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Reflections by Milla van der Burgh, CEO of Kindiedays and a mother of a 6-year-old boy in a Finnish preschool.
“They had a good day. Ate well and joined in the activities.”
These familiar, useful updates come up at pickup time. Yet they leave much of a child’s day untold. What sparked their curiosity? What did they discover? What made them proud?
These moments give parents something meaningful to connect with—and a starting point for conversation.
At a recent Finnish early childhood education seminar, Karoliina Purola explored how teachers can support families’ involvement. One distinction stayed with me: taking part does not necessarily mean feeling involved.
A parent can attend an event or read every update and still feel that their perspective has little place in their child’s early education. Meaningful involvement grows when families feel heard, recognise that their knowledge of their child matters, and have opportunities to contribute.
Everyday observations open the conversation
Teachers know a child through play, friendships and everyday experiences in the early learning setting. Parents know them at home and within their closest relationships. Bringing these perspectives together can deepen everyone’s understanding.
Specific observations help that exchange happen.
All images are AI-generated illustrative images of fictional people and places. They do not document actual centres, customers or product screens.
“We built with blocks today” describes an activity. A photograph with a short note about how a child worked with a friend to keep their bridge standing reveals their thinking, persistence, and cooperation.
At home, the child might use the photograph to tell the story. A parent might recognise an interest that also appears in play at home and share that insight with the teacher. Together, they can consider how to build on it.
An everyday moment becomes a shared understanding—and a possible next step in learning.
A portfolio becomes meaningful through conversation
The research presented in Purola’s seminar offered a useful insight. Parents reported that digital portfolios encouraged conversations about things that mattered to their children, both with educators and within the family. Discussing these shared moments helped families feel more involved in their child’s early education.
This gives teachers a practical question to ask when documenting learning: what could this observation help a child and their family talk about?
A few thoughtfully chosen moments, with enough context to make them meaningful, can offer more than a stream of photographs. Children can help choose those moments and explain what mattered to them. Parents can add a perspective educators might otherwise miss.
Make room for different ways to connect
Parents have different opportunities to engage. Some welcome a conversation at pickup. Others need a scheduled meeting or prefer a message they can read and answer later. Language, working hours, and access to digital tools also shape what feels possible.
Consistent, flexible approaches help more families enter the conversation. Teams can agree on how to share meaningful observations, invite families’ perspectives, and follow up on what they hear.
Kindiedays can support this everyday exchange by bringing photographs, notes, and observations of children’s learning into digital portfolios that educators can share with parents. Messaging provides another way to continue conversations alongside face-to-face encounters.
The value grows through what happens next: a child tells their story, a family shares an insight, and a teacher uses that understanding to support learning.
The next time we say, “They had a good day,” we could share one moment that made it good. That may be where a meaningful conversation begins.
What does this look like from the parent's perspective? Explore the Kindiedays Family App demo to see how photographs and learning observations shared by educators appear to parents and caregivers. Explore the Family App demo ▶️
Inspired by Karoliina Purola’s presentation on supporting families’ involvement in early childhood education, delivered on 9 October 2026.
What next?
👉 Learn more about how Kindiedays can support your preschool by combining Finnish early education principles, digital tools, lesson plans, and teacher workshops tailored for challenger preschools.
I look forward to meeting you.
Milla van der Burgh
👉 Click here to schedule a consultative call on Zoom or contact me on WhatsApp!
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