Worth celebrating: ECA 80 years strong in 2018

Saturday 17 March 2018 is a significant date for Early Childhood Australia (ECA), as it marks our 80th birthday. This time 80 years ago the state Kindergarten Unions and the Kindergarten Teachers’ College, Kew, met in Melbourne to discuss creating an executive body that would lobby and work with the ‘Federal Government on matters related […]

Child tooth decay is on the rise, but few are brushing their teeth enough or seeing the dentist

One-third of preschoolers have never seen a dentist and most parents believe children don’t need to see one before they’re three years old. Yet one-quarter of Australian children have tooth decay that requires filling by early primary school. One in ten require an extraction. Results released today from the latest Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health […]

Seven things adults can say to a young girl instead of ‘I love your dress’

When ECA worked on the Start Early. Respectful relationships for life project, aimed at fostering relationship skills in very young children, educators commented on how often adults—educators, family, neighbours and friends—will comment on a girl’s dress when there are so many other things to talk about. Even with the best intentions, one educator said it […]

Leading an early childhood movement

Alice Ishbel Hay Creswick was a leader, advocate and early pioneer of early childhood education and care in Australia. Alice was born in Scotland in 1889 and educated in England, Switzerland and Germany. She came to Australia with her Australian husband, pastoralist Henry Creswick, where they raised four children, living in the Riverina District of […]

What’s love got to do with it?

‘Half way down the stairs is a stair where I sit There isn’t any other stair quite like it. I’m not at the bottom; I’m not at the top So this is the stair where I always stop’ (Milne, 1932, p147). There are approximately 194 900 early learning staff currently employed across Australia, with long […]

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