Research shows early childhood educators are among the lowest-paid Australians, with some finding better pay in other fields such as night-time retail work.
Parents can use everyday tasks and routines to encourage learning maths in early childhood.
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Supporting early childhood literacy is not just about reading to your child. Research has found there are many and varied ways to increase literacy in early learning.
Enrolling children in in pre-school is essential for their development.
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Child support grants are an income resource that enables caregivers to make healthier food choices and provide the means to send their children to school earlier.
Having good, well-trained teachers in their early lives benefits children enormously.
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Many people look down on foundation phase teachers, believing it requires little training or expertise. This couldn't be further from the truth.
The number of children with flat head has risen in recent years in part due to SIDS guidelines, which recommend placing babies on their backs to sleep.
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Parents who notice their child has a flat head should talk to a GP or specialist to see if any treatment is needed.
Children with at least two years of preschool achieve much higher scores than those who attend no preschool or only one year.
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Two years of high-quality preschool is one of the most effective strategies we have to change the trajectories of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Children who attend preschool are more likely to be ready to learn when they start school.
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Government funding of childcare is seen as something that helps get mums back into work, instead of setting children up for learning before they start school.
Research has found a relationship between pretend play and a child's developing creativity, understanding of others and social competence with peers.
The shadow minister for early education, Kate Ellis, said child care costs had undergone a ‘massive increase’ since the last federal election.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Labor's shadow minister for early education, Kate Ellis, said there has been a massive increase in child care costs under the Coalition government. Is that an accurate reflection of the data?
A boy in the Ivory Coast practises reading his letters. Children can learn a lot about reading from each other during the “School Game”.
EPA/Legnan Koula
The benefits of learning through play are well documented. In rural communities in South Africa, "playing school" produces passionate lifelong readers.
What children learn in their first 2000 days of life is the most vital, so early learning shouldn’t be dismissed as babysitting.
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The reorganisation of federal ministerial portfolios this week moved early childhood education and care from social services to education. This is a good thing.
Children need to get involved in classroom decisions that affect them, rather than just answering questions when prompted to do so.
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Naseema Shaik, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
At its simplest, participation is about allowing children to get involved in making decisions that affect their own lives and their own learning experiences.
The Productivity Commission’s report on childcare will help inform the Abbott government’s soon-to-be-unveiled ‘families package’.
AAP/Paul Miller
Many of the Productivity Commission's proposals derive from assumptions that the funding of these services should ensure minimal interference, with a classic, market-based model for meeting "demand".
Research shows children in early learning benefit from having a stable relationship with one teacher, but with 180 qualified early learning teachers leaving every week, that can be difficult to maintain.
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Last year in an open letter to the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, early childhood employers and peak bodies joined forces to ask for a commitment to early learning. They warned the political…
Giving today’s kids a flying start with early education will be crucial to helping them fill the gap left behind by retiring Baby Boomers.
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The problem with Australia’s population ageing is not that there are too many older people – it’s that there are not enough young people to support them. That presents many challenges to Australia’s continued…
Long-term reforms are required to address the causes of early school leaving.
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The OECD’s 2009 Jobs for Youth report, released on the heels of the global financial crisis, made a number of policy recommendations to the Australian government to prevent a rise in youth unemployment…
Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion with students in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory. Research shows acting on overcrowded housing could greatly improve Indigenous kids’ school attendance in remote communities.
AAP/Neda Vanovac
Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…
The Productivity Commission report reflect the limits set by Tony Abbott when he announced terms of reference focused on economic benefit.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning shows the serious limitations of market economics for analysing social policy. The report’s 900-plus pages offer a collection…
The Productivity Commission contains many positive measures for Early Childhood Learning, but are they implementable?
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The recommendations of the Productivity Commission into Childcare and Early Learning appear to be a win for early childhood learning. However, as with many reports such as this, the devil is in the detail…