Dr Jane is one of Australia’s leading child and baby development experts.
She has been working with infants, children and parents for over 40 years and loves her job!
Dr Jane has guided the Research and Education of GymbaROO-KindyROO for over 20 years and has played a key role in the production and content of the hugely successful series of baby programs for new parents: Active Babies Smart Kids activebabiessmartkids.com.au
Dr Jane is a Neuro-Developmental Consultant specialising in the first years of life. She has lectured extensively and appeared on media worldwide, including Major TV Networks/Chat Shows/News in Europe and Asia.
Dr Jane is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at James Cook University College of Healthcare Sciences where she taught in the School of Nursing and completed her PhD studies.
Her past research (PhD) focussed on the important role that parents play in the detection of early, but subtle, developmental problems that may give rise to later learning problems at school.
More recently she monitored the results of a school-based, daily, sensory-motor movement program. The results were exciting – children loved the program and both physical and academic skills improved significantly.
Dr Jane believes that parents and grandparents are THE most important influence on their children’s lives. As a result, she is committed totally to helping parents and grandparents help their children be the best they can be through natural, fun activities and games.
More recently Dr Jane has become a grandmother and is now a grandparent to 5 grandchildren under 6 years (4 boys and 1 girl). Like many grandparents, she helps take care of her grandchildren when she can and, as a grandparent, she realised that there were many other grandparents who would like to know more about how they can best help their grandchildren in those early years. Her co-authored book Grandparenting Grandchildren is a ‘one stop shop’ for grandparents who want to know a little bit more, about a lot – including why movement plays a key role in the development of the brain and body; how behaviour and emotional regulation develops; why sleep matters; why communication is best if it’s not via a screen (while also acknowledging that screen-based chats between children and grandparents are better than no chats at all!); the importance of music and dance to learning; how to stimulate imagination and curiosity, and the ever-in-demand ideas for developmentally outstanding gifts.