Your guide to early childhood news on the web!

Welcome to this fortnight's edition of ECA WebWatch.

In this issue:

• Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework
• East Timor's first music school
• Early childhood literacy

Plus:

• ECA calendar
• Quality-assured early childhood resources

Helping disadvantaged families get their kids school-ready

Minister Kate Ellis announces boost to 'Home Interaction Program'
The Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care, Kate Ellis, has announced 14 new locations for the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters, an initiative that helps parents to prepare their kids for school.

The Home Interaction Program offers home tutoring, books and educational resources to children between the ages of three and five years old.

Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework

A draft for trial and validation, August to October 2009
This Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework brings together the national Early Years Learning Framework and the Victorian Essential Learning Standards. It identifies what children should know and be able to do from birth to eight years.

Call for papers for LSAC research conference

Submissions close 21 August 2009
The Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) 2nd Research Conference will be held in Melbourne on 3-4 December 2009.

The conference will provide a forum for the discussion of research based on LSAC data, and highlight its research potential. Attendance at the conference is open to all persons interested in LSAC and in longitudinal survey research.

Scientific fun in the garden

Gardening with young children: Dig in!
Through simple gardening activities you can encourage curiosity and discovery. Young children learn by experiencing things in a 'hands-on' way and through thinking about, re-visiting and questioning their experiences.

Benefits of early music education

Pro-Visual Publishing release 'National Guide to Early Childhood Education' chart
With songs, chants and stories playing a pivotal role in children's understanding of the sounds and patterns of language, Pro-Visual Publishing is encouraging greater awareness of the benefits of early music education through its 2009/10 edition of the National Guide to Early Childhood Education.

The Guide will be distributed to all childcare centres for children up to the age of six. Additional copies are available and all Guides are produced and distributed without cost thanks to sponsorship.

For further information, call (02) 8272 2611 or email enquiries@provisual.com.au

Early childhood literacy

Listening and talking
As children are developing their reading and writing competence, we need to take advantage of their listening and speaking competencies to enhance their vocabulary development.

Understanding literacy
Gain a deeper understanding of how you can help children develop their literacy and language skills through different techniques for teaching and learning.

Visit ECA's Supporting Best Practice link directory – an outstanding resource for early childhood professionals, parents, other caregivers and early childhood knowledge brokers.

East Timor's first music school

Sydney Conservatorium of Music lecturer sets up music school in East Timor
Ros Dunlop, lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, along with composer Martin Wesley-Smith, has recently developed East Timor's first music school, 'Hadahur'. A recent funding boost means the school can expand to a new curriculum across guitars, voice, piano, violin and traditional instruments and dance.

East Timor President, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, is the Patron of the Hadahur project.

World Health Organisation encourages Asia's women to breastfeed

Push for women to move away from powdered formulas
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is pushing for more breastfeeding by Asian women in the face of growing marketing of infant powdered formula feeds and pressure on mothers to go back to work.

Breastmilk protects against allergies and disease and can safeguard against obesity. In countries where water supplies are unreliable or polluted, breastmilk offers protection against diarrhoea, the world's biggest killer of children under five.

Quality-assured early childhood resources

All of ECA's publications are peer-reviewed by early childhood experts, so you can be assured that all our publications are of the highest quality, and relevant to you and your work.

Visions of creativity
Creativity is for all children, not just performers or artists. The real-life stories in this book celebrate and encourage creativity in children, outside of 'tick-the-boxes' approaches to creativity.

Small fry: Inspiration for cooking with kids
For carers and parents, an inspirational hands-on tool to encourage cooking with children. Use the shared experience of cooking together to stimulate use of all the senses.

ECA Calendar

ECA NSW Branch Forum
13 August 2009
6:30 – 8:30pm
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
280 Pitt St
Sydney

An opportunity for lively discussion and debate on the Federal Government's proposed reforms for early childhood and the development of ECA NSW's position on these proposals.

Cairns ECTA and C&K Early Childhood Conference
15 – 16 August 2009
Rydges Tradewinds
137 The Esplanade
Cairns

This conference will provide the opportunity to attend workshops and listen to speakers on a variety of topics relating to early childhood.

Visit Early Childhood Australia's online calendar – it's the easy way to keep track of important events, conferences and dates.

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ECA WebWatch – Issue 78, August 2009. © Early Childhood Australia.