It is the third week that Ms. Sotto’s preschool classroom has been turned into an airport. The literacy center is a ticket counter, with a travel agency complete with child-made passports, tickets, and travel brochures. In the block area the children have constructed a walk-through X-ray scanner from cardboard boxes. A smaller box with openings on both ends functions as the screening device for carry-on luggage. There is an airplane cockpit made out of a big piece of cardboard with child-drawn instruments, an upside-down egg carton for a keyboard, and a paper plate that functions as the steering wheel....

When I first read about New Zealand’s Learning Stories approach, I was most impressed with its potential for connecting with families by sharing with them the awesomeness of their children while making visible the power of play...

Full of surprises, children amaze us daily with their new discoveries and skills, learning as they experience the world around them. We now have the opportunity to embrace new tools to better tell the story of their growth and development. Let's look...