Oodles of quality information for you in this issue of ECA WebWatch
We have a special focus on social issues in early childhood: from supporting social justice to children’s emotional development – themes which are always relevant, but seem particularly current at the moment.
Also newsworthy are the two links with the latest update from the ECA Code of Ethics Agenda, and the latest Policy Brief from the Centre for Community Child Health.
But first, we offer you an article which can be kept as a helpful reference tool in the continual improvement of your centre.
Suggestions for evaluating and improving the kindergarten program
A practical guide to evaluating key aspects of your kindergarten program: the environment; play materials; program structure; activities; supportive interactions; individualising; and parent/carer involvement.
Social justice values from The Advocacy Institute (US)
The Advocacy Institute works to make social justice leadership strategic, effective and sustainable in pursuit of a just world.
Values for social justice organisations to live by
'Transformative social movements create environments where people feel safe to experiment, learn from mistakes, ask hard questions, and are not paralyzed by perfection.'
Assess reality to determine next steps
Following on from the summary above, this article delves further into social justice values. It looks at a variety of assessment tools to help you gain a new perspective of how 'advocacy' relates to your service.
Children’s social development
Developmental milestones: Social and emotional skills, knowledge and beliefs
'Children and adolescents learn and develop an amazing and growing array of social emotional skills, knowledge and beliefs from their pre-kindergarten through high school years ... We hope that this information provides parents with opportunities to strengthen and monitor their children's development and enable parents to help children build these skills'.
Developing social competence (Supporting Best Practice)
These 4 links from ECA's Supporting Best Practice web directory offer information from various quality-assured websites on emotional literacy and socio-emotional development, with a focus on children's peer and adult relationships.
Two other newsworthy links
ECA Code of Ethics Agenda – Update
The Code of Ethics Agenda has involved looking at the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics, 10 years after it was first developed. A new draft of the Code of Ethics has been developed, following a survey to understand the needs and opinions of ECA members. You are invited to read and comment on this draft Code of Ethics.
Policy Brief, issue 3: Work and family life balance (PDF)
The latest Policy Brief, from the Centre for Community Child Health, focuses on family–work life balance. The issue is relevant to everyone; but is of special interest to the early childhood field, as 'a positive work/family balance is partly dependent upon parents having access to affordable and high quality child care'.
Early Childhood Australia books
Following on from the social/emotional learning theme in the links above, we've selected a few books from the ECA catalogue which might be of particular interest.
Understanding children's feelings: Emotional literacy in early childhood explores how children can be supported and encouraged to be aware of their feelings and to understand how they can deal with them.
Reducing stress opens up more opportunities for positive experiences – for both children and the adults who care for them. Stress in early childhood: Helping children and their carers offers practical and effective strategies for stress management.
Relationships, the heart of quality care: Creating community among adults in early care settings offers policy suggestions and strategies to create strong adult–adult relationships around young children.
All books are quality assured by Early Childhood Australia.
Let
us know what you think! We welcome any suggestions or comments
you have: webwatch@earlychildhood.org.au
Past issues of ECA WebWatch are available on the Early
Childhood Australia website.
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ECA WebWatch - Issue 11, July#2 2006. Early Childhood Australia.
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