LearningGames
Prof Joseph Sparling
Dr Jane Page
Prof Collette Tayler
Ms Shelley Andrews
Ms Lynne Beckingham
1
The Abecedarian Approach
In Australia, it is called…
ABECEDARIAN APPROACH AUSTRALIA
Abecedarian
a·be·ce·dar·i·an
(a′ bē · cē · dâr′ ē · ən)
noun, adjective
one learning the rudiments of something (as the
alphabet) Etymology: Middle English
abecedary, from Medieval Latin abecedarium,
alphabet, from Late Latin, neuter of
abecedarius of the alphabet, from the letters
a+b+c+d
Elements of
LearningGames are…
• Short
• Individual (or in pairs)
• Easy to understand
• Not so easy to put into practice
• Simple but deep
Abecedarian research studies (RCT’s)
Type of Program
Oldest age of
follow-up
Birth to age 5 years
Center + social work + home visits + health
care
age 35
Birth to age 5 years
Center + social work + educational home
visits + health care
age 21
Location
N
Duration of
Program
Abecedarian 1
(The Abecedarian Project)
Chapel Hill, NC
111 children
Abecedarian 2
(Project CARE)
Chapel Hill, NC
64 children
Infant Health and Development Program
(IHDP)
Randomized Samples
Abecedarian 3
Abecedarian 4
Abecedarian 5
Abecedarian 6
Abecedarian 7
Abecedarian 8
Abecedarian 9
Abecedarian 10
Abecedarian 11 (Cerebral Palsy
Study)
Abecedarian 12 (Orphanage
Study 1)
Abecedarian 13 (Orphanage
Study 2)
Abecedarian 14
(CLIO Study)
Abecedarian 15 (Massachusetts
Family Child Care Study)
Plus a newly funded
ARC research study
in remote towns
in NT, Australia
Boston, MA
138 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
New Haven, CT
112 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Bronx, NY
138 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Philadelphia, PA
101 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Miami, FL
100 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Little Rock, AK
128 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Dallas, TX
137 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Seattle, WA
131 children
Birth to age 3 years
Center + educational home visits
age 18
Baltimore, MD
48 children
Age 1 to 2 years
Parent training for home intervention
age 2
Iasi, Romania
65 children
Age 1 to 2 years
Home (small group in orphanage)
age 2
Iasi, Romania
104 children
Age 2 to 3 years
Home (small group in orphanage)
age 3 years
USA, national
2,430 parents
Age 3 to 4 years
Preschool + daily parent education groups
age 5
150 family childcare
2 years (between Birth to
caregiver
Child IQ across the first 4 years
in the normal range, ( > 84 )
120%
Percent of Group
100%
80%
100%
100%
95%
49%
45%
93%
78%
60%
40%
20%
95%
Abecedarian Group
Control Group
0%
6 months
18 months
36 months
Martin, Ramey, & Ramey. (1990). American Journal of Public Health.
48 months
Educational attainment:
percent university graduation by age 30
25
23
Percent
20
15
10
6
5
0
Control
Experimental
Campbell et al., (2012). Developmental Psychology.
2010 Study and Mini-training Trips
Northern Territory
Families as First Teachers
NT LearningGames®
1
Brief History
• FaFT began in the Territory in 2009
• We now have services in 21 very remote sites across the
Territory and 14 mobile sites in the Southern Region
• An independent evaluation in 2011 recommended an evidence
based approach to early learning be implemented through the
sites
• The majority of our sites are bases around dual generational
playgroups fostering adult child interactions- encouraging
parents as the first teachers of their children
Brief History
• Community sites are staffed with a Family Educator-usually a
teacher, and an Family Liaison officer who is a Indigenous
community member
• Mobile sites have a visiting Family Educator who works with
the families in the community on a regular basis
• The first language is used when playing LearningGames®
however children are exposed to English through the Family
Educators
Why Abecedarian and LearningGames for NT?
• Strong research evidence of child and adult outcomes in
a diverse range of settings
• Deep ideas are presented in a very simple and
achievable manner
• Strategies do not rely on adult literacy
• The strategy encompasses all FaFT outcome measures
of early learning and parent support
Conversational Reading
• Provides a strategy to support parents to interact with
their children using books
What are the NT LearningGames® pages like?
Games are colour coded to assist parents to
access the age appropriate games
LearningGames—Front of the Page
What the adult
might say
(the “Talk”)
Pictures showing appropriate
position for adult and child
Short
sentence
explaining the
activity
LearningGames—Back of the Page
Explanation of why the activity is
important and what later skills it
is building toward
Variations on the game
or more advanced
version of the game
Implementation
• Looks different in every siteDGP, Home visits, working with
other services, outreach
playgroups
• Family Educators coach
Family Liaison Officers who in
turn teach and coach parents
in first language
Implementation
• Central support of regular
training and regional on-site
support visits from Program
Advisors and Abecedarian
Manager
• Resource development is
ongoing, guided by staff and
tailored to the NT context-EAL/D,
low parent literacy/numeracy
skills, lack of access to resources
Implementation
• Ensuring that parents
are empowered to
play the games with
their children is
pivotal to the success
of the
LearningGames® and
becomes a learning
experience for the
whole family.
Implementation
• Ensure that resources required
to play the games are readily
available in communities assists
families to play the games
outside the service
LearningGames® at Kalkaringi
3A LEARNING GAMES IN THE PILBARA
THE TRADITIONAL LANDS OF THE
INNAWONGA
BANYJIMA and
NYIYAPARLI PEOPLE.
Wakuthuni – our first
3a Centre
ENGAGING
WITH
PARENTS
How can we engage parents outside of the 3A
centres?
• On-going parent
engagement
• Up skilling of program
champions
• Issues within the
community
• Transportation problems
• Accessibility of the
resources
• Suitability of resources
• Culturally appropriate
• Parent levels of literacy
Option 1: Take home packs
OPTION 2:
DEVELOPMENT OF AN APP
• Community and Parent
consultation
• 3a Program champions
designed logo, title and initial
design concepts,
• Product to reflect the Pilbara
but be accessible to others
• Utilise Indigenous role models
LOGIN PAGE
EDIT AND TRACK CHILDREN'S PROGRESS
FOLLOW
THE PATH,
TO
PROGRESS
THROUGH
THE
ACTIVITIES
SELECT WHICH
CHILD IS
LEARNING
View an Activity
• Parents will find a
description of the
activity (within each
activity there may be
several variations)
• An animated demo
• Statistics
• Link to a bonus story
Bonus story !
Earned when a game is
played multiple times .
Stories will be
traditional Aboriginal
stories
Further information
www.gumala.com.au
www.nazori.com
Abecedarian Approach Australia
Victorian projects
Family Day Care Training Course
Victorian Advancing Early Learning Study
(VAEL)
Family Day Care Training Course
Family Day Care Training Course
Training undertaken in 2011, refresher training in
2012 with Educators and Coordinators
30 FDC schemes across Victoria
Language priority, adult-child interaction, theory and
research behind Abecedarian strategies
Barriers and challenges to implementation
Family Day Care Training Course
Feedback from participants
Places children’s learning centrally on the agenda
3a supports supports NQS Quality Areas 1 and 5
Offered opportunities to build a learning culture across
schemes
Supported dialogue with families about children’s learning
Family Day Care Training Course
Feedback from participants
Assisted the planning of and personalising of learning for
individual children
Provided strategies to scaffold and extend individual
children’s learning
Supported educators to engage with children in meaningful
and open interaction
Victorian Advancing Early Learning Study
(VAEL)
VAEL
2014- 2017 Centre based long day care and kindergarten settings –
Moonee Valley – Educational Leaders, Educators and LGA Pedagogical
Leader
Quality of teacher-child interaction - how does it change when trained in
3A?
Strategies and techniques Educational Leaders use to improve the quality
of pedagogy in ECEC settings
Impact on 15 vulnerable children who receive consistent intervention from
trained Educators in 3A
• Making Written Plans helps you be
intentional about implementation.
• Keeping an Implementation Record allows
you to verify that you are using all the parts
of the program.
• Using a Checklist reminds you to use all
parts of the program.
• Strong Implementation = Positive Child &
Family Outcomes
3a
Planning
Form
a
3
Planning: 3a This Week – EC + CR + LG
Planning for LearningGames
Child’s Name
Date
Carlo
Today’s date
Current observations
Carlo is trying to reach things. He likes to play with his toy gym. He swings at the toys.
He makes sounds to show that he is having a good time. Carlo’s mother says that he
looks at their dog when the dog is next to him and tries to touch the dog.
VEYLDF area(s) of development
Game(s)
Wellbeing
Communication
11. Reach for It
13. Rolling Over
14. Show Feelings
a
3
LearningGames Checklist
LearningGames
Progress Record
LearningGames Progress Record
LearningGames
ASG LearningGames® - http://www.marcom.com.au
NT LearningGames® - [email protected]