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Analysis of gender differences between boys and girls in South AustraliaThe Department for Education commissioned this report to understand how such gender differences in early childhood may influence outcomes later in life.
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Early literacy skills: review of evidence for pedagogical approaches that best support children’s early literacy skillsRecent evidence indicates that a child’s home learning environment is the strongest predictor of success in later reading abilities and that for children not receiving structured language and reading support at home.
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Evaluation of Children's Centres in South AustraliaYasmin Harman-Smith BA, BHlthSc(Hons), PhD Head, Early Years Systems Evidence; Head, Tenders Support Unit Yasmin.harman-smith@thekids.org.au Head,
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Evaluation of the Community Playgroup ProgramThis evaluation explored the facilitators & barriers that influence Community Playgroup attendance, and the impact of attending playgroups on child development.
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Public Health Approach to Child Abuse and Neglect: Antecedents and Outcomes (Apr 2012 to Jun 2019)This project uses longitudinal population data provided through the Developmental Pathways in WA Children Project (Developmental Pathways Project).
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Western Australian Child Development AtlasWe know that place, location, and geography can all influence health, wellbeing, and disease, and thus are important factors in policy development and service planning.
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Caregiver-mediated interventions to support self-regulation among infants and young children (0-5 years): A protocol for a realist reviewSelf-regulation is a modifiable protective factor for lifespan mental and physical health outcomes. Early caregiver-mediated interventions to promote infant and child regulatory outcomes prevent long-term developmental, emotional and behavioural difficulties and improve outcomes such as school readiness, educational achievement and economic success. To harness the population health promise of these programmes, there is a need for more nuanced understanding of the impact of these interventions.
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Supporting Parents as their Child’s First Teacher: Aboriginal Parents’ Perceptions of KindiLinkThis paper reports on Aboriginal parents’ perceptions about their involvement in a Western Australian pilot initiative called KindiLink. The program seeks to support parents as their child’s first teacher and thereby enhance Aboriginal children’s early-years development, while strengthening relationships between families and schools. A constructivist paradigm was used to inform the methodology which placed Aboriginal voices at the centre of the research.
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Plasma Adenosine Deaminase (ADA)-1 and -2 Demonstrate Robust Ontogeny Across the First Four Months of Human LifeHuman adenosine deaminases (ADAs) modulate the immune response: ADA1 via metabolizing adenosine, a purine metabolite that inhibits pro-inflammatory and Th1 cytokine production, and the multi-functional ADA2, by enhancing T-cell proliferation and monocyte differentiation. Newborns are relatively deficient in ADA1 resulting in elevated plasma adenosine concentrations and a Th2/anti-inflammatory bias compared to adults.
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The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective studyThe idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.