This study aimed to provide evidence regarding the efficacy of an early literacy preparation program, "PreLit", designed to improve the skills of young Australian children. Participants comprised 240 children in eight schools attending their first year of schooling. Children in the four experimental group schools received instruction in…

The influence of dialect on child speech assessment processes is important to consider in order to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate intervention (teaching or therapy) for bidialectal children. In Australia, there is limited research evidence documenting the influence of dialectal variations on identification of speech impairment among…

At the start of the first formal year of schooling in New South Wales, teachers gather information on a number of aspects of children's numeracy to guide their teaching program. This information is essential to planning teaching activities to meet the needs of all students. This paper reports on some key aspects of number knowledge held by 65,000…

The accurate measurement of health-related physical activity (PA), often interpreted as either 150 min/week of at least moderate-intensity PA (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008) or at least 30 min of at least moderate-intensity PA on 5 or more days per week (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing [AGDHA], 2005;…

This study investigated the perspectives of early childhood teachers and parents regarding the importance of provisions afforded by child-teacher and peer relationships in early childhood centres. Participants were 200 parents and 71 teachers of children aged 0-5 years who responded to an online survey containing a series of relationship function…

Based on qualitative research, this article examines the complex kinship relations involved in constructing queer families. The discussion focuses on the heterogeneity of queer families; the difficulties encountered in association with processes of recognition and how this is negotiated across different contexts within queer families, extended…

This paper reports the results of a pencil-and-paper test developed to assess young children's understanding of mass measurement. The innovative element of the test was its use of photographs. We found many children of the 295 6-8 year-old children tested could "read" the photographs and diagrams and recognise the images as…

This article presents data gathered from an investigation which focused on the experiences children have with measurement in the early years of schooling. The focus of this article is children's understandings of length at this early stage. 32 children aged 4-6 years at an Australian primary school were asked to draw a ruler and describe their…

The Australian Early Childhood Universal Access Agreement stipulates all children three and a half years of age and older access to 15 hours of a quality early childhood education programme. While most states and territories in Australia have a 90% or higher attendance rate, in 2010, in Queensland the attendance rate was a comparative 40%. This…

This article focuses on the early childhood years and describes research that has examined children's music experiences in formal care and education settings in Melbourne, Australia. This research uses a contextual view of children and their learning and is based on an assumption that learning is social, involves engagement with others and is…

Since the introduction of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative in 1996, children and young people's participation in consultation has become an increasingly important element of the planning and community development strategies of many government and community organisations throughout Australia. This has been the case in the city of Wodonga,…

Background: Maternal responsiveness has been shown to predict child language outcomes in clinical samples of children with language delay and non-representative samples of typically developing children. An effective and timely measure of maternal responsiveness for use at the population level has not yet been established. Aims: To determine…

Behavioural problems in childhood are common, with significant and wide-ranging implications for individuals, families and the community. There is some evidence that sensory processing difficulties are associated with behavioural problems in children with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity…

The purpose of this study is to continue research conversations with young children about their lived experiences. A central philosophy underpinning this work seeks an acknowledgment of the "presence" of children and their accounts of life, as an essential element to understanding their social worlds. The research methodology draws upon…

This article investigates the experiences of students diagnosed with autism who change schools during the early primary years in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Using the narratives of eight mothers, the article documents the circumstances leading to school change, usually towards more segregated provision. Mothers highlighted the difficulty of…