Pedagogical documentation does not stop learning at the classroom door. When documentation is shared with families and revisited with children, learning continues, deepens, and gains new meaning.

What began as play or exploration in an early childhood setting becomes a shared story — one that children reflect on, explain, and reconnect with.

This home–school connection is one of the most powerful and often overlooked impacts of pedagogical documentation.

Learning does not end when the activity ends

In early childhood education, learning happens in moments:

• During play
• Through interaction
• In conversation
• In problem-solving

But learning deepens when children revisit experiences.

Pedagogical documentation makes this possible by:

• Capturing meaningful moments
• Preserving them beyond the activity
• Allowing children and adults to return to them later

When children see photos, notes, or learning stories from their day, they are reminded of what they did — and begin to reflect on it.

From experiencing learning to explaining learning

What happens when an educator decides not just to study Finnish education, but to live it?

Stella Giota from Kindiedays discussed with one of the Kindiedays Academy participants.

For Ismini Aspioti, the answer meant packing her life in Greece, moving to Helsinki, and stepping directly into a Finnish kindergarten classroom.

Now in her third year working with children aged 3–4 and her second year living in Finland, Ismini describes her experience as deeply rewarding—but also full of questions.

Wanting to Understand the “Why” Behind Finnish Education

Working daily in a Finnish kindergarten gave Ismini hands-on experience—but she felt something was still missing.

“Alongside everything I was learning in the classroom, I felt a strong need to deepen my knowledge in a more meaningful and structured way—especially after moving to Finland.”

She didn’t want quick tips or surface-level methods. She wanted to understand the philosophy, the values, and the thinking behind everyday practice in Finnish early childhood education.

Kindiedays Academy became that missing piece.

In early childhood education, some of the most important learning moments don’t look like learning at all.

They happen in play, conversations, relationships, and everyday routines. They are subtle, social, and often fleeting — and because of that, they are easy to miss.

So why does learning need to be made visible? And who is learning visibility really for?

Learning is Already Happening — Even When It’s Not Obvious

Children learn through play, interaction, exploration, and curiosity. They learn while building, pretending, negotiating, asking questions, and experimenting. This learning is real and meaningful — but it doesn’t always result in worksheets, written outcomes, or visible “products.”

When learning remains invisible:

Could you briefly introduce your preschool and your role? 

I'm Mira Slawinski, entrepreneur, teacher, and founder of two daycares, By the Sea and Tiny Wonders. By the Sea opened its doors in 2021, and ever since, we’ve been sailing through days filled with curiosity, laughter, and discovery. We welcome your little ones aboard our ship, where they can explore, play, and learn every day in a safe and nurturing environment.

Tiny Wonders opened its doors in August 2025 and offers children a warm community and space to blossom at their own pace, guided by caring educators passionate about early childhood development.

What made you start using Kindiedays?

Honestly… can’t remember a time we didn’t have Kindiedays…I don’t understand how we managed then, even though I've been doing this work for 35 years…

How has Kindiedays helped your daily work (e.g., planning, documenting, assessing, communicating with parents)? 

Playful learning didn’t start as a trend. It didn’t originate in Finland either.
And it’s definitely not about “just letting children play.”

So where did playful, experiential learning come from — and how did it become the foundation of Finnish early childhood education?

Kindiedays Education Specialist Stella Giota tells the story.

Learning through experience: an old human idea

Long before schools, curricula, and worksheets, humans learned by doing.

Children learned by:

• Watching others
• Trying things out
• Making mistakes
• Playing, imitating, and experimenting

Learning through experience is not new. What is new is how education systems choose to value or ignore it.

In many ways, what we now call playful, experiential learning is simply a return to how children have always learned best.

When experience became “learning”