Education for pre-schoolers How much "schooling" is your child getting at pre-school / child care? The other week one of our team dropped off her little girl (just 4) at her child care centre and found a pack of information and swot cards waiting at the sign in desk. The pack contained a book called "Early childhood literacy and numeracy: Building good practice" and a pack of cards to help parents develop their child's literacy and numeracy, which can also be viewed at www.oececc.gov.au. On first appearance it looked quite scary, but as she read through it, particularly the cards, she was fully absorbed by the tips and suggestions on how we can be conscious of the everyday activities and interaction that help our children gain the initial foundations of literacy and numeracy. The fact her daughter's child care centre (ABC Learning) encouraged her to read through this material is just another gold star for them in terms of their pre-school programming… she has no doubt whatsoever that when her daughter goes to her "5 school" in January next year, she will have basic reading, writing and numeracy skills and will be socially fully ready for the next big step. Since she has been at her child care centre they have offered various activities at no extra cost, from weekly Kinda Dance classes, a weekly Italian class and now weekly trips to the library, daily recorder and percussion lessons (thank goodness they have to leave their recorders at the centre!), computer lessons and many other activities besides. She has been impressed by the way the alphabet was learnt through show and tell, colouring and writing exercises (taking a letter a week); how they actively teach the children to read, tell the time, count, get used to talking to a group (through show and tell), as well as more life skills like sharing, helping, manners and general awareness of their own behaviour – all well before their final pre–school year. It got her to thinking: Is she incredibly lucky here or are all child care centres as proactive in the education stakes as her daughter's one? Is there a standard curriculum they have to adhere to or do some child care facilities simply look after children without actually formerly educating them? Is there a set standard that has to be followed and if not, is there going to be a big divide in schools between the ones that have had formal pre-school preparation and those who haven't? The fact is there is no real pre-school program as yet. No regulations that state how much education a child care facility needs to impart on its wards in order to prepare them for school. Many children don't actually attend a child care or pre-school facility prior to going to school at all, as that's not a requirement either, so it falls on the parent to ensure their child is intellectually and socially ready for school at aged 5. The government's new Building Good Practice program is the beginning of a nationwide program to help parents and child care facilities/pre-schools the formal guidance on how to make the most of every day life in terms of working in literacy and numeracy skills. According to the office of the Hon Maxine McKew, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care, research shows that participating in a quality early childhood education program can significantly increase positive educational and life outcomes for children, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Universal access to early childhood education is an Australian Government commitment to provide access for all children to a quality early childhood education program (often referred to as 'pre-school' or 'kindergarten') in the year before formal schooling by 2013, delivered by a university trained early childhood teacher, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year. However, attendance will still not be compulsory, so unfortunately you can already see a number of kids whose parents who aren't able to or aren't bothered about sending their kids to pre-school falling through the gap… That said the proposed early childhood education programs will be delivered in a range of settings, including child care, in order to meet the needs of working parents. Universal access will mean early childhood education is available to all children. As with many educational responsibilities, the states and territories are responsible for delivery of pre-school education, and different approaches to achieve better access and greater participation, including addressing barriers such as distance, cost, cultural appropriateness and convenience for working families. Different arrangements also exist for the regulation, funding and delivery of early childhood education and while no states or territory requires children to attend an early childhood program before commencing school, the majority of states have an early childhood curriculum framework, which guides early childhood educators in the design and delivery of their early literacy and numeracy activities. While there is no set early childhood curriculum for literacy and numeracy, Long Day Care centres are required through licensing and accreditation to have a program in place that documents each child's learning and assists each child to be a successful learner. In Family Day Care there is no requirement for a formal educational program. There is also currently no requirement for pre-schools to employ a qualified early childhood teacher, with the exception of New South Wales, whereby long day care centres are required to employ a degree qualified teacher when the number of children exceeds 29. Proposed plans for early childhood education: Under the Australian Governments' early childhood reform agenda, governments in Australia are working together through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) processes to develop a national Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). The EYLF is an early childhood curriculum framework which, along with supporting documents, will guide early childhood educators in developing high quality, nationally consistent, early childhood education programs and will inform parents on how best to support their children's early learning. The program will have a specific emphasis on play-based learning and recognise the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development. It will describe the broad parameters, principles and outcomes required to support and enhance young children's learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. The EYLF and supporting documentation is currently being trialled in 29 locations across Australia and through an innovative online forum. For further information on the EYLF and trialling phase please visit www.office.mychild.gov.au. The website provides information to families about Australian Government early learning and care initiatives and other issues that affect children. It includes a page on the Government's universal access to preschool initiative at www.mychild.gov.au/universalaccess.htm. You can find more detailed information about the initiative, including a fact sheet and the link to the early years learning resources at: www.deewr.gov.au We would like to know what you think about the current and proposed plans for early childhood education: Are these plans enough? Should attendance at pre-school in the year before "big school" be compulsory and really should the education of our children be a Federal responsibility rather than a state one? Click here to let us know what you think. Child Welfare and Child Care As another angle to this issue of early childhood education, there is also the question of how much care is out there in our child care system in terms of looking after children's welfare… what is the responsibility of the child carers in the overall welfare and development of a child and what does it say about how we value children in our society when often their carers are paid less than parking attendants who look after cars? The evidence is very clear that what happens in childhood can have a profound impact on how that individual develops into adulthood… Read Professor Fiona Stanley's article on Child Welfare and Child Care.

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