Starting school is a major life-event for all involved: children, families, preschool educators, and school staff. All groups engage in a range of activities designed to make the time of transition to school positive. Yet each group has different perceptions of, expectations for, and experiences with this transition. This article ...

The authors show how Information and Communication Technology (ICT), can enhance Learning Stories and benefit children, families, teachers, and the curriculum in general.

Progression and continuity are considered to be indicators of quality and effectiveness in early childhood education, but there are different and sometimes competing definitions of these concepts.

The challenges of sociocultural assessment are complex but exciting. Discussion and debate will help to broaden the boundaries and empower practitioners to reconceptualise assessment so that they focus not just on individual experiences, but also on the experiences of the group within the principles of Te Whäriki.

The ideal that early childhood centres in Aotearoa/New Zealand are places where children and families “belong” raises questions for families who are in the process of looking for a centre to “belong” to. What image of inclusion with regard to disability, ethnicity, and diverse family structures do early childhood centre ...

Interviews with nine families about the transition to school for their special needs children showed that parents faced rejection and a multitude of dilemmas over access to resources, specialist support, and the amount of time their child was able to have at school. Sue Wartmann offers a set of principles ...

The latest findings from the longitudinal Competent Children project show that early childhood education continues to have important bearings on children’s performance at age 10. Early childhood education quality is particularly important.

One challenge posed by the development of Te Whāriki is to ensure that assessment and evaluation processes associated with its implementation are in the interests of children and their families. The approach we developed and trialled is closely connected to the strands of Te Whāriki, and starts with the ...