Families are children's first and most important teachers. However, their ability to support children's learning and development at home varies due to knowledge, skills, and confidence. Family interventions aimed at increasing parents' skills are labour-intensive and expensive. In contrast, text messages are low-cost and scalable. Text messages…

This cross-sectional quantitative study investigated parents' perceptions of the quality of family-centered practice in an early intervention service for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing through the use of the Measures of Processes of Care (MPOC-56). The results indicated that the majority of families accessing the service were…

Background and aims: Participatory research involves academic partners working together with the community that is affected by research to make decisions about that research. Such approaches often result in research that is more respectful of, and responsive to, community preferences -- and is vital in the context of autism research with…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services and families, impacting family access to services and their communication and engagement with educators. This study aimed to examine parents' perspectives of family engagement with ECEC services during the pandemic. Primary caregivers in…

Deciding on an educational setting for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) is a complex process that is not well understood. In the present study, the researchers' objective was to understand the factors caregivers consider when choosing a school for their child. Six caregivers of children who were DHH participated in semistructured…

Background: With the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), creation and implementation of participants' plans are becoming a research focus. As many families facilitate the implementation of plans, it is important to understand the enablers and barriers to this process. Method: This study investigated the experiences of…

Children progress through a number of life transitions and each is a pivotal point of development and growth for them, their parents and family members. Through a review of the literature, the Bioecological Model will be used to frame childhood transitions as highly social, contextualised and political. This paper will assert that governments,…

Collaborative goal setting is recognized as a hallmark of good practice in early intervention (EI). This qualitative study describes mothers' and practitioners' perceptions of the utility of the Family Goal Setting Tool: Autism Spectrum Disorder Version (FGST: ASD Version), which supports family identification and prioritization of goals and…

This report offers an initial overview of the available information regarding the circumstances, nature and outcomes of the education of schoolchildren during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020. Its purpose is primarily descriptive: it presents information from high quality quantitative studies on the experience of learning…

Parent and family engagement has long been a significant element in early childhood (EC) education. Lack of family involvement can lead to a number of consequences in children's physical and emotional development. However, attempts and strategies used by early learning centres and childcare centres to resolve this issue are often unsuccessful.…

Despite the increasing attendance of children with food allergy in schools in Australia and globally, little is known about how affected families manage their children's transition to school. This paper discusses the experiences and support needs of ten mothers during their child's transition to school in Sydney, Australia, drawn from the thematic…

Parents can significantly affect children's peer relationships, including their involvement in bullying. The authors developed and evaluated ways to enhance parents' knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and skills related to parent-child communication about bullying. The 3-year Friendly Schools Friendly Families whole-school intervention included…

To support national policy initiatives in early childhood education and to determine reasons for low enrolment in services from families in disadvantaged areas, the authors investigated the views and practices of 101 families from disadvantaged communities. Families with a child aged 3-5 years were recruited from urban, rural and remote areas of…

This paper discusses a recent Australian study of boys' education using case studies to determine successful practices. It focuses on an early childhood site where access to "discourses of power" for students and parents and a valuing of students' "action knowledge" created a particular democratic culture achieving improved…

Videotaped interactions between both parents and one adolescent from 54 two-children families. Parents and adolescents viewed tapes and rated themselves and other family members on anxiety, involvement, dominance, and friendliness. Adolescents rated family members as more anxious, less involved and less dominant than did parents, and were rated as…