Assignment Sharing Web Resources Week 6

The first link I explored was called, Resource Themes this brought me to a page with links to topics such as school readiness, Being, Belonging and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework, Sustainability, global warming and climate change, Baby and toddler sleeping etc. I clicked on the school readiness tab. This brought me more links to outside resources. Here is a link to books and fact sheets about school readiness. I also found a journal article about a group of children from Singapore and their experience transitioning to school. The study compared experiences of students from Europe, Australia and Singapore. The results showed that, “Regardless of where the studies were undertaken, the majority of the children in Primary One or first grade reported being happy in school. Most were concerned about various routes to survival, such as finding their way in the large school buildings and grounds, knowing the school rules, making friends, and pleasing teachers and parents."

I also found links to an initiative called, Kids Matter Early childhood.
Their mission statement is "KidsMatter Early Childhood is a national early childhood mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative specifically developed for early childhood services, including preschools and long day care. It involves the people who have a significant influence on young children’s lives parents, carers, families and early childhood professionals, along with a range of community and health professionals – in making a positive difference to young children’s mental health and wellbeing."


There are four components.
Component 1 is building a sense of community to promote feelings of belonging and connectedness between children, families and staff.
Component 2 is developing children’s social and emotional skills.
"Social and emotional development involves developing the ability to recognize and manage emotions, show care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively."
Component 3 is working with parents and carers.
Component 4 is helping children who are experiencing mental health difficulties.

I did not find any further information about the topics of access, availability and affordability. I think the KidsMatter initiative is extremely important. There should be more organizations like this. It is important to intervene early when it comes to mental health issues because it has an impact on everything in that child’s life. Mental health issues can affect school performance, friendships, family relationships and future employment. In order to have the most productive members of society, we have to get them on the right track early. Too often, children’s mental health issues get misdiagnosed or completely overlooked. I feel this issue is just as if not more important as school readiness or developing early learning standards.