In many parts of Australia, lockdowns in response to the spread of COVID-19 have seen a mass withdrawal of children from ECEC services. Those operating with reduced classes may need to make accommodations for the shift in dynamic and include some communication and interaction for children who are staying at home.

We share the experience of a CELA member located in one of Sydney’s hotspot areas, plus tips and advice for educating smaller groups, and some great examples of how services are connecting with children learning from home.

Following a disrupted year of prolonged lockdowns, how can families and educators prepare children for transition to school in 2022? If reports from our northern hemisphere counterparts – who started school in July – are anything to go by, expect the transition to school to be a little bumpy.

CELA early education specialist Kate Damo shares tips and insights into how we can help children transition more smoothly in light of the current situation. 

COVID-19, and in particular the Delta strain, is presenting unprecedented challenges for our sector. The rapid fire, and at times conflicting and ambiguous changes to rules as the situation evolves, have added to the strain to services and our workforce. 

Every day since the start of the current COVID outbreak, the CELA team have been communicating directly with our members to understand how they are being affected. The information we gather shapes our CEO’s advocacy at State and Federal levels. 

Early childhood educators have a right to feel safe in their workplace, and Approved Providers and Directors have an obligation to to keep their teams safe. We explore the issue and provide helpful tips and advice. 

After reading a social media post asking whether pine cones should be thoroughly washed to remove potential spiders and cob webs before craft use, Director and Educational Leader Belinda Martin felt the need to speak out and advocate for an holistic approach to nature in the early years.

We share her plea, plus tips on how to instil respect for spiders and creepy crawlies in children and adults alike. 

After speaking with many of our members over recent weeks to offer support through challenges related to the latest COVID outbreak, we continue to be blown away by the ideas and strategies ECEC professionals are putting into place to support children and their learning, whether at the service or at home. 

CELA early education specialist and former ECEC Director Kate Damo shares a few more ideas to help you keep up the inspiration levels for children and families, and an overview on how families can facilitate learning through play while learning from home. 

Organised by Early Childhood Australia, Early Learning Matters (ELM) Week provides a great opportunity to tell our communities how high-quality early education and care supports children to be confident, enthusiastic learners, building a foundation for wellbeing and achievement throughout their lives.

In acknowledging the importance of early learning during ELM week in July, educator Rachel Ho reflected on how she can continue to grow her practices and pedagogy further, with a focus on what it really means to have faith in the innate knowledge children are born with when facilitating children’s learning.

Tree bark might not come to mind immediately when thinking of inspiring outdoor activities, but for award-winning children’s author Victoria Mackinlay, this rough pearl of nature sparked an idea for her latest book, and hours of fun adventures and investigations in nature with her daughter. 

Victoria shares interesting and mindful bark-related activities and facts to support outdoor learning in services, which could also inspire activities and investigations for families who are keeping children at home due to COVID. 

Tom and Erin Pascall, ECEC professionals with a psychology background, share how we can expand the window of tolerance for children and the importance of understanding our own window of tolerance. They also offer helpful skills for getting through periods of dysregulation. 

Being deliberate and intentional in our book choices, and actively including books with diverse characters, is beneficial to all children. Regular CELA writer and Indigenous early education resource specialist Deborah Hoger shares why a book audit is important for fostering inclusion, and provides four easy steps for how you can conduct a bookshelf audit in your service.