Early Childhood

Parenting classes don't tackle child poverty, says former Sure Start boss | Society | The Guardian

2011-11-23T12:25:00.000Z

Parenting classes don't tackle child poverty, says former Sure Start boss | Society | The Guardian

Singing to children may help development of language skills | Life and style | The Guardian

2011-05-09T12:24:00.000+01:00

"'Even better than just singing, though, is to teach songs with actions and encourage your child to dance along to the music, they will learn balance, co-ordination, body awareness and rhythm,' he said."

Froebel's Mutter- und Kose-Lieder, anyone?

Scocca

2011-04-30T11:16:00.000+01:00

Uniforms for pre-school children: is the choice really between rearing "drones" or "shoppers"?

Your baby can't really read!

2011-04-13T20:53:00.001+01:00

Parents and educational organizations including The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood are seeking an end to the deceptive marketing practices used to advertise so-called educational products such as the video flashcard product marketed in the USA as "Your Baby Can Read". Ummm... no. It can't. Moreover, "[i]f parents follow Your Baby Can Read’s viewing instructions, their baby will have watched more than 200 hours by the age of nine months—spending more than one full week of 24-hour days in front of a screen." This when the recommended amount of screentime for children below aged two is zero hours, full stop.

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/your-baby-can%e2%80%99t-really-read-and-doesn%e2%80%99t-need-to/#ixzz1JR1BW5hQ

BBC News - Early years development measures to be scaled back

2011-03-30T10:18:00.000+01:00

Some mixed messages in reaction to welcome news of a reduction in the number of EFYS 'benchmarks' in England. BBC News - Early years development measures to be scaled back

Unlike Thatcher, Cameron is preserving awkward history | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

2011-03-08T09:29:00.000Z

Cohort studies and policies for children in the UK. Unlike Thatcher, Cameron is preserving awkward history | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

Sure Start cuts to hit poorest hardes | Society | The Guardian

2011-03-06T13:24:00.000Z

Sure Start under threat. Sure Start cuts to hit poorest hardes | Society | The Guardian

A parent's guide to the early years foundation stage.

2011-03-03T09:03:00.000Z

An interesting blog concerned with what it says in the title - the EYFS A parent's guide to the early years foundation stage.

BBC News - Save the Children attacks child poverty figure

2011-02-23T13:13:00.000Z

More data on child poverty in the UK from Save the Children. BBC News - Save the Children attacks child poverty figure

60% of poorest children fail to reach good level of behaviour, says study | Society | guardian.co.uk

2011-02-11T10:31:00.000Z

Marmot reports highlights class differences in children's health and development. 60% of poorest children fail to reach good level of behaviour, says study | Society | guardian.co.uk

Nursery charges rise twice as quickly as wages | Society | The Guardian

2011-02-09T15:23:00.000Z

Women go back to your homes. That's one conclusion that can be drawn from the rising cost of child care in the UK Nursery charges rise twice as quickly as wages | Society | The Guardian

This government talks about empathy while cutting the cuddles already there | Zoe Williams | Comment is free | The Guardian

2011-01-23T15:24:00.000Z

Zoe Williams criticises the cultural deprivation assumptions that lie behind Graham Allen's report on early intervention. This government talks about empathy while cutting the cuddles already there | Zoe Williams | Comment is free | The Guardian

BBC News - Benefit cuts 'threaten to increase babies in poverty'

2011-01-19T15:09:00.000Z

The number of babies born into poverty in the UK is set to rise. BBC News - Benefit cuts 'threaten to increase babies in poverty'

BBC News - Many children's centres 'under threat of closure'

2011-01-14T13:41:00.000Z

Bad news for some UK children's centres. Early years' provision always seem to suffer disproportionately relative to other sectors of the education system in recessions and fiscal crisese. BBC News - Many children's centres 'under threat of closure'

Face it if you dare. This is the end of the children's decade | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

2011-01-01T12:16:00.000Z

Polly Toynbee predicts a grim year ahead for disadvantaged children in the UK. Face it if you dare. This is the end of the children's decade | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

Labour's pre-school reforms 'failing to raise standards' - Telegraph

2010-12-14T10:10:00.000Z

This research has already been reported on. This news item refers to an article just published in Oxford Review of Education. The researchers claim that as five year olds do not understand this or that, Sure Start is a failure but this research is not an evaluation of children who have attended Sure Start but of the attainments of all five year ols in their sample. Labour's pre-school reforms 'failing to raise standards' - Telegraph

Frank Field must not let the unthinkable happen to Sure Start | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

2010-12-05T13:34:00.000Z

'Poverty is not the main reason why people are poor' writes Polly Toynbee of Frank Field's review of poverty. Field takes the view that it is not a more equitable distribution of income and wealth that will eliminate poverty but moralisation. This Victorian view has the advantage of being cheap but fails utterly to comprehend the link between poverty and the way people adapt to it through culture - the lifestyle choices they make. Polly's is a well informed critique and once again she points to the consequences of the cuts for SureStart. Frank Field must not let the unthinkable happen to Sure Start | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

£26,000: the salary you need just to cover childcare | Money | The Guardian

2010-12-05T13:25:00.000Z

OECD puts child care costs as highest in the countries it surveys. It is predicted that the cuts recently announced will have a large impact on lower income families' child care costs. No doubt there will be a knock on effect and the private businesses that have sprung up to provided child care and early years education will also feel the consequences of a decline in the numbers who can afford their fees. £26,000: the salary you need just to cover childcare | Money | The Guardian

Poorer children twice as likely to start school with behaviour problems - gap may have widened over last decade - Sutton Trust

2010-11-02T08:26:00.000Z

Sutton Trust Research states -or restates - the obvious but Former Labout minister, Frank Field was arguing on the radio this morning that it was deficient culture not economic circumstance that was to blame. The solution then is moralisation not a reduction in levels of poverty. We have heard this before - over the last two hundred years! Poorer children twice as likely to start school with behaviour problems - gap may have widened over last decade - Sutton Trust

4-Year-Old Can Be Sued, Judge Rules in Bike Case - NYTimes.com

2010-10-29T10:16:00.000+01:00

How can society expect a 'reasonably prudent' 4-year-old to behave, and what might the limits be of such a child's culpability in the event of foreseeable mishaps? This is a particularly tragic case - a girl riding her bike into a woman, who - as a result of the hip fracture thereby sustained - died some three weeks later. I suspect the answer to this question is culturally-specific, as well as changeable over time. What say you?

MEPs back 20 weeks' maternity leave on full pay | World news | The Guardian

2010-10-20T23:51:00.000+01:00

I heard someone, an MEP I think, on the radio this morning arguing for this on the grounds we need women in Europe to have more children otherwise there will be more immigrants. There are many better arguments I am sure for extending maternity leave but Europe is haunted by far-right orchestrated opposition to migration and this seems to be infiltrating child and family policy debates. MEPs back 20 weeks' maternity leave on full pay | World news | The Guardian

Investing in young children

2010-10-18T06:35:00.000+01:00

The fiscal crisis of the State in the US forms the context of this evaluation of early childhood programmes including Head Start conducted by The Brookings Center on Children and Families and The National Institute for Early Education Research.

Response: The great majority of nurseries meet Ofsted's stringent standards | Comment is free | The Guardian

2010-10-15T12:29:00.000+01:00

Purnima Tanuku responds to article on under twos at nursery Response: The great majority of nurseries meet Ofsted's stringent standards | Comment is free | The Guardian

The great nursery debate | Life and style | The Guardian

2010-10-04T15:56:00.000+01:00

An article which explores the question of what do child care experts think about the advisability of nursery for the under twos. As with most social science topics, opinion is divided. The great nursery debate | Life and style | The Guardian

Decline in number of Male teachers in state nursery schools reported by Richard Garner in the Independent

2010-09-03T12:47:00.002+01:00

Richard Garner reports that 28% of the country's primary school pupils do not have a male teacher, and even less children in state nursery schools.

Jamie Wilson, reported as the only male teacher under the age of 25 in a state nursery school, is advocating for more males to enter the teaching profession, in a project with Edge Hill University.

Possible gender bias in children's perceptions of behaviour and competence

2010-09-01T17:21:00.002+01:00

Hartley & Sutton found that children perceive girls to be more clever and better behaved than boys, Jessica Shepherd reports in the Guardian.

Kids are alright, says German noise law | World news | guardian.co.uk

2010-08-16T19:24:00.000+01:00

Child friendly German legislation - children to become a more accepted part of society. Kids are alright, says German noise law | World news | guardian.co.uk

ECE PolicyMatters

2010-08-01T19:33:00.000+01:00

Here's a new blog on Early Childhood policy with a focus on the experiences and views of early years professionals. It looks like it will be well worth a visit.

Economic Scene - Study Rethinks Importance of Kindergarten Teachers - NYTimes.com

2010-07-28T11:58:00.000+01:00

"Mr. Chetty and his colleagues — one of whom, Emmanuel Saez, recently won the prize for the top research economist under the age of 40 — estimate that a standout kindergarten teacher is worth about $320,000 a year. That’s the present value of the additional money that a full class of students can expect to earn over their careers. This estimate doesn’t take into account social gains, like better health and less crime."

BBC News - Parents 'struggle to find holiday childcare'

2010-07-14T09:28:00.000+01:00

Holidays present a different 'time politics' for child care as do regional variations in the its cost within the UK. BBC News - Parents 'struggle to find holiday childcare'

BBC News - NI school starting age 'could rise to six years old'

2010-06-29T17:12:00.000+01:00

What a great idea. It was proposed in 1918 when the Education Act permitted the supply and the aid in supply of Nursery Schools in England and Wales. It had been suggested previously in 1870 and was campaigned for in the 1920s and 1930s by the Nursery School Association. Starting at five years is purely administrative and bears no connection with how young children's educational needs are perceived. Campaigners in the past advocated nursery schools for the 2-6 year olds and sometimes 0-6 year olds. Raising the age of compulsory schooling must be accompanied by provision for children under six otherwise it is a cost cutting exercise such as was advocated at thew time of the Geddes Axe in the early 1920s. BBC News - NI school starting age 'could rise to six years old'

BBC News - UK 'behind' on grandparent childcare provision

2010-06-10T06:08:00.000+01:00

Financial support for grandparents providing childcare in theUK requested BBC News - UK 'behind' on grandparent childcare provision

Private School Screening Test Loses Some Clout - NYTimes.com

2010-05-07T09:29:00.000+01:00

The E.R.B. test - for years an important criterion in private-sector, elite nursery-school and primary-school admissions - finally seems on its way out. This, long after parents and psychologists had complained about its being an illegitimate assessment tool, especially when children were coached for the test in advance.

Wake up, parents, and shout about toddler top-up fees | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

2010-04-27T23:24:00.000+01:00

Looks like stormy weather ahead for free places in nursery schools if the Tories win the UK general election. Polly Toynbee, a tireless campaigner for nursery schools, writes, "If only Labour had set up free nurseries attached to schools without the private sector trying to skim a profit" but of course they did not and that they did not demonstrates their attachment to the market ideology of neo-liberalism that has brought about the situation that now threatens the expansion in early years education and care that New Labour itself initiated. Wake up, parents, and shout about toddler top-up fees | Polly Toynbee |
Comment is free |
The Guardian: "

Nurseries close as parents feel the pinch of childcare costs | Money | The Guardian

2010-04-24T15:21:00.000+01:00

As nurseries close, ideological postures are struck as different groups attempt to explain the trend. For those that support the recession explanation, rising fees enters the equation. This may be related to the fact that most of the provision is private and thus dedicated to profit which, in lean years, may fall causing providers to leave the market.

For some reason legitimating rhetoric seems to be more prominent in early years' debates than other areas of education. For example, the claim that 'childcare is vital to the success and recovery of the economy' is in line with a long tradition of economic justification for early years care and education viewed from the perspective of the labour market. As many have repeatedly pointed out, this tends to displace the needs of children from the argument and put parental needs first.

Nurseries close as parents feel the pinch of childcare costs |
Money |
The Guardian

A ‘Jail’ for Children Stirs a Ruckus in Brooklyn - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-03-25T11:33:00.000Z

What does it mean to encourage children - in particular children in low-income, high-crime areas - to play at going to jail? A display of shocking insensitivity at two playgrounds in Queens, NY.

Sure Start: Battle lines drawn over the best start for children | Politics | The Observer

2010-03-22T10:38:00.000Z

The following caught my eye in this story of how Sure Start may become an electoral issue in the UK: 'There is a widespread belief that the social mobility argument has lost out to the childcare agenda'. No surprise there as it was meant to and is consistent with the Lisbon agenda and the subsequent Barcelona European Council. The UK is a 'workfare' not welfare state and the principle aim of Sure Start is to get mothers with children into the paid labour market. Sure Start: Battle lines drawn over the best start for children |
Politics |
The Observer

Evidence: Child Well-being | The Equality Trust

2010-03-03T12:19:00.000Z

Child well-being is related to income inequality claim the authors of The Spirit Level. Evidence: Child Well-being | The Equality Trust

Low income and cognitive development in the Uk

2010-02-15T09:01:00.000Z

This report for the Sutton Trust is remarkable for not having visited studies that already concluded that low income led to cultures of disadvantage and poor scholastic attainment. The strategies deigned to ameliorate the gap in cognitive development are at least 100 years old. Inadequate parenting can be translated as inadequate mothers and cultural deprivation. The approach has failed in the past because education, as Bernstein said, cannot compensate for society. What needs to be tackled urgently is the root of the problem, income inequality.

Childcare costs soar despite recession | Money | The Guardian

2010-02-10T13:43:00.000Z

Reliance on the market for childcare comes at a cost. Childcare costs soar despite recession |
Money |
The Guardian

Sure Start centres fail to help neediest families | Education | guardian.co.uk

2010-01-14T11:45:00.000Z

A memorandum from the National Audit Office finds that outreach is underdeveloped in Sure Start centres. Sure Start centres fail to help neediest families |
Education |
guardian.co.uk

Brain Power - Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them - Series - NYTimes.com

2009-12-21T08:07:00.000Z

Score one for the cognitive neuroscientists?

From across the Atlantic: US Children in poverty are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics

2009-12-12T11:06:00.004Z

Duff Wilson's article in NYT: the disparity between children on medicaid and on private insurance with regard to the incidence of prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs. This includes young children: as Duff notes, "The data indicated that more than 4 percent of patients ages 6 to 17 in Medicaid fee-for-service programs received antipsychotic drugs, compared with less than 1 percent of privately insured children and adolescents. More recent data through 2007 indicates that the disparity has remained, said Stephen Crystal, a Rutgers professor who led the study."

Study - Kids Watching Hours of TV at Home Daycare - NYTimes.com

2009-11-23T09:48:00.000Z

"The study found that among preschool-aged children, those in home-based day cares watched TV for 2.4 hours per day on average, compared to 24 minutes in centers. Toddlers watched an average of 1.6 hours in home care and about 6 minutes in centers. Only home-based day cares admitted putting infants in front of the TV, for an average of 12 minutes a day."

What percentage of daycare centres actually *have* televisions?

In Manhattan, Preparing for Kindergarten Admission Test - NYTimes.com

2009-11-21T11:49:00.000Z

Whereas in the past the prep courses were aimed at entry into independent preschools, now they're increasingly focused on entry into state-sector kindergartens catering to "the gifted".

Quality universal childcare for �9bn a year? A bargain | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

2009-11-17T08:26:00.000Z

The most succinct and perceptive summation of New Labour's early years policy for a long time by the most knowledgeable newspaper social affairs commentator in England. Quality universal childcare for �9bn a year? A bargain | Polly Toynbee |
Comment is free |
The Guardian

Why the mum’n’dad vote will decide the next election - Times Online

2009-11-16T09:38:00.000Z

The 'echo-boom' generation are said to be (a) keen voters and (b) focused on parenthood. Will politicians take heed?

Gordon Brown warned: axing childcare vouchers will cost Labour seats | Politics | The Guardian

2009-11-11T12:46:00.000Z

Prime Minister's redistributive plan for child care opposed. Gordon Brown warned: axing childcare vouchers will cost Labour seats |
Politics |
The Guardian

Cash squeeze threatens free state nursery school places | Education | The Guardian

2009-11-03T16:31:00.000Z

New funding formula threatens nursery places. Cash squeeze threatens free state nursery school places |
Education |
The Guardian

Modern cyber-parenting dilemmas: to post or not to post?

2009-10-26T17:58:00.002Z

Among the myriad of modern parenting decisions is if/how to share photos of children online. Douglas Quenqua discusses the complications and concerns in the NYT.

No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund - NYTimes.com

2009-10-26T12:49:00.000Z

An unusual step on the part of a company in it to make money, but a welcome one nonetheless.

Working fathers want more time with their children, too | Amelia Gentleman | The Guardian

2009-10-20T11:42:00.002+01:00

Report form the EHRC calls our atttention to recognising the challenges faced by men who are fathers in terms of their accessibility to their children, and balancing work/family demands. This is of particular concern to fathers of young children, given the special demands of infant care. Implications are for parental leave allowances for all parents, regardless of gender.

Tories set out their plans for primary education | Education | The Guardian

2009-10-20T10:07:00.000+01:00

Tory Shadow School Secretary rejects principal proposals of Cambridge Primary Review including raising the age for compulsory attendance. Tories set out their plans for primary education |
Education |
The Guardian

Views from across the Atlantic: US teachers union expresses dissent over Obama's educational policy

2009-10-19T16:20:00.008+01:00

President Obama, a brilliant thinker and a diplomatic leader whose leadership promises 'change' for the US, disappoints the Teachers Union (AFT) and raises serious issues related to the meaning of educational reform. Dialogue is needed to rethink education out of an 'era of accountability' and toward responsiveness and responsibility. I believe Mr Obama is open to this dialogue, but US teachers must be prepared to share their voices - which highlights the importance of advocacy in the teaching profession. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092403197.html?referrer=facebook

Reflecting on the initial hopes for educational policy, particularly with regard to the early education, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010901526.html I hope that inappropriate accountability measures are not 'pushed down' into the early years. This is a difficult issue. There is a need to have well-resourced provision for early childhood education. This can be accomplished by revisioning education as pre-k - 12 rather than k-12. However, given the serious concern over the accountability driven model used for k-12 systems, US teachers and families are cautious to embrace this idea as 'more of the same' or worse. What is at risk is an encroachment upon sensitive caregiving and early educational practices - with testing, rating, and a lack of respect for who young people 'are' rather than who they will 'become.'

Whatever age children start school, teaching will be dire | Minnette Marrin - Times Online

2009-10-18T13:06:00.000+01:00

Minnette Marrin says 'bad teaching is at the heart of all of this' and that bad teachers should be sacked. But how are 'bad' teachers to be identified in the first place? So easy to point fingers, so difficult to nail the jelly to the wall.

BBC NEWS | Education | Delay formal lessons 'to age six'

2009-10-16T11:35:00.000+01:00

The BBC reporting the Cambridge Primary Review highlights the recommendation that children delay the start of formal schooling until the age of six. In 1916 this was proposed by the Chief Medical Officer at the Board of Health and later campaigned for by the Nursery School Association. It was rejected constantly by governments mainly on the grounds of the cost of providing nursery schools. With far more women now participating in the paid labour market the cost would be relatively higher but government spending is always subject to the way it arranges its priorities. BBC NEWS | Education | Delay formal lessons 'to age six'

Are parents pushing their children too hard? - Times Online

2009-09-20T10:32:00.000+01:00

Another installment of the never-ending 'debate'. Is tutoring for under-sixes actually increasing or is it just being given more media attention?

BBC NEWS | Education | Pupils suffer 'shocking' poverty

2009-09-15T15:24:00.000+01:00

A teachers' leader attacks the effects of poverty - and the effects of cultures of poverty - on children's readiness for school. BBC NEWS | Education | Pupils suffer 'shocking' poverty

BBC NEWS | Education | Parent debt 'damaging education'

2009-08-15T09:36:00.000+01:00

Parents not paying for 'wrap round care' threatens school budgets in England. BBC NEWS | Education | Parent debt 'damaging education'

Today's tragic victim, tomorrow's feral brat | Melanie Reid - Times Online

2009-06-25T12:35:00.000+01:00

As Melanie Reid points out, there's a glaring contradiction in the way society at large views abused and neglected children -- including the youngest children -- within and outside of the schools.

Report calls to make easier combining paid work and childcare for working class grandparents

2009-06-23T06:24:00.000+01:00

Grandparents now provide more than 40% of childcare for working /
studying parents and over 70% of childcare at other times.

Why have 4,000 childminders given up the job in 12 months? | Education | The Guardian

2009-06-16T23:09:00.000+01:00

Decline in numbers of childminders in the UK is attributed to the Early Years Foundation Stage . Why have 4,000 childminders given up the job in 12 months? |
Education |
The Guardian

BBC NEWS | UK | Mapping child poverty

2009-06-12T11:21:00.001+01:00

The spatial distribution of child poverty in the UK revealed. BBC NEWS | UK | Mapping child poverty

Recession to wipe out gains in child well-being, report says

2009-06-08T13:42:00.000+01:00

The 2009 Foundation for Child Development Child

and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) Report,

Including:

􏰀 An Update of the CWI for the Years 1975-2007,

􏰀 Projections of the CWI for 2008, and

􏰀 A Special Focus Report on Anticipating the Impacts of

a 2008-2010 Recession

Kenneth C. Land, Project Coordinator

Germany's Kindergarten Teachers Go on Strike - TIME

2009-05-26T18:08:00.001+01:00

In the German press, this dispute is described as first and foremost about policies to protect the health of childcare workers, with pay issues coming in second. Note that it is only affecting state-sector programs even though private-sector kindergartens and daycare centres get state subsidies.

Children’s centres may not be viable once subsidies run out - Times Online

2009-05-26T09:30:00.000+01:00

Parents are seen to choose cheaper and more informal childcare during the recession, thus leaving 1/4 of children's centre places unused. Are these the middle-class parents who were said to have 'colonized' the centres in the first place? Educational policy history tells us that programmes in which a lot of middle-class families take part tend to be the ones that succeed (compared to targeted interventions, which suffer from ghettoization). Is cost the only factor behind sinking uptake of centre places? Or are parents voting with their feet to show a preference of home-based over centre care?

Why nursery schools are bad for little boys - Times Online

2009-05-20T08:07:00.006+01:00

In his new book, Raising Babies: Should under 3s go to Nursery, psychologist Steve Biddulph 'warns parents and politicians that we’re in danger of rearing “a colder, sadder, more stressed and aggressive generation of children” and that “quality nursery care for young children doesn’t exist. It is a fantasy of the glossy magazines.”' In hopes of fixing this situation, the article's author (Sue Palmer, author of the new book 21st Century Boy) contends "we need to reinstate traditional feminine strengths (whether demonstrated by men or women), we have to develop a more collaborative, less judgmental social life around the raising of children." Spiritual Motherhood*, anyone?

*I still believe the translation of Geistige Mutterlichkeit ought to be 'Intelligent Motherhood', but that is by the by.

Will Steiner schools be permitted to opt out of the early years foundation stage? | Education | The Guardian

2009-05-13T16:15:00.000+01:00

More Steiner nurseries are seeking exemption from the Early Years Foundation Stage. Will Steiner schools be permitted to opt out of the early years foundation stage? |
Education |
The Guardian

Does it pay to delay the start of your child's schooling? - Times Online

2009-05-05T08:10:00.000+01:00

From US experience of 'red-shirting', the answer is no -- it does not pay. But then again, the US experience is based on 5-year-olds and when their school start is delayed, they're 6. And US experience is increasingly based on a system in which school for 5s (kindergarten) is thoroughly academic rather than play-based in content. Apples and oranges?

Crisis in the Kindergarten - Google Search

2009-05-04T08:49:00.000+01:00

The latest US-based research about [the lack of] play in early childhood education.

Is early years professional status (EYPS) worth it? | Education | The Guardian

2009-04-29T09:24:00.000+01:00

Low pay relative to teachers undermines the prestige of the early years professional status (EYPS). Is early years professional status (EYPS) worth it? |
Education |
The Guardian: "early years professional status (EYPS)"

Bye-bye classroom - Times Online

2009-04-28T13:26:00.000+01:00

The Times reports that nursery education is returning to nature ... or is it just the outdoors?

UK 24th out of 29 European nations for child well being

2009-04-23T08:58:00.000+01:00

This briefing draws on the results of a new league table of child wellbeing in European countries. Produced by researchers from the University of York, the league table covers 29 European countries (EU 27 countries plus Norway and Iceland). It includes 43 separate indicators, summarised in seven domains of child wellbeing.The Netherlands comes top of the table of overall child wellbeing, followed by Norway and Sweden. The UK came 24th, well below countries of similar affluence. Only Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta do worse. The data were collected in 2006.

Child Poverty Action Group's manifesto to end child poverty

2009-04-23T08:50:00.002+01:00

How to make money from your home: set up a children’s nursery - Times Online

2009-04-20T08:16:00.000+01:00

"You can earn £15,000 a year or more by establishing a purpose-built nursery in the grounds of your house, but it's hard graft"

For Japan's Young Families, a Little Good News - washingtonpost.com

2009-04-18T18:52:00.000+01:00

Japan is characterized as 'stingy' and 'unaccommodating' when ti comes to the care and education of young children.

Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children's Learning

2009-04-16T13:42:00.003+01:00

"The report Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning, by Cooney Center Industry Fellow Carly Shuler, makes the case that our nation’s leaders should not overlook the role mobile technologies can play, if well deployed, in building human capital and in helping to stimulate valuable innovation. As Sesame Street has proven over four decades of remarkable work, exposure to research-tested

educational media starting early in life can accelerate children’s skills, while producing enduring economic benefits to society. "--Foreword

Teachers Learn to Help Kids Behave - WSJ.com

2009-04-16T13:38:00.000+01:00

Tools of the Mind emphasizes 'executive function' and self-control and tools for cognitive and social development.

Old-fashioned socialization and behaviour-management becomes new again?

Early Childhood Education Report 285175-1 : State of Preschool 2008

2009-04-16T13:33:00.003+01:00

"Early Childhood Education is an economic stimulus package." - US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

This link leads to video of Duncan speaking at/after the release of the State of Preschool Yearbook for 2008.

Starting school at four is too young for children, say teachers - Times Online

2009-04-08T21:00:00.000+01:00

Why do British children start school so early, relative to children in other countries? And will teachers' opinions matter in this case?

BBC NEWS | Education | Call to start school at age six

2009-04-08T12:12:00.000+01:00

ATL members would like children to start school at a later age - survey finds. BBC NEWS | Education | Call to start school at age six

Amelia Gentleman on a portrait of 21st-century poverty | Society | The Guardian

2009-03-18T08:20:00.000Z

Life in poverty in Bristol for adults and children. Amelia Gentleman on a portrait of 21st-century poverty |
Society |
The Guardian

Montessori teaching attracts a wave of career-changers -

2009-03-12T08:16:00.000Z

Montessori teaching as career of the future, or at least of the recession. But is it really Montessori teaching or is it the "flexible" training and hope that the work conditions are good (as opposed to a real attraction to Montessori itself)? All of the above?

Educational Quality in First Grade. The Elementary School Journal 109, no 4

2009-03-11T08:33:00.002Z

Researchers analyzed 800+ U.S. first grade (year one) classrooms to assess quality. The study developed a typology of first grades correlating teacher, child and school characteristics. This typology would seem to be helpful for opening scholarly discussion on the (heretofore neglected) subject. The study's findings, though sobering, are not completely unexpected: most first-grades were not found to be high in quality.

BBC NEWS | Wales | Wales childhood | Adults prefer their own childhood

2009-03-10T09:44:00.000Z

Welsh adults think childhood has deteriorated since they were children. BBC NEWS | Wales | Wales childhood | Adults prefer their own childhood

The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too - Recess - NYTimes.com

2009-03-02T11:14:00.000Z

Research finds that play is essential for learning. What of the study's assumption that play and learning are two separate things (in the ase of 8- and 9-year-olds at least)?

The connections among kids, reading, and an orderly home. - By Emily Bazelon - Slate Magazine

2009-02-27T15:07:00.000Z

A report on recent research out of Teachers College connecting parents' (especially mothers') executive function and general orderliness within the household with young children's literacy. Orderliness appears to be a proxy for factors such as modeling of problem-solving, warmth and responsiveness within the household, all things that might contribute to children's cognitive development. The study also finds that parent-child reading time, while certainly a good thing, was not decisive in determining children's literacy; more important is how much time children spend amusing themselves with books. The question is how they learn (if at all) to do so and what factors influence this self-amusement (not least the availability and quality of books).

Save Our Nurseries

2009-02-26T15:36:00.000Z

A Glaswegian parent effort to preserve local Nurseries in the face of a policy mandate to combine them into an Early Years Centre.

Ending child poverty in a changing economy | Joseph Rowntree Foundation

2009-02-18T09:06:00.000Z

Summary of report on ending child poverty and link to the full report. Ending child poverty in a changing economy | Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Majority of children living in poverty have at least one parent in work, says study |

2009-02-18T09:02:00.000Z

Workfare policies are failing to lift children out of poverty. Majority of children living in poverty have at least one parent in work, says study |
Society |
The Guardian

Don't send children to school at four, warn experts |

2009-02-14T12:49:00.000Z

Research findings suggest that lowering the age of starting school to four is likely to be harmful. Don't send children to school at four, warn experts |
Education |
guardian.co.uk

Why is the dawn-to-dusk extended schools scheme failing the very families it is meant to help? |

2009-02-04T08:25:00.000Z

It is a truth universally acknowledged that services that are charged for are paid for by those who can afford to and extended schools do not deviate from this. Why is the dawn-to-dusk extended schools scheme failing the very families it is meant to help? |
Society |
The Guardian

Children at risk from care crisis -

2009-02-04T08:04:00.000Z

Children at risk because of shortages in the number of social workers and health visitors in BritainChildren at risk from care crisis -
UK Politics, UK - The Independent

Are British children in crisis, or the victims of parental anxiety? |

2009-02-01T08:32:00.000Z

The Good Childhood Inquiry in the UK fuels the 'toxic childhood' debate. Are British children in crisis, or the victims of parental anxiety? |
Society |
The Observer

BBC NEWS | Education | Drunken sailors left out of rhyme

2009-01-30T17:53:00.000Z

A nursery rhyme is rewritten to conform more closely to what is held to be more morally suitable and seemingly more protective of young children's sensibilities. BBC NEWS | Education | Drunken sailors left out of rhyme

BBC NEWS | Education | Childcare fees 'continue to rise'

2009-01-28T10:54:00.000Z

The costs of childcare in England, Scotland and Wales are still rising according to a Daycare Trust survey. BBC NEWS | Education | Childcare fees 'continue to rise'

BBC NEWS | Education | Early phonics success 'may wane'

2009-01-28T10:32:00.002Z

"Such slippage" as Sir Jim Rose puts it BBC NEWS | Education | Early phonics success 'may wane' is also down to the Hawthorne effect.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | New evidence of Gaza child deaths

2009-01-24T15:31:00.000Z

War and fighting are not things that we normally associate with early childhood but in this instance the deaths and injuries sustained by children in Gaza are so extensive that the international early years community cannot ignore them. BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | New evidence of Gaza child deaths

Children of Gaza: stories of those who died and the trauma for those who survived |

2009-01-24T09:17:00.000Z

Discussion of children's rights seems hollow in view of the disproportionate and horrifying suffering of children in Gaza. Children of Gaza: stories of those who died and the trauma for those who survived |
World news |
guardian.co.uk

Zoe Williams: This is a job for the boys |

2009-01-21T11:10:00.000Z

Arguments for more men to be involved in early years care and education but no mention of pay. Zoe Williams: This is a job for the boys |
Comment is free |
The Guardian