Early Childhood Australia

Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is a non-profit organisation that promotes and works towards what is best for children and the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector. Since 1938, ECA’s main focus has been advocacy, influencing many significant issues relevant to the care, wellbeing and education of young children in Australia. They develop projects in the sector and produce a variety of resources by way of subscription-based publications for their members and the broader sector which includes early childhood educators, services, academics and students. Their vision is that every young child is thriving and learning. 

They advocate for the best interests for children and they aim to identify and promote the best practice in the field.  They do so by:

• developing and advocating policies on early childhood education and care
• promoting and reviewing the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics
• contributing to the development and evaluation of government policies and programs through submissions, committee membership, delegations, and discussion with politicians and departments
• promoting increased awareness and understanding of the needs of young children and their families
• supporting informed debate and good practice in early childhood settings through its own specialist early childhood publications

The one thing that I liked about this site is how they are so concerned with trying to not only help the children but the families as well.  They have programs that work at home with the parents, and at school with the children.  This program also works with other programs in Australia to make sure the children and their families receive health care, education, and other further assistance.  It seems like it is almost similar to our Head Start programs, but more involved.  They have turned this into a huge program involving not only their government, but many other programs.  Their only goals are helping children and their families, to make their lives better, and not only through education. 

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Establishing Contacts and Expanding Resource

In this last week, I have had the opportunity to email two professionals in the Early Childhood field.  The first one I emailed was Yvonne Dionne, she is with the Canadian Child Care Foundation.  The second person I emailed was Mrs. Eva-Hammes-DiBernardo, she is with the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education.  Hopefully I receive responses back from them, as I am looking forward to talking to them and learning about their organizations.

The website that I chose to research was from the Australian Early Childhood Advocacy Organization http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

(Newsletter: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/contact_us/mailing_list.html )

I chose this website because Australia had always interested me and I have family that lives there.  My fiance and I are hoping that in a few years we will be able to move there, and I want to be able to know as much as I can about the field that I wish to work in.  

I am very interested in finding out how other colleagues in my class choose their websites.  The only advice I can give is to choose something that interests you, and something that you know nothing about.  Good Luck to everyone.