Executive summary In May 2003, the Prime Minister announced a commitment of $10 million under the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy to early childhood prevention and intervention initiatives. Of this, $8.8 million has been allocated to initiatives under the National Agenda for Early Childhood, including $3.2 million to the Parenting Information Project. Phase One of...

Reading with young children (0-5 years) needs to be promoted to families and all members of the community as a fun and integral part of a child's daily routine. In your professional role you have the opportunity to engage with families to enable this practice to become part of the culture of family life and...

This literature review describes the evidence base linking poor literacy to poverty and lower health and education outcomes. The literature review also outlines the evidence that has examined the impact of book reading in very early childhood in preparation for developing and acquiring language and literacy skills. Finally, the literaure review synthesises the evidence base...

We are so used to seeing children and infants play that we tend to overlook its importance. How often do we hear the phrase 'it’s child’s play'?

Anxiety is an everyday term, but what do we mean by it? Anxiety involves a sense of apprehension, with accompanying physiological reactions, typically associated with worrying about the future. How does anxiety present itself in children? There are three main ways: physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, tense muscles, tummy aches and headaches behavioural...