Supporting educators mental health: Lillio at Uni-Vision Childcare

The educators’ priority are these children, and whatever I can do to make their work as educators as easy as possible I will do. Being a teacher nowadays is extremely overwhelming

- Champagne Domingo, Center Owner and Director

Champagne Domingo is the center owner and director of Uni–Vision childcare, a Spanish immersion center located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They opened their doors 5 years ago, and for roughly the first 3 years of operation, they did everything on pen and paper. As a new childcare owner and director, Champagne was shocked at all the paperwork that was required of her educators, especially for centers that participate in keystone stars, and other quality rating systems. Champagne noticed that the paperwork demand was overwhelming for her educators, and in a field with such a high burnout rate she wanted to do whatever she could to help.

With pen and paper the educators would have to write out the observations for each child, then they would have to go and find the learning standard, and then write out the learning standard to the associated observation. They were working overtime

- Champagne

Champagne realized her educators were overwhelmed with how to get all their documentation done, while still providing the highest quality education and care for their children and families. Finding the time for them to effectively handwrite all the necessary documentation was almost impossible. Either Champagne would have to step away from the phone and put her own work on pause to go into the classroom, or she would be paying her educators to stay overtime. As an advocate for her educators and to support their mental health, Champagne set out to make sure they were not working overtime and that the time they did spend working could be spent doing what motivates them – being with the children. It was also critical to Champagne that her staff have time to relax and prioritize themselves outside of working hours, giving them the highest chance of coming back to work happy and strong each day. 

For Champagne, she did not think that quality documentation should always mean working late. Or that getting required work done means stepping away from the children and parents. Champagne did not want this culture for her center, or the children and families they serve. “My whole goal was to make things as easy as possible so we could dedicate all of our free time to educating our children.”

Supporting educators mental health with Lillio

Champagne brought Lillio into their center to transition all of their documentation from pen and paper to Lillio. To make the transition as easy as possible, Champagne built dedicated Lillio documentation time into the educators’ schedules. Each educator was allotted an extra 15 minutes at the end of their shift each day to do their documentation. A sharp decline from the hour that was previously required for handwritten documentation. How the educators successfully do this is by taking photos of activities and observations of the children on the go, but then putting the Ipad down and focusing their energy on the children. Now at the end of their day, their observations are ready for them so they can simply use their allotted 15 minutes to load the photos, attach the learning and development outcomes and then share them with the parents.

15 minutes is all they need to upload pictures, input meals and diapers and still be mindful of individual observations. They simply input all the information during this time and the system does the rest for them

- Champagne

By transitioning to Lillio, Champagne and her educators managed to streamline all their observations, records, and communication into one spot. Making everyone’s lives easier and re-focusing their time and energy on what matters most, engaging with and educating the children in their care. While being sure not to sacrifice their own lives or mental health.

Uni-Vision Childcare Today

“Educators now have more time to engage and interact with the children and provide quality education, which was my whole goal.”

Eliminating the demands and the extra steps that were required with pen and paper documentation, Champagne has been able to give her staff time back to focus on what early childhood education is all about – caring for and educating young children. As all early childhood educators know, there is nothing more valuable than quality time spent with the children in your care.

The biggest piece of value HiMama has brought to our educators is absolutely the way it has streamlined their lesson planning and observations and taken so many steps out of their day

- Champagne

Lillio has supported Uni-Vision in achieving its goals of always striving to provide the highest quality education and care, without sacrificing time spent with the children or their own much-needed work-life balance to prevent burnout.

Even every new staff that comes to the center, they just immediately appreciate Lillio because it just makes their lives so much easier

- Champagne

A center’s culture is critical in supporting educators. The rate of burnout for early childhood educators is incredibly high, and finding and retaining quality educators is one of the largest challenges facing directors today. Learn more about creating a positive work culture and quality leadership team in our webinar here.

Uni-Vision Childcare is one of many Lillio customers who have improved their center quality with Lillio!