Childcare and Formal Education

As parents and care givers, we want to provide our children with a safe and happy care environment that ensures high quality care by trained professionals. Childcare standards, procedures and policies act as a safety net for possible injury, illness and mistreatment of our children. They also act as an assurance that the childcare centre is acting in your child’s best interest, and is doing what they say they are going to do.

The importance of choosing the right care environment for our children cannot be over exaggerated. Children are not only vulnerable, they are impressionable. They need a happy and positive environment surrounded by care givers who have adequate knowledge and training.

We will discuss and explore the following topics in this category:

1. Health and Safety Policies and Procedures
2. Curriculum
3. Physical Environment
4. Care and Discipline Approach
5. Family and Community Contact
6. Government Law and Policies

For all articles linked to these areas click the button below.

Articles on Childcare and Formal Education

See below for all PDF reports on this topic.

See below for the most recent articles.

• 8 Reasons NOT To Call Your Child’s Genitals ‘Pet’ Names - I implore parents and care-givers to use the correct anatomical terms for a child’s genitals. Mini, cupcake, fireman’s hose, buddy, doughnut, muffin, doodle, wee, butterly, flower, pee-pee, fanny, doo-dad, thingy, peanut, winky, penny-loo, tuppence, doodle, dick, rah, winky-dink, hooha, pooter, sausage, cookie, girls bits, mickey, twah-lah, front bottom, willy… As an advocate for Body Safety […]
• Walking on egg shells- the reality of raising a sensory defensive child - Children receive information through their senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste, movement and body position) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s the brains job to sort out all of these messages and create an appropriate response to them. This is called Sensory Integration and it is the foundation for all childhood development, […]
• Coroner Recommends Mandatory Swimming Lessons in Primary Schools -     Australian Coroner Caitlin English released findings this week recommending the Victorian state government implement mandatory swimming lessons in primary schools after the drowning death of a nine year old Bailey Patman on January 19, 2012. Bailey Patman was found lying face down in the water at Seaford Beach after splashing about in the […]
• Throw Away Your Baby’s Pillow and Sleep Positioner - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission demonstrate why baby pillows and sleep positioners are dangerous and should be removed from your baby’s sleeping environment. “We urge parents and caregivers to take our warning seriously and stop using these sleep positioners,” Inez Tenenbaum, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement. Sleep […]
• Consumer Watchdog Warns Against the Dangers of Water Beads - If you subscribe to any play based education blogs for children you would have seen expanded water beads or “sensory balls” for kids. They are very popular and are used in childcare centers as well as home playgroups. You can also find them on Pinterest, and they are available to buy through many sellers, including […]
• How Can Online Education Help My Child and My Family? - Online Education via the internet has been a significantly growing field over the last decade, and has been moving from a “Nice to Have” for university students, to an essential part of any education from age 5 to 105. There was a great op-ed recently from Bill Gates (who The Safety Edcuator definitely admire much […]
• When Should My Children Learn to Read and Write? - I recently wanted to find out what the experts recommend in relation to when should my children learn to read and write, and what is the best process to teach this. It was surprisingly hard to find a reputable source for this information, but eventually I found the US Department of Education and their document […]
• Are School Buses Safe? - As I am now a parent myself I decided finally to research this, and was surprised by what I found. As per normal I looked for the most authoritative sources I could find on the internet. The best I could find was the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in USA, the Canada Safety Council, […]
• STEM vs STEAM – The Importance of Art in Education - Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers have been an important part of the development of the modern world, however it is important to not discount the importance of the Arts in providing a well rounded education and career. When adding Arts to your education and career it now becomes STEAM, several studies […]
• 3D Printing on the International Space Station – This Is The Future! - Staff from Made in Space California made history this week when they emailed printing specifications for a ratcheting socket wrench to the International Space Station. Once the specifications were received, astronauts living at the space station were able to 3D print the wrench for their immediate use. The socket wrench is the first object to […]