Many children around the world now have a digital footprint before they can even walk! Their pictures and videos are featured on their families’ social media channels or even their own dedicated pages managed by their families. But what are the risks involved? At what point does it become ‘sharenting’? And do educators have a […]
This article, written by Tawanda Makusha and Linda M. Richter, examines fatherhood under pressure and the essential role fathers can play in the first three years of a child’s life. While it explores the issues in a South African context, the messages are widely relevant. The article first appeared in The Conversation on 7 August […]
It‘s natural for families to discuss with friends what their young children are doing and learning in early childhood education and care. But it can be unsettling too and it can prompt many questions for early childhood educators, directors and managers. In this blog, DR WENDY BOYD demystifies ‘real learning’ and developmental milestones. She examines ACECQA‘s […]
Why is guidance on young children and digital technology needed now? As a Discussion Paper is released—Towards a Statement on young children and digital technology—co-chairs of ECA’s Digital Policy Group (DPG), Professor Susan Edwards and Professor Leon Straker, address this question and reveal some of the findings from work so far. You may have heard or […]
Digital citizenship sounds like a weighty topic. Perhaps too weighty for the youngest children. Is it even relevant to very young children and if so, what does it mean for their families, educators and carers? This is one of the issues that surfaced during the Early Childhood Australia conference keynote and workshops by Dr Chip […]
When I hear people say “you can’t reason with a very young child”, or “the only way to make a young child change their behaviour is to reward or punish”, I feel deeply saddened. My experience as a parent, and parent educator, is otherwise. I wonder if our expectations of small children are inhibited by […]
I will start by asking two questions: at what age did you know your gender, and do you think someone else had to tell you what it was? I’m director of mental health at a leading gender clinic in the US. Our clinic is a half-decade old – and in that short period the number […]
Child abuse, and especially child sexual abuse, concerns everyone who works with children. Over the last thirty plus years protective behaviours programs of different kinds have been developed and used to try to help protect children from this kind of abuse. These programs are usually provided in schools or early childhood services such as preschools. […]
Being a parent presents us with daily challenges, including decisions about what things to expose our children to. One of the questions I am constantly asked by parents is what should they teach their children about money, and at what age. Talking about money is no different to talking about how to keep healthy or […]
Speech problems in early childhood are common. One in four parents of Australian children are concerned about their 4- to 5-year-old child’s speech but two-thirds of these parents don’t act on their concern. Why? What might stop them from seeking expert advice from a speech pathologist? Myth 1: Children grow out of speech problems (just […]
