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Supporting children’s self-regulation: 3-5 years

In this course, we focus on how to help children learn to manage their own attention, emotions, thinking, and behaviour. Self-regulation develops rapidly in the early years, through experiences and relationships that shape brain development. What can you do to support children to develop these critical skills?

After completing this course you will:

  • discover why self-regulation is a critical skill that develops in early childhood and underpins all future learning and wellbeing
  • explore the educator’s role in supporting self-regulation development through reflective practice, strong relationships with children and families and embedding self-regulation support strategies into all aspects of planning and the curriculum
  • examine how play, the use of language, group games, and music and movement experiences can all support children’s self-regulation skills.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Supporting children’s self-regulation: Birth to three years

This course explains how educators can help very young children understand, name and manage their emotions and begin self-regulating their behaviour. By establishing solid relationships with children, educators can help them build strong foundations for lifelong learning and communication.

Throughout this course, you will:

  • find out what self-regulation is
  • understand why it’s important to help children self-regulate their emotions and behaviour
  • explore tips for building children’s self-regulation skills
  • unpack the role of the educator in supporting self-regulation.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Supporting healthy eating behaviours in early childhood

Supporting healthy eating behaviours in early childhood is about more than just providing healthy food options—it’s about how we talk with children, how we interact and care for their wellbeing, and how we create opportunities to explore where food comes from. This course invites educators to reflect on the many ways we can nurture positive relationships with food, guided by our everyday practices and interactions.

Throughout the course, educators will explore the reasons behind selective eating and gain insight into what may contribute to a child’s avoidant eating response. Educators will consider how to respond sensitively to children’s hunger and fullness cues, promoting a respectful and responsive approach to mealtimes. The course offers practical ideas for planning intentional learning experiences that focus on healthy eating, while also embracing the value of spontaneous conversations and opportunities to build on children’s emerging interests.

Educators will discover how to involve children in meaningful, play-based learning experiences that encourage curiosity, enjoyment and connection with food. There will be a strong focus on creating positive educator–child interactions during mealtimes and food-related play, helping to build trusting relationships and support children’s sense of agency and wellbeing.

This course directly relates to Quality Areas 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the National Quality Standard, and aligns with Learning Outcome 3 of the Early Years Learning Framework (V2.0), which highlights how educators can support children’s growing understanding of health and wellbeing.

Category: ECA Subscriptions

Supporting language development in the early years 

The process of acquiring language is complex and language learning is considered a key developmental milestone in early childhood. Understanding the process and supporting young children in learning language is integral to the role of early childhood education and care professionals.

This module explores how language develops between birth and the age of six years. It focuses largely on ways to support the language learning journey of children who speak two or more languages, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The module also examines current theories of language learning and provides practical examples of ways to facilitate language development in the early years.

Category: ECA Subscriptions

Take me outside: An introduction to outdoor learning

This course is an introduction to exploring the importance of outdoor learning in young children’s lives. Be inspired to create outdoor learning environments full of wonder, curiosity and active play! Learn about the essentials of a high quality outdoor learning environment that encourages healthy risk-taking, supporting the development of skills such as agency, self-resilience and confidence. This course also explores the role of active play in the outdoors, how educators can facilitate experiences based on children’s interests and needs through intentional teaching, discover theories and approaches to inspire planning in outdoor learning environments, and how to overcome challenges in a variety of different service settings and locations. You will also be introduced and encouraged to think deeply about the concept of ‘going beyond the gate’ and how to embed this into your early learning curriculum.

Category: ECA Subscriptions

The art of leading in challenging times

Leading others is a sophisticated process and leaders often have to straddle two worlds. They have to nurture their team’s sense of belonging and security while inviting them to leap into new arenas and take on previously unimaginable practice challenges. They also have to consider different perspectives and encourage a lively exchange of ideas but, when necessary, make clear and non-negotiable decisions. In the landscape of children’s education and care, effective leaders are indispensable and play a pivotal role in delivering outcomes for children, families and educators.

If this held true for the ordinary practice of children’s service delivery during the Black Summer bushfires, then what more is required of leaders in the current turbulent times? As the leader of an early learning setting, you might not have imagined having to navigate the uncharted territory of a global pandemic, but it is exactly what you find yourself doing—adopting a day-by-day approach and trying to focus on your purpose. It is timely then to pause and reflect on the art of leading others in challenging times.

This webinar will help you refine the practice of guiding and inspiring others when the going gets tough. By looking at emerging literature, ECA’s Leadership Capability Framework and the ECA Code of Ethics, it will unpack key elements contributing to effective leadership and explore their use in challenging times. It will also invite you to consider practice that continually strengthens your team while maintaining a focus on your core role: enhancing children’s learning. The webinar’s online format will allow you time to reflect on your challenges, strengths and vulnerabilities so you can plan a new and responsive approach for the future.

Category: ECA Subscriptions

The role of fathers in children’s early learning

Category: Everyday Learning Series

The value of play

Play offers children opportunities to engage with the world around them. Being intrinsically motivated and freely chosen, it allows children control over their actions and their learning. Play also helps children develop their self-regulation and problem-solving capacity, and it enriches their vocabulary and language skills. Today, nearly 200 years after Froebel first argued for its importance in children’s lives, play remains an essential part of effective early childhood learning. This is reflected in the Early Years Learning Framework when it describes play as a ‘context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, as they actively engage with people, objects and representations’.

This course will examine:

  • what play is and why it is important in early childhood
  • how significant play is for children’s learning and development
  • the role of educators in supporting effective play-based learning
  • how educators can balance intentional teaching with play-based approaches in a variety of early childhood settings
  • the characteristics of play as well as the many aspects of play to be considered and planned for
  • how to develop an argument in support of play-based programs.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Understanding young children’s behaviour and empowering their future (2-part series)

This series is suitable for all educators currently working in an approved education and care setting across Australia. This is a foundation course that focuses on essential knowledge to guide children’s behaviour and may be suitable for educators who are new to the sector or embarking on a formal early childhood qualification.

To effectively support and guide young children’s behaviour, it is essential that educators develop an understanding of the form and function of children’s behaviour. Developing an understanding of the meaning of children’s behaviour will in turn support educators in developing strategies and teaching techniques unique for each individual child, with the overall aim of empowering children to take control.

In part 1 of this series, you will:

  • understand why behaviour is a form of communication that can help educators to develop a better understanding of each individual child
  • learn how children regulate their emotions, thoughts and behaviours.

In part 2 of this series, you will:

  • develop strategies to support children in times of stress, frustration or anger
  • discover and recognise the signs and meanings behind children’s behaviours and strategies to support young children
  • uncover how to understand children’s triggers and what these can look like.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Using Critical Reflection

This course explains how critical reflection forms a crucial part of professional practice in early childhood education and care. It will provide you with a model and suggestions on how to make critical reflection a positive part of your everyday practice.

In this course, you will:

  • learn how to support children’s learning, development and wellbeing through critical reflection
  • explore the three elements integral to your success as a critical thinker: self-awareness, developing relationships with others, and building your own and your team’s knowledge
  • be introduced to the Circle of Change Revisited model of critical thinking.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Walking with children on their journey to literacy: Practitioner perspectives 

Literacy is a journey. Children make meaning from letters, numbers, and symbols and begin to understand patterns from birth. This module looks at the key elements of literacy and the practical ways it can be woven into everyday moments, rich environments and fostered with children from the earliest years.

After completing this course, you will:

  • consider early childhood philosophies that view the development of literacy skills as part of a life-long journey from birth
  • understand your role as an educator and the how the environment can support pre-literacy skills and dispositions
  • identify the importance of the role of choice and enjoyment in developing literacy skills in the everyday.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Wellbeing matters: Let your wellbeing thrive!

This webcast will get you thinking about ‘listening to hear’ vs ‘listening to respond’, being present during conversations with others while building a greater sense of wellbeing for yourself, your team and the children. This course is designed for leaders, either of teams, services or within an organisation or scheme.

In this course you will:

  • examine the importance of play
  • understand the importance of listening
  • learn skills to give feedback
  • look at ways to know your team.
Category: ECA Subscriptions

Working in intercultural ways: Relational perspectives

This course is for all educators at any stage of their reconciliation and cultural responsiveness journey. It is also for those who want to continue or renew and rediscover knowledge on their reconciliation journey, individually or as part of their service team.

In this course, you will explore reconciliation through a relational lens, highlighting the importance of working in intercultural ways and seeking knowledge about having an authentic connection to Country and local Aboriginal communities. You will have the opportunity to understand the importance of your role, individually and collectively, in supporting and facilitating connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A focus on understanding custodianship and the protocols surrounding these connections is explored in depth. The case studies included highlight the importance of responsive and reciprocal relationships, and why these are central to connecting and working in intercultural ways with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. You will also discover examples of how to create culturally safe and responsive learning environments that are respectful and that value integrity, whilst also taking children on the journey of reconciliation through meaningful engagement, relationship building, and understanding the importance of spending time and caring for Country from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective. 

Category: Working in intercultural ways program

Working with the ECA Code of Ethics

Coming from the Greek word ethos meaning ‘character’, the word ethics describes ways of being, thinking and acting based on one’s values and virtues. A code of ethics, by extension, is a set of clearly defined and distinctive values and virtues collectively regarded as important by members of a profession. It includes key statements and commitments that guide professionals on how to act in relation to their work and those they work with.

This course, presented by Catharine Hydon, delves into the ECA Code of Ethics and examines what it means to be ethical. It also explores how early childhood educators can use the code to strengthen relationships with children, families, colleagues, communities and the profession. The course includes interviews with various early childhood educators, showing how they apply the ECA Code of Ethics in everyday situations.

In this course you will:

  • be introduced to the key elements of the ECA Code of Ethics
  • examine how the code can help you with ethical challenges in your work
  • unpack each principle of the code
  • reflect on how to consider ethical decision making as a part of your everyday practice with children.
Category: ECA Subscriptions
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