All Together Now – Providing Family Learning Sessions

Family learning sessions highlight how much parents shape their children’s development and how early childhood teachers can strengthen that impact by meaningfully engaging families. This article is essential reading for New Zealand ECE teachers because it shows why adopting these approaches can deepen partnerships with parents and enrich learning beyond the ECE setting.

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Parent breastfeeding infant. Childcare fees. Search

The Breastfeeding‑Friendly Early Childhood Service Checklist

A checklist to help parents assess whether an ECE service supports breastfeeding, nurtures infant wellbeing, and creates a truly family‑friendly environment. A supportive ECE environment can make it easier for families to continue breastfeeding, strengthening the parent‑child bond, supporting healthy brain development, and protecting infant health.

Parliament Education and Workforce Committee Dr Sarah Alexander 10 Sept 2025

Oral submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on the Education and Training (ECE Reform) Amendment Bill

Oral submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on the Education and Training (ECE Reform) Amendment Bill Dr Sarah Alexander, Chief Advisor of the

Hands of two toddlers meet as they share blocks.

Pikler and Gerber Theories in Practice

A close look at how well the theories of Pikler and Gerber can be merged with Te Whariki and the models of infant care and education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Concepts such as ‘self-soothing’ (allowing babies to settle by themselves) and leaving babies to develop in their own time rather than pushing them to meet milestones cause much debate among parents and early childhood educators.

These debates include such things as whether babies should be allowed to cry it out and whether parents or educators should help children to achieve milestones such as sitting by propping them up.

One proponent of allowing a child to develop at their own pace is Emmi Pikler, a Hungarian paediatrician who worked with children aged from birth to six in her role as Director of the Loczy Orphanage from 1946 until her death in 1979.

Pikler believed that infants’ emotional well-being was paramount, and she restructured then entire staff to ensure that all those working at the orphanage not only met the children’s physical needs, but also would ‘love’ these unwanted children and attend to them with consistent and thoughtful care.

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A Small Privately-Owned Centre Set-Up

Small Privately-Owned Centre. By Marian Ayres Hill.

Setting up, managing and teaching in a small private preschool has many challenges, however it is very rewarding when you see the enormous benefits that a small owner-operated centre brings to children.

This is my story.

I trained as a kindergarten teacher in the 70s and spent 2

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Politics of early childhood education. NZ Beehive and parliament government

Election 2020: Political Party Election Promises for ECE

Political promises for ECE 2020. Labour Implement the 10-year Early Learning Action Plan. Scrap the decile system and implement the Equity Index for ECE services,

Nose Bleeds

Nose bleeds in young children are commonly caused by knocks, nose-picking, and objects being inserted into the nose.

If the nose bleed is caused by an injury, always check with a doctor as the child’s nose could be broken.

Quite often though, a nose bleed may just happen for no apparent reason – the blood just starts to d

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All Together Now – Providing Family Learning Sessions

Already a Teacher Member?

Five Reasons to Join Us

1. Professional recognition

2. Extra benefits

3. Professional growth and no-judgement help

4. Representation

5. Value for Money

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