Early learning celebrated
Children at Grace Berglund Kindergarten developed their knowledge of recycling and waste disposal as part of Australia’s first Early Learning Matters Week.
Baw Baw Shire sustainability officer Jessie Ablett and Rebecca McKeown of Solo Waste held discussions with the children, played games and conducted a bin audit to further develop the children’s understanding of how they can play a part in looking after their world.
Sustainability is already embedded in the program at Grace Berglund Kindergarten with recycle bins, stories, discussions and learning activities such as learning about the water cycle, worm farms and reducing and eradicating the use of straws, glitter and plastic bags.
As children eat their lunch they discuss the types of containers or bees wax wraps that their lunch is in and also think about and decide which bin the rubbish goes in.
Kindergarten educator Pauline Whyet said inviting Jessie and Rebecca to work with the children is an initiative to involve the communtiy and take sustainability that bit further with the children that will shape the future of our world.
“Early learning matters because it’s in these early years before children turn five that children’s brains are growing the fastest and are wired to learn,” she said.
“It’s when the foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life are laid down.
“Here at Grace Berglund Kindergarten we have qualified early childhood educators taking children from three to five years of age through play-based and intentional indoor and outdoor activities that support children’s development of social, emotional, cognitive and language skills.”
Early Learning Matters Week is a national initiative of the Early Learning Everyone Benefits campaign.
The Early Learning Benefits campaign calls on federal politicians in both houses of parliament to ensure all children have access to at least two days per week of early childhood education irrespective of their parent’s activities; develop a whole of government early years strategy to ensure no children fall through the gaps; provide a long-term commitment to maintain current total levels of funding for universal access to kindergarten or pre-school programs in the year before school; extend funding to play-based programs to support three-year-olds; improve quality of early education and care through ongoing support for the National Quality Agenda and workforce development initiatives; and improve support for disadvantaged children, especially those living in regional and remote areas and from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Australian and international research shows that children who participate in one or more years of quality early learning have improved school education performance, are better able to manage their behaviour and have lower levels of hyoeractivity.
They are more likely to finish high school, go onto academic studies and more likely to find steady employment.
Early Childhood Australia chief executive Samantha Page said while Australia has improved attendance of four year olds in kindergarten programs in recent years, it is still in the bottom third of developed countries for attendance in early learning for three year olds and younger.
“Families face too many barriers to accessing early learning and too many children are still missing out on the benefits of attending at least two days of early learning for their children regardless of where they live in Australia or what their work or study activities are,” she said.
“Whilst the new Child Care Subsidy system is making access to early learning more affordable for most families where both parents are working, there are concerns that some vulnerable children who benefit the most will have their access to early learning reduced or miss out.”