McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Leslie Layman, M.S. | October 22, 2024

This document may be printed, photocopied, and disseminated freely with attribution. All content is the property of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.

Think of all the information that early childhood program administrators need to track each year: family and employee applications, assessments, feedback from staff and families, and advisory board information. You can likely think of several more pieces of data to track. It can be overwhelming to think about creating a system for collecting, storing, and accessing information over time and how to use it year over year for program improvement and management. Purchasing data management software or a suite of software tools can be cost-prohibitive, and many software programs are not tailored to the unique needs of a center-based early childhood program or family child care program. You may be growing your program and feel reluctant to purchase expensive software without more information about how you might use it.


Google Workspace offers a variety of free products that can be tied directly to your free Google account. While they offer many powerful products, one that can be especially helpful for program administration is Google Forms. Google Forms allows you to easily build specialized online fillable forms that can be shared quickly and automatically store information in an editable database in your Google Cloud account.


You could use Google Forms to create and personalize:


  • applications for families,
  • applications for employment,
  • environmental, program, and teaching assessments,
  • daily checklists for health, safety, and attendance,
  • and quick ways to check in with families.


The forms can be easily shared with unique web links or QR codes and quickly texted and emailed.


HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST VALUABLE FEATURES OF GOOGLE FORMS:


  • The application can use decision logic


people who fill out the forms to see only the questions they need to see. For example, if you created a daily health check form for staff, you could use decision logic to show specific questions for each classroom or age group.


  • Automatic saving of form responses


Google forms are easily converted into worksheets that automatically update every time someone fills out the form. You can then see, sort, and edit the form data as needed. For instance, you could create an intake form for families applying to your program, save that data to a workbook, and update that workbook to include the date of the family’s scheduled intake meeting.


  • The ability to edit the form even when it is “live”


Google forms can be edited in real-time. For example, perhaps you created an attendance form and wanted to add a new child’s name. You can edit the form while it is available to your staff so they see the new child’s name in real-time. You can also lock the form to stop accepting responses with a personalized message.


You can get started here if you want to create a free Google account and try some of their products.


In our upcoming technology training, Using Google Forms for Productivity and Communication, we will review the features and functions of Google Forms, ways to use them for childcare program administration, and how to store and access data collected with Google Forms. We will offer hands-on practice, so you leave feeling confident about your ability to implement new processes in your program.


Register here to join this free Webinar—we’ll help you make better use of your program data and your time.

Leslie Layman, M.S., is Director of Strategic Initiatives for the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University (NLU). In this role, she supports early childhood professional preparation, alignments across Early Childhood professional learning and academics, and innovations in early childhood workforce development. She holds a master’s degree in Child Development with a Specialization in Children with Special Needs from Erikson Institute. Prior to working at NLU, she was the Director of Teaching and Learning at Harry S Truman College, where she designed and implemented learning environments, courses, professional development, and technology supports for faculty, students, and staff. 

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The Ants Go Marching

By Cara Murdoch • February 16, 2026
In early childhood education and care (ECEC), we know that some of the simplest ideas can carry the biggest lessons—and many of us have been singing “The Ants Go Marching” for years without realizing it might also be a leadership guide. Ants may be tiny, but their colonies run on teamwork, communication, flexibility, and a clear sense of purpose—all things ECEC programs rely on every day. By taking a closer look at how ants work together to support their colony, early childhood leaders can discover practical and familiar ways to strengthen teamwork, value every role, and lead programs where everyone is marching in the same direction for children and families. Ants are busy creatures; they work with a purpose and know their jobs in the colony. Ants exhibit teamwork and collective effort. Ant colonies demonstrate intelligence, division of labor, communication systems, and cooperative behaviors. They can recognize and respond to the colony's needs. They overcome their challenges through trial and error, learning from their experiences, and sometimes even develop innovative strategies. In the ant colony, individual ants work together as a unit, each with a unique role that determines the colony's survival and success. The ant colony functions just like a superorganism, where the actions of each individual ant are a part of the highly efficient system that supports the whole colony. This concept of collective action is closely related to human teamwork! Ants have a lot to teach us, as we work in ECEC. teamwork Just as ants collaborate, relying on their communication and coordination to complete tasks, humans thrive when working together, as each individual brings their own unique skills and perspectives to their “colony.” Ants depend on each other. Each ant has a specialized job, and the colony relies on the cooperation and coordination of all its members to thrive and survive. Each ant’s contribution, no matter how small it may seem, is vital to the success of the colony as a whole, and the strength of the group is built on the cooperation of each individual. Similarly, in ECEC programs, teamwork — working together and helping one another —leads to better results than trying to do everything alone! When we collaborate, we pool our strengths, share our knowledge, and support each other, which can lead to more creative and efficient solutions. Each person in the program brings unique skills and perspectives, filling gaps and helping compensate for one another’s weaknesses. This shared effort allows your program to tackle tasks and achieve goals that would be difficult, if not impossible, for one individual to accomplish on their own... just like in an ant colony! Adapting to face challenges Ants are highly adaptable creatures. Have you ever watched a disrupted colony hurry to move the uncovered eggs to a protected space? They respond quickly to changes or disruptions in their environment. Their ability to quickly assess new situations and adjust their behavior will help the colony continue to function efficiently, even when the unexpected happens. Their adaptability is the key to their survival, allowing them to overcome obstacles and thrive. Early childhood programs also need to adapt to challenges. When unexpected changes occur, each person needs to be flexible and find new ways to contribute to the program's success. Just as ants adjust, programs must reassess their strengths, collaborate, and develop alternative solutions. Adaptability is essential for proper teamwork! honoring individual roles In an ant colony, different ants take on very specific roles. There are worker ants, soldier ants, and the queen ant. Each ant’s role is crucial to the success and survival of the colony, and all roles are interdependent; they work together to achieve common goals. This division of labor that exists in an ant colony can be compared to the different roles and unique talents found in an ECEC program. Just as ants rely on each other to perform specific tasks, each ECEC team member brings their own expertise and skills to the program. In a project or workplace setting, one person may excel at brainstorming creative ideas, another might be skilled at organizing tasks and managing timelines, and someone else may be particularly adept at technical skills or problem-solving. This diversity of roles within a team ensures that every aspect of a project or goal receives focused attention. In center-based programs, there are the director, teachers, kitchen staff, and other roles as needed. The diversity of roles in a program helps to ensure that the program is successful and thrives. clear purpose and goals In an ant colony, survival is the common goal. The colony’s success depends on each member performing its specific role. Their unwavering focus on the survival of the colony is connected to their success. It demonstrates the power of their collective action, driven by a clear and unified goal. ECEC programs thrive when they are aligned around a shared and clear purpose and goals. When program members understand and commit to their common goals, the well-being and growth of children and families, their efforts will become more effective and coordinated. Just as ants bring different strengths to the program, each person brings different strengths to the program. It is alignment around shared goals that enables the program to overcome challenges and succeed. When everyone in the program is clear on the goals and helps work together toward them, the whole program becomes more focused, resilient, and motivated - just as an ant colony becomes stronger when every member is working toward survival! Ants work together harmoniously to achieve their common goals; they set aside individual competition in favor of colony cooperation. Each ant focuses on its specialized task. This spirit of ant cooperation is key to the colony's survival and success, as it enables the colony to accomplish more complex tasks than any single ant could manage alone. ECEC programs can benefit from adopting a similar approach that emphasizes collaboration and shared goals over individual achievement. In an ECEC program, when members support each other and work together, they can leverage each person’s strengths to accomplish more than they could individually. Instead of competing for recognition or resources, each member can focus on the program’s success, fostering a more positive and productive environment. learning from ants Ants have so much to teach ECEC programs when it comes to cooperating and working together as an effective team. Whether it's knowing your own role and abilities, supporting each of your fellow team members, communicating clearly and effectively, being flexible, or avoiding competition, the ant colony is an excellent example of these qualities! Let your ants go marching!!! Ant Life, author unknown I am just an ant, A small life is what I live, But I have dreams for bigger things And so much more to give If only I could grow A foot or two would do I could live a life That others look up to.
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