Everyday English for Early Childhood Educators (Australian Version)

Everyday English for Early Childhood Educators (Australian version)

The words you actually need in an Australian childcare room, for educators whose first language is not English. 77 pages, with pronunciation, exercises and answer keys.

You already know children. You have settled a crying baby, read a room, spotted the child who needs you before they say a word. Then you walk into an Australian centre and the words arrive all at once, and none of them are the ones you learned.

It is a cot here, not a crib. A nappy, not a diaper. The dummy is not a person. Someone says "how are you going?" and walks off before you can answer, and you spend the afternoon wondering where they thought you were going.

I wrote this book because nobody handed it to me in 2007.

It walks you through a real day in a service. The building and the people, the routines from drop-off to home time, cleaning and hygiene, writing observations, and the conversations with families that nobody prepares you for. Every key word comes with the IPA and a plain say-it spelling, because the hardest words to learn are the ones you cannot sound out.

What is inside

✓ Five chapters, from your first morning to the hard conversations ✓ Every key word with IPA and a plain say-it spelling, with the stressed part marked ✓ Exercises throughout, with answer keys at the end of every chapter ✓ Write it down boxes that turn what you said out loud into a written observation ✓ The acronym wall: ECEC, EYLF, NQS, NQF, ACECQA, ECT, and how to say them ✓ Real scripts for orientation, handover, medication, injuries, biting and late pick-up ✓ Appendix A: six AI prompts that turn any chat tool into a patient pronunciation partner ✓ Appendix B: a crossword and a wordsearch on the words of the room ✓ Two files included: full colour, and a printer-friendly version that will not drink your ink

The chapters

1. Welcome: types of centres, roles, the building and introductions
2. Routines through the day: arrivals, meals, nappies, sleep, home time
3. Cleaning, hygiene and storing resources
4. Writing it down: documentation, observations, planning, families
5. Talking with families: orientation, handover, sensitive chats, late pick-up

Who it is for

You are training here, or you have just started, and English is not your first language. You might be on placement, or three weeks into your first room, or you have worked in early childhood for years somewhere else and you are starting again. The book assumes you are good at this job already and only need the words.

It is also useful if you train or mentor EAL students, since the exercises and answer keys work as they are.

Grounded in the Australian system

EYLF 2.0 and NQS language throughout, with the documentation chapter tagged to the Learning Outcomes. Australian words, Australian spelling, Australian pronunciation, including the ones the American books get wrong.

A note on the edition

This is the first edition. I am still adding to it, and the pronunciation videos are coming. Buy it now at the founding price and every update lands in your inbox free, forever.

You belong in the room. You've got this.

Cheers, Kate / Storykate

Instant download. Two PDFs, 77 pages each, A4.

 EAL educators, ESL childcare, early childhood Australia, EYLF, childcare English, English for educators, ECEC, Certificate III, Diploma early childhood, placement, pronunciation, IPA, Australian English