Embracing and embedding the rich cultural knowledge, languages, concepts and skills that Aboriginal families and children bring to playgroup is key to empowering families as their children's first teachers and strengthening young children's self-esteem, pride, confidence and identities. In this article, we share our story of how we have explored…

This paper reports on findings from four case studies, as part of a large-scale study undertaken to evaluate the KindiLink initiative across Western Australia in remote, regional and metropolitan communities. KindiLink is an educator-led playgroup initiative in public school sites in Western Australia targeted at Aboriginal children and their…

The aim of this paper was to compare the recruitment strategies of two recent studies that focused on the parental influences on childhood obesity during the preschool years. The first study was a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the Mind, Exercise, Nutrition?…?Do It! 2-4 obesity prevention programme and the second was a longitudinal cohort…

Within a learning family, every member is a lifelong learner. A family literacy and learning approach is more likely to break the intergenerational cycle of low education and inadequate literacy skills, particularly among disadvantaged families and communities. The selection of case studies presented in this compilation show that for an…

The author describes the aptly-named "Better Beginnings" early childhood literacy project. Conducted by the State Library of Western Australia, sponsored by the WA State Government and Rio Tinto Limited, and closely monitored by Edith Cowan University, "Better Beginnings" has been successful from the outset, with proven…

At the state and local level, many school systems, districts and early childhood networks have developed approaches and programs to support children's transition to school. These programs often address school readiness. There are many definitions of school readiness. Some refer to the skills and attributes of individual children, defining it as…

This directory is aimed at increasing understanding of functions and problems of families, by providing information on research activities which fall within the goals of the International Year of the Family (IYF) initiative. Compiled through a cooperative effort of the Australian Institute of Family Studies and The United Nations Secretariat for…

Describes the Support at Home for Early Language and Literacies (SHELLS) project, an early literacy intervention for families of children between birth and age 3 in rural Australia. Findings from monitoring suggest that this collaborative, flexible model has the potential to assist families from a range of social, cultural, economic, and…

This paper is a description and an evaluation of the Families First program in Sydney, Australia. The Families First program was set up to provide innovative family-centered early intervention services to families with young children with disabilities from birth to school age living within the South-Western Metropolitan Health Region. The program…

This newsletter issue focuses on programming undertaken to address the health and educational needs of rural families in developing and developed nations. After examining the nature of rural families and rural poverty, the newsletter discusses: (1) the Mon Women's Organization in Thailand; (2) The "Contact With Kids" parent education…

This paper examines specific problems facing community service delivery in rural Australia and efforts to overcome these deficiencies. The generic term "rural" is advantageous in that it delineates particular problems facing rural communities, aids in resource allocation, raises public awareness of rural disadvantage, and provides an…

This paper presents a snapshot of concerns in the field of Indigenous education in the late 1960s as compared with those of today, highlighting areas of improvement. Indigenous people's aspirations are not being met and the gaps between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations on all major educational indicators are unacceptably large. These…