‘Just by becoming aware of what is occurring within and around us, we can begin to untangle ourselves from mental preoccupations and difficult emotions’ (Siegel, Germer & Olendzki, 2009). The practice of being ‘mindful’ is a 2500-year-old Buddhist tradition that calls for one to be aware and present in the way that one experiences and […]
Yearly Archives: 2018
Communicating family diversity and celebrations
There are strong messages in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) that point to the significance of developing trusting partnerships with families and respecting family diversity. These are listed under ‘Principles’. Trust and respect are the hallmarks of all good relationships and looking to the EYLF for guidance about how to enact that trust and […]
Children’s wellbeing goes hand in hand with their fathers’ mental health
The partnership between educators and families for the child’s development is at the core of early childhood practice. That’s why it’s so important that we understand how mothers and fathers are doing when it comes to mental health. Emerging evidence shows that supporting fathers’ mental health early in their parenting journey has positive effects on children […]
Themes vs projects: Spot the difference
In this blog, KATE HODGEKISS weighs the benefits of project over thematic approaches to young children’s learning and the interplay between children’s interests and the educator’s intentional thinking and scaffolding. In early childhood, our trends of pedagogical practices change and evolve as we continue building research into child development and learning processes. In past years […]
Never been a better time to Be You
More than a million children attend one of Australia’s 15 500 early education services every year. They deserve responsive, skilled guidance through those critical early years and especially as difficulties or vulnerabilities emerge. One in five children enters school with at least one developmental vulnerability (AEDC, n.d.). Knowing that one in seven children between the […]
Children’s right to play
‘No-one is born a good citizen’ said Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General. But children are born with rights. This blog explores children’s rights and how they are identified in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children’s rights to rest, leisure, recreation and play appropriate to their age, are recognised under Article […]
Quality and commitment in outside school hours care
Taking pride in being a ‘wild, interesting, crazy and loving’ place for children and being prepared to ‘have a go’, fail and try again, are all part of achieving quality at one outside school hours care program, says director BARBI CLENDINING. The 2018 ECA National Conference spurred on Barbi Clendining to contact ECA and share […]
Children living in poverty today in Australia
The words ‘moral courage’ echoed through the 2018 ECA National conference after international keynote Dr Cindy Blackstock challenged educators and carers to consider how they can and do advocate for children every day through their work. Anti-poverty Week seems a good time to think about focusing on children’s needs, especially as one in six children […]
Research shows there are benefits from getting more three-year-olds into preschool
On 4 October, the Labor party pledged an additional A$1.75 billion for early education if elected the next government of Australia. This is the largest investment in early childhood education in Australian history. Most of this investment will go towards funding 15 hours a week of free preschool or kindy for three-year-old children. This means all Australian […]
Sleep in early childhood
Sleep and young children is a contested area. People have different practices and approaches, whether they are families, educational settings or others. In this blog, PAM LINKE explores the importance of sleep for very young children and the different sleep needs of adults and young children. Early Childhood Australia (ECA) has a range of different […]