Living sustainably means living within the capacity of the natural environment to support life and ensuring our current lifestyle has minimal impact on generations to come. Sustainable practices relate not only to the natural environment, but also our society and culture, including aspects such as consumerism and community well-being. As the need for greater sustainability […]
Written before the 2016 Federal Election, this blog post by Early Childhood Australia’s CEO Samantha Page calls on all early childhood educators to be involved in advocacy for young children. As the CEO of Early Childhood Australia I feel very proud of our organisation’s long tradition of advocating for the rights of children, parents and […]
With the start of another school year upon us, parents are preparing themselves for the constant task of making lunch boxes. Many parents feel pressure to include superfoods in the lunch box, which can be costly and impractical, especially if their child doesn’t like them! Yet while superfoods are hyped everywhere as being essential items, […]
Children who fail to read regularly during long breaks from school will often see their reading ability drop. This is termed the “summer slide”. Socio-economic status can be a factor – if a child’s household has fewer books to read, then they will have fewer authentic reading opportunities. But those children who keep up their […]
“there is a moral and ethical responsibility to advocate on behalf of young children.” Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations drafted a human rights treaty to frame and guide international thinking about the treatment of children (United Nations, 1989). While Australia was an early adopter of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the […]
One of the most common New Year’s resolutions people make is to lose weight by dieting. The idea is that restricting the pleasures of tasty foods will lead to greater fitness and a finer physique. But if these rewards are so valuable, why is it so hard for us to stick to our resolution? Maybe […]
What is creativity and why is it so important to support children’s creative thinking? For such a common topic, creativity is difficult to define. In an early childhood setting, creativity is often linked to art—painting and drawing and so on. However, creativity is also an important part of developing children’s problem solving and innovative thinking. […]
