for you. Let's
team up. Let's celebrate each other's wins. Let's
stop working against each other and really start
pulling on each other's strengths. Once when
I had different, it wasn't once, not too long
ago. I had a different morning before school
educator and a different after school educator
and what we would do is write in a book. So we
had like a journal and each morning or each afternoon
if something happened or something good or a
challenge we would write it in the book and to
share it with the other person. So in the morning
they would write something in the afternoon would
read it and then the afternoon they'd write something
so the morning would read it and it really just
turned into this beautiful reflection and laughter
and shared projects. They ended up planning PDs
together and then one educator came to me after
and told me that they really felt like they were
part of a team and not just covering a shift.
This is what happens when we build bridges instead
of silos. This is what happens when we collaborate.
It's really finding each other and like I said
before utilizing those strengths to help each
other. I find a lot in before and after school
education and in early childhood education itself.
We fight a lot for advocacy, we fight a lot for
professionalism, and we fight a lot to be seen
as knowledgeable individuals. And we might have
to do that, we might have to fight against our
community, or we might have to stand up against
the government, we might have to advocate online,
but with each other we should be there and get
it. We should understand where one another is
coming from. So I want to invite you to pause
and reflect for a minute. Who is someone from
another team or site that you could connect with
this week? What's one tool or idea from today
that feels doable? And where could you bring
a spirit of curiosity and kindness into collaboration?
We don't have to overhaul everything overnight.
Start small, a conversation, a high, a wave,
a shared tool. A thank you. We're not meant to
do this work alone. And it's time we learn we
don't have to. When we collaborate, truly collaborate,
we create more consistency, more joy, and more
possibilities for the children in our care. And
we model for them what it means to be a part
of a connected, compassionate community. Thank
you so much for tuning into the Forgotten ECE.
If this episode resonated with you, I would love
it. Love, love, love, love it. If you shared
it with a colleague or left me a review. Want
to continue the conversation? Because I love
talking and networking, if you hadn't noticed.
Find me on my Instagram at Miss Jamie underscore
R E C E. or hit up my website, missjammieconsulting
.com. Let's keep doing the big, the bold, beautiful
work of nurturing children and nurturing each
other. Until next time, keep being magical and
keep building those bridges. Bye y 'all. Thank
you. Amazing listeners for your support. Don't
forget to follow me on Instagram at missjamy
underscore R -E -C -E. Give a star rating and
leave a review. Have something you want to hear
about in relation to before and after school
programs or full day summer camp? DM me or comment.
Again, thank you so much and happy learning.