Everyday English for Early Childhood Educators | EAL Vocabulary Book with Pronunciation

The words you actually need in an Australian childcare room, written for educators whose first language is not English. 77 pages, EYLF aligned, 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 moved here in 2007 with years of early childhood experience behind me and almost none of the English words in front of me. I wrote this book because nobody handed it to me on my first day.

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, with the strong syllable marked, because the hardest words to learn are the ones you cannot sound out.

What is inside

✓ 77 pages, A4, five chapters ✓ Two files: full colour, and a printer-friendly version for centre printers ✓ Every key word with IPA and a plain say-it spelling ✓ 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 ✓ Scripts for orientation, handover, medication, injuries, biting and late pick-up ✓ Appendix A: six AI prompts for independent pronunciation practice ✓ Appendix B: a crossword and a wordsearch on the words of the room, with answers

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

✓ EAL educators working or training in long day care, family day care, preschool, kinder or OSHC ✓ Students on placement who understand children but are still finding the words ✓ Educators who trained overseas and are starting again here ✓ Trainers and assessors supporting Certificate III and Diploma students with EAL needs ✓ Educational leaders mentoring EAL team members

How trainers and leaders use it

Each unit is two pages. Vocabulary on the left, practice on the right, answers at the back of the chapter. Print a unit, teach it, set the exercises, no prep. The role-play and polite-request exercises work as pair work. The puzzles work as a staff meeting activity or a study group warm-up.

Australian through and through

EYLF 2.0 and NQS language throughout, with the documentation chapter tagged to the Learning Outcomes. Australian words, Australian spelling, Australian pronunciation. Written by an educator who works here.

About this edition

This is the first edition and I am still building on it. Pronunciation videos are coming. Buy now and every update is yours free.

My qualifications: Master of Early Childhood Education, Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Certificate IV in TESOL, Language Literacy and Numeracy certificate. Seventeen years in the sector.

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

Cheers, Kate / Storykate

You will get two PDF files (approximately 1MB together), 77 pages each, A4.