Children communicate with us from the moment they are born. They cry to tell us that they are hungry, need comfort or need rest. They are responsive to sound from an early age and will turn their head in the direction of the noise, imitate and produce utterances.

Running amazing early education and care centres is hard work. It's a mix of layers of regulation, the changing expectations of parents & communities and above all, the need to create rich, meaningful educational experiences for the children in our care.

The problem is, when you start interlacing the 'must do's,' it doesn't leave all that much time for managers of our services to go above and beyond for our children, parents and communities. The reality is that running an early years centre is made even more difficult by the mountains of paperwork, and the under-invested, under-developed and low-quality technology solutions in the industry.

SIDE NOTE: In case you are feeling tired and need to hear someone speak for hours, ask me about how bad current CCMS systems are in the industry. Insomnia, gone.

As more information about the new Child Care Subsidy (CCS) package rolls out, we are getting a clearer picture of how the system will work and affect you. Let's start with a question that we are asked a lot: what will my fees be under the new system?

The past decades have seen a substantial increase of mothers with young children entering the workforce and subsequent increased use of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) facilities. So, as more and more childcare facilities pop up, I am sure many parents are asking: is putting my child into care benefitting or hindering their development?

Deciding to send your child to care is hard, especially in the early years (0-6 years old). When you first sit down to do research it can feel as though the options are endless. Child care, long day care, kindergarten, preschool, Montessori, family day care, nannies and the list goes on.

From 2 July 2018, there will be a New Child Care Package, providing more support for more families.